Chapter 5 Tyson
I keep one eye on Hannah while I sit at the bar. Lainey’s back is to our table, so she keeps glancing over her shoulder. I tell her to knock it off before Grady sees her, so she demands a play-by-play. I tell her they’re just talking.
Then, suddenly, Hannah gets up from the table and starts to walk toward us.
“Okay. She’s coming,” I say.
“Oh, shit. That was fast. How does she look?”
I tell her Hannah looks pretty calm—and her chin is up—but as she gets closer, I start to worry that she’s almost too composed. Maybe she hasn’t done the deed?
“What about Grady? What’s he doing?”
“Nothing. He’s just sitting there. Looking at his phone. Maybe she’s going to the restroom?”
“Ugh. If she chickens out—I swear to God—I will go over there and do it myself. And wine will be thrown!”
“No doubt,” I say, just as Hannah makes eye contact with me. She gives me a slight nod before making a sharp turn at the hostess stand, heading straight out the restaurant door.
“She just walked out,” I say, getting pumped. “She must have done it!”
“Wow!” Lainey says, spinning around on her stool.
“Go get her,” I say to Lainey. “Call us an Uber. I’ll be right there.”
Lainey gives me a confused look. “Wait. Are you going to tell him off?”
“No. I just need to settle up—”
“Tyson! You can’t pay!”
“Can I at least get my beer?” I say, raising the glass in my hand.
“No! Transfer it to the table.”
“It’s one beer, Lainey. I’ll look like a jerk if I walk out. Just go get Hannah—” I say. “I’m right behind you.”
As Lainey runs after Hannah, I make eye contact with the bartender. When he comes over to me, I explain the situation as tactfully as I can, discreetly gesturing toward our table.
“Call me if he gives you any trouble with the check. He might. The guy’s an asshole,” I say, handing him a twenty, along with my business card.
The bartender nods, smiles, and says, “Got it. Thanks, man.”
“No problem,” I say.
On my way out the door, I make a point not to look back at Grady.
“SHE DID IT! SHE TOTALLY DID IT!” Lainey shouts as I join them in the back of our getaway car. Hannah is in the middle, and I give her a hug as Lainey giddily debriefs me.
“I’m really proud of you,” I tell Hannah.
“I just followed the plan,” she says with a shrug.
“Still. That must have been really tough.”
She nods, looking shell-shocked as Lainey continues to whoop it up, replaying all the highlights. Hannah feeds off Lainey’s energy, even laughing at moments, but by the time we get back to her apartment, I can tell her adrenaline is wearing off—and that she is about to fall apart.
“Why don’t you change into something comfortable, and Lainey and I will order a pizza?” I suggest, settling onto the sofa.
“Unless you want to go out?” Lainey says, wildly misreading the room.
Hannah shakes her head and says no, she wants to stay in, and pizza sounds great. She then turns and walks to her bedroom.
The second she’s gone, Lainey picks up Hannah’s phone, enters her passcode, and starts looking through her texts.
“Uh, what are you doing?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
She keeps scrolling, then takes a photo of Hannah’s screen with her own phone.
“Lainey! Get out of there.”
“I’m just getting Grady’s number.”
“Why?”
“I have some follow-up bidness,” she says.
“Have you ever heard the expression ‘Quit while you’re ahead’?”
“Have you ever heard the expression ‘Nevertheless, she persisted’?” she fires back at me. “I know what I’m doing here. Just order our pizza.”
When Hannah returns to the living room, she’s in pajamas. Her eye makeup is gone, her face red and blotchy. It’s clear she’s been crying.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I gently ask her.
She shakes her head. “No. Can we just talk about something else? Will you distract me?”
I nod, give her a smile, and say, “Okay. So, funny story. You’re not the only one who broke up this weekend.”
Hannah looks back at me, wide-eyed. “You and Nicole broke up?”
“Yep.”
“When?” she asks.
“Last night.”
She gives me a worried look. “Why have you waited to tell us?”
“Because we had bigger fish to fry,” I say.
“Gosh, Tyson. I’m so sorry,” Hannah says.
“Who did it?” Lainey asks.
I tell them it was mutual—that we have different priorities—hoping that they won’t press me on the details.
Of course Lainey does, and I finally just admit what happened. “She didn’t approve of my decision to quit my job.”
“Oh my God!” Hannah says. “You quit your job and broke up with Nicole? What on earth is going on?”
I shrug and say, “It was time to make a change.”
Hannah stares at me, wringing her hands. “Did either thing have to do with you coming here?”
