Chapter 20 #2
Cap looks like he’s trying to nobly contain his laughter at the memory. “Sorry, Nora. It was pretty funny because you looked like a starfish when you went down the hill. Then that guy was like, really sorry, but Dad picked you up and the guy kind of just walked away.”
“Maybe he thought you were going to sue him, Cap,” I say.
Cap looks serious. “Should we?”
Now we’re all laughing again.
“Sometimes, people just do silly things, like stand still in front of a moving chair lift,” Nora says. “But maybe you should think about being a lawyer, Cap?”
Cap considers. “Can I be a professional fisherman and a lawyer?”
“Griff took the kid fly fishing this summer and he’s got a whole career path planned out,” I explain.
“It was awesome. Uncle Griff got a fish this big.” Cap stretches his arms as wide as he can, then leans from side to side to stretch the length.
“I think he’s got what it takes,” Nora says, laughing again.
After we order our food, Farrah and Cap tell Nora about their snowshoeing adventure—she missed out by hiding in her room last night.
I’m only half listening—I heard the stories yesterday. Plus, I’m still buzzing from teasing Nora. She looks beautiful, listening to my son. How had I never noticed before?
How had I never felt the way I did when I had her in my arms yesterday?
But I did, didn’t I? I just shoved it down. Ignored it. Pretended it was my pent-up sexual energy I swore I didn’t need to deal with. But now that the real possibility is here, with Nora, I wonder if it is time to break it?
My dick threatens to make itself known, so I switch my thoughts to old tennis matches. It usually works. But now there’s Nora on the court, running after the balls, a sweat breaking out across her freckly skin.
Now she’s naked, trying to cover herself with a tennis racket.
The absolute fuck is wrong with me!
I polish off the last of my beer just as our food arrives. I ordered a Moroccan dish, and it smells like heaven. I’ll be fine, I just need to eat. I take a bite of the piping hot food, dripping with sauce, and nearly moan at how delicious it is.
Then I chomp down into something mildly firm that squishes in my teeth.
I grimace. “Ugh, this has olives in it!”
“Why’d you order an olive thing when you hate olives?” Cap asks around his slider, as if genuinely confused.
“Did you even read the menu?” Nora asks, her lip curled up in a smile. She knows I didn’t.
“It’s fine. I love vile salt nuggets.”
Nora laughs, and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. “I’ll eat them. I love salt nuggets.” She reaches across the table and spears one of my olives with her fork, popping it into her plump lips.
Ugh, how is she making olives sexy?
Somehow, we make it through the meal without me ogling my best friend too much, and without inserting Nora into ridiculous scenarios in my head. It helps that I’ve angled my chair so I’m pointing mostly at Cap, and focus all my attention on him.
But then Cap asks if he can have dessert, and when I look up at the others to see if they want to go, I’m suddenly so distracted by Nora swirling her finger around her wineglass, I nod. “Sure.”
“Jude,” Farrah says, interrupting Nora’s hypnotic movement.
I have to fight not to scowl. I promised I’d try. “Yeah.”
“Cap and I—we have something to ask you.”
I snap my gaze to them. They’re looking at me intently. This can’t be good.
“Before you say no, I need you to know the snowshoe instructor say Cap is the best they have seen in a long time. There is a longer, private excursions with the instructors.”
“Overnight, Dad!”
“What?” I’m so confused by this it takes me a minute to understand what I think is happening.
“It’s a two-night trip,” Nora says.
“How do you know that?” I feel accosted.
“It’s in the guidebook. The same instructors as the daytrip they already went on.”
“Are you asking me if you can leave the hotel with my son?” I ask, my voice steely.
All three of them stare at the abrupt shift in my tone. But I don’t know how to not be upset about this.
“Yes, Jude,” Farrah says, lifting her chin. “We are doing good. We are friends.”
Her voice sounds slightly wobbly on that word, but I don’t have time to register what that means. I don’t really care.
“Not a chance.”
The waiter comes by then, asking about dessert. Cap orders something—I don’t know what, I’m too busy fuming.
“You can’t be supportive of this,” I say to Nora.
Nora seems to harden slightly. “I don’t have any say in this.”
“But you can tell me your opinion. You think it’s a good idea for her to take my son away for two nights on some…wilderness adventure? In a country where they don’t speak the language?”
“I speak the language,” Farrah says tightly. She’s getting upset too.
I scowl, grabbing my glass before remembering I said no to another beer. I want to toss the glass aside. We were having a perfect night, then she had to go ahead and ruin it. Christ.
“Well? What do you think?” I ask Nora. I need her to be on my side here. I’m this close to spitting out the words I’d have no trouble saying if Cap weren’t here.
This is the woman who abandoned my son when he was a baby.
It’s like Nora hears me, because she takes her napkin and lays it on the table, her voice calmer than I’ve ever heard it. “Jude, it’s just like the day trip, except they stop at chalets along the way. They wouldn’t be alone for a moment; they’ve got trained professionals with them and—”
“And you’re being ridiculous!” Farrah says.
I’m so surprised at her outburst, for a moment I don’t speak. She looks down. “I am sorry, Cap. Maybe this was not a good idea—”
But when I look at Cap, I’m shocked to see his eyes glistening. “Why are you being mean, Dad?”
My heart fucking cracks at that. In my head, Coach is looking at me like he’s never been more disappointed.
My son has never known me to be like this.
It’s Farrah.
It’s you! Coach yells.
No, it’s her!
The waiter chooses that moment to appear with a plate the size of a turkey platter, with a massive vertical-looking cake on it.
Cap should be bouncing out of his seat, excited about it. Instead, he’s looking at me with his eyes big and wet and like he doesn’t know me.
“Cap,” Nora says softly, standing up. “Your dad and I are going to have a quick talk, okay? You enjoy that dessert—just maybe don’t overdo it?”
I cross my arms like a petulant kid.
“Get up,” Nora says.
I almost protest, not wanting to leave Cap alone with the woman who has such poor judgment.
But Nora looks like she’s going to blow her top, and Cap still looks like he’s going to burst into tears.
So, feeling like the world’s biggest asshole for the hundredth time on this trip, I stand up, letting Nora lead me out of the restaurant.