“Not really,” I say. “I mean, the trip may have been a catalyst, but both things needed to happen—”
“Shit. I knew it,” Hannah says, shaking her head. “I feel awful.”
“Well, I feel liberated.”
“Congratulations on your newfound freedom!” Lainey says. “This is great news! Now you can come on our trip!”
“And what trip might that be?” I ask.
“The trip Hannah and I are taking. In lieu of her honeymoon.”
I glance at Hannah, and she shrugs, giving me a look that says, Just humor her.
“Oh yeah?” I say. “Where are you guys headed?”
“We haven’t decided. Maybe Bora-Bora or the Maldives,” Lainey says.
“Terrific,” I deadpan.
Her eyes light up. “Yay! So you’re in?”
“Nah. I don’t like the beach,” I say.
“That’s a ridiculous statement. You don’t like any beach? In the world?”
“I don’t like your kind of beach—”
“What’s my kind of beach?”
“Beach resorts that are totally insulated from the country they’re in.”
“How do you know I like that kind of beach?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re not going to Bora-Bora to learn about the indigenous Maohi people.”
Lainey laughs. “How the hell do you know their name?”
“I know stuff.”
Lainey rolls her eyes. “Okay. So where would you want to go?”
“I’d have to think about it,” I say, as it occurs to me that it’s easier for me to say where I don’t want to go than where I do. Come to think of it—the same is true when it comes to my job. And my relationship. Maybe Hannah’s not the only one who needs a reset.
“What about you, Hannah?” Lainey asks. “Where do you want to go?”
“Oh, I’d go anywhere with y’all,” she says, clearly just playing along.
“What if we each picked a place?” Lainey says.
“Like an Eat, Pray, Love type thing?” Hannah asks.
“More of an Eat, Shop, Party type thing,” Lainey says.
Hannah smiles and shakes her head.
“Seriously. Remember how we were supposed to take that European vacation after we graduated?” Lainey asks.
Hannah and I nod. Of course we remember. We had planned a three-week trip with Summer, each of us picking one spot. I’d chosen Madrid; Lainey picked Amsterdam; Hannah picked Paris; and Summer picked Capri.
“Would you still choose Paris?” Lainey asks, looking at Hannah.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve still never been. Grady had no interest.”
“No interest in Paris? Seriously?” Lainey says. “That’s reason enough to break up with him. What the hell?”
“He doesn’t like museums or churches,” Hannah says.
“Of course he doesn’t,” I mumble under my breath. “What an idiot.”
“We should go there,” Lainey says, looking at Hannah.
“I don’t know—the most romantic city in the world might be a little painful right now.” She gives us a wan smile. “Then again, what was it that Audrey Hepburn said? Paris is always a good idea?”
“Always!” Lainey says. “I think Paris should be a front-runner here.”
Hannah gives her a tight smile as Lainey turns to me and says, “And what did you have, Tyson? Was it Portugal or Spain?”
“Spain. Madrid,” I say, remembering how excited I was at the prospect of seeing the great works of Goya and Velázquez and walking the Camino de Santiago.
“What about that, then?”
“Nah. I don’t fuck with colonizers these days.”
“Huh?” Lainey says.
I break it down for her as succinctly as I can. “I’m not interested in romanticizing Europe anymore. I know too much.”
“Okay. So once again: where would you go? If you hate the beach and you’re not down with Europe?” Lainey asks, as if that doesn’t leave huge chunks of six other continents.
“I didn’t say Europe—I said colonizers. There are plenty of European countries who never rolled up on anyone—” I start rattling them off: Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Cyprus, Finland, Belarus, Montenegro, Iceland.
“Okay. What about one of those?” Lainey says.
“What about Burundi?” I say, just to mess with her.
“Oh. That sounds nice!” Lainey says. “Is Burundi tropical?”
“Yes,” I say. “It’s in Africa. Beside Rwanda and Tanzania.”
“Love that!” she says. “Do they have luxury safaris?”
“Nope,” I say. “No safaris in Burundi.”
“Beaches?”
“Nope. It’s landlocked.”
“So what do they have?”
“Well, let’s see,” I say. “They have high rates of corruption and crime and the lowest per capita GDP in the world. But I’m sure we would all feel very grateful for our current lives if we went there.”
“You’re impossible,” Lainey says, then looks at Hannah. “Tell him to cooperate.”
“Y’all,” Hannah says. “This isn’t a real thing, is it? Because there’s no way I can travel right now—”
“Why not?” Lainey says.
“Because we’re slammed at work. We have three huge installations coming up—and a photoshoot with Southern Living.”
“Jada wouldn’t let you get away for a bit? Given the circumstances?” Lainey asks, referring to Hannah’s boss.
“She might,” I say. “For a couple days. But certainly not for multiple weeks.”
“You could always just quit,” Lainey says with a breezy shrug. “Like Tyson.”
“I can’t just quit, Lainey,” Hannah says. “I need the money. I’m not a famous actor.”
“I’m not a famous actor, either,” Lainey says. “I’m a working actor. And I’m sure you have more savings than I do. You’re so good with money.”
“Not lately, unfortunately,” Hannah says. “I’ve spent way too much on that stupid house—” She inhales sharply, then lets out a long sigh.
“I thought Grady bought the house with his trust fund?”
“He did. But I’ve been paying for the furniture—”
“That’s such bullshit,” Lainey says. “He needs to pay you back for all of that…. And you need to sell your ring. That sucker would fund the whole trip.”
“You think I should sell it?” Hannah asks, as I notice that it’s no longer on her finger. She must have taken it off when she went back to her bedroom. It’s a good sign.
“Of course you should sell it,” Lainey says. “Why would you ever want to keep it?”
“Well, don’t you think he’s going to ask for it back?”
“Probably will. But tough shit,” Lainey says.
“I agree,” I say. “That ring is legally yours, Hannah.”
“Are you sure about that?” she asks.
“I’d have to look up Georgia law to confirm,” I say. “But most states say that an engagement ring is a gift. He could try to argue that it was a conditional gift—dependent upon marriage—but I bet Georgia has a ‘dirty hands doctrine.’?”
“I’d say he has dirty hands!” Lainey laughs.
“Which means if he did something to break the contract, the ring is yours,” I say.
“Okay. But is keeping it the right thing to do?” Hannah asks.
“C’mon, Hannah. Don’t play the martyr here,” Lainey says.
I nod emphatically. For once, Lainey and I are a unified front. “She’s right,” I say. “About the ring and the trip.”
Lainey and Hannah both look at me, surprised.
“I think it’d be great for you to get away for a couple weeks. Clear your head.”
Hannah bites her lip and nods. “Maybe. I guess I could talk to Jada…see what she says.”
Lainey is now off to the races, establishing the ground rules. Everyone will pick a destination, and no vetoes allowed, whether it’s a beach or Burundi.
“Fine,” I say. “No vetoes. I’m cool with that.”
Lainey nods, then says, “We’ll leave next week.”
“Next week?” Hannah says.
“Yes,” Lainey says. “No time like the present…YOLO, bitches.”
Later that night, after the girls have gone to bed and I’ve fallen asleep on the couch, I’m awakened by a tap on my shoulder. I open my eyes and find Hannah standing over me.
Startled, I ask if she’s okay.
“Yes. I just wanted to talk,” she whispers, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the sofa so we’re eye level. “I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I think I’m going to pick Texas,” she says, swallowing. “For my destination.”
“Why in the world would you do that?”
“Lainey’s sisters live there. I just did some digging. One lives in Dallas—the other one is in a small town called Dripping Springs.”
“And? So?”
“I think Lainey needs to meet them. Her mother’s gone. She has no family left. It’s a gaping hole in her life—and I really think she needs to try to fill it….”
“Maybe you’re right,” I say. “And maybe it would help with her drinking.”
“Exactly,” Hannah says. “I’ve tried to talk to her about that—”
“So have I—”
“But she refuses.”
“I know.”
“Maybe if she got this big family secret out in the open—she could…I don’t know…rest a bit,” Hannah says.
I nod. It isn’t the first time that Hannah and I have discussed Lainey’s drinking—which seems to have gotten worse since the pandemic and her mother’s death. But it’s the first time it’s occurred to me that it could have something to do with a vacuum in her life. I think of my own parents and shudder just imagining what it will be like when they’re gone.
“That’s really nice of you, Hannah. But you’re the one in the middle of a crisis. Not Lainey. You should pick somewhere you want to go.”
“Maybe so. But if you think about it, Lainey’s crisis was her mother passing. And we couldn’t be there for her.”
“We did what we could,” I say, thinking of how often I called Lainey during that time.
“I know, but we can do more now.”
I nod, feeling a surge of admiration for Hannah’s big heart.
“I guess it’s worth a try,” I say.
“Definitely.” Hannah smiles. “And it will be an adventure.”
“It’s always an adventure with Lainey,” I say. “But I really don’t think she’ll agree to this.”
“Well, she’s going to have to,” Hannah says with a worried smile. “No vetoes. Remember?”
“Diabolical,” I say, reaching out from under my blanket to give her a fist bump. “Downright cold-blooded.”