Chasing Sunsets (17 page)

T
YLER WAS THRILLED when
he heard about the Last Time In program. It was the first time since the shooting that he and Sami felt there was something they could do. Something that might help the kids on the streets. The youth center alone wasn’t enough. Tyler agreed with Marcus.

Mary Catherine had presented the idea, and now Sami was on board, too. Tonight, though, Tyler didn’t want to think about the prison program or the little boy still fighting for his life at Cedars-Sinai. Even if only for a few hours.

Tonight was the double date with Marcus and Shelly.

Marcus had talked about canceling. He didn’t seem as into Shelly as he’d been at the beginning. But Tyler had talked Marcus into sticking with the plan. Now Marcus and Shelly would meet Tyler and Sami at the restaurant in just a few minutes. Cherry Lane, it was called. A beautiful place situated in the hills above Los Angeles. Tyler walked with Sami through the dining area to a table by the window.

A balcony just off the back gave people a place to admire the view, so after they had their lemon water, Tyler led her outside. He put his arm around her and they looked at the stars. “Reminds me of that night on your grandparents’ roof. All those years ago.”

“Feels like yesterday.” Sami looked into his eyes. “I sort of wish we were having dinner alone. It’s been so crazy.”

“I know.” He took gentle hold of her face and kissed her. “I think Marcus needs tonight.”

“With Shelly?” Sami was clearly trying to be nice. But she couldn’t hide the disdain in her tone. “I don’t get it with them.”

Tyler laughed. “No one does. That’s why he needs tonight. I have a feeling being around us . . . you know, it’ll help him see.”

“See what?”

Certainty filled Tyler. “That she’s not the right girl.”

“I hope so.” Sami looked out over the city. “He never looks at Shelly the way he looks at Mary Catherine.”

“I wondered about that.” Tyler put his arm around her again. “We haven’t had time to talk. Feels like weeks.” He thought about the two of them, Marcus and Mary Catherine. “Does she like him?”

Sami hesitated. “Everything is complicated with Mary Catherine. She hasn’t said, but I can feel it.”

“Time will tell.” Tyler put his hands on her shoulders and faced her. “You look beautiful. If I haven’t told you lately.”

“Not since we pulled into the parking lot.” She grinned at him. “What if I hadn’t found you?”

“What?” He pulled out his most surprised look. “You
didn’t find me, baby. I found you. Remember? On Facebook.”

Sami laughed. “You have a point.” She swayed in his arms. “So what if you hadn’t written to me? Where would we be?”

Times like this Tyler could easily be overcome with the impossibility of all that had led them to this place. His blown out shoulder, his time being homeless, and then his job as a maintenance worker at Merrill Place. But nothing really turned around until Tyler met Virginia Hutcheson. The fact that her daughter knew Marcus Dillinger and would think to contact him on Tyler’s behalf? No one could’ve seen that coming, or the fact that Sami would break up with her boyfriend after her few hours with Tyler in Florida.

A movie script with everything that had happened would have been tossed in the trash. Too impossible.

Yet God had done it all.

“Which reminds me.” Tyler had asked Marcus to be a little late tonight. He had his reasons. “I know it hasn’t been long, you and me. We only found each other a few months ago.”

“That’s not true.” Sami linked her hands around the back of Tyler’s neck. “We found each other when we were kids.”

“True.” Tyler loved her more every day. He let himself get lost in her eyes. “I mean, we’ve only been seeing each other a few months this time around.” He caught her face in his hands. “But I want you to know something.”

“What?” She grinned. The stars overhead had nothing on the sparkle in her eyes.

“I love you, Sami . . .” His words stacked up in his heart and he couldn’t stop himself. “I know you want things be
tween us to go slow. I understand. You and Arnie were serious and . . . well, I don’t want to rush you. But . . . I love you. I do.” Suddenly he stopped and at the same time he started laughing. “Maybe I could let you talk.”

Sami’s smile took up her whole face. “I was wondering.” She laughed and the sound mixed with the music to become the most beautiful thing Tyler had ever heard. “First . . . I love you, too.” Her laughter faded, and her eyes held his. “I’ve always loved you.”

Tyler looked down. Just to make sure he wasn’t floating. He turned to her again. She loved him? “Really?”

“Always.” She brought her lips to his and kissed him. “Every day I wake up and thank God for bringing you back into my life.” She searched his eyes. “I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t written to me.”

“Me either.” Tyler wanted to raise his fists in the air and shout for joy. But he controlled himself. “So . . . I know you said you needed time . . . you just got out of a relationship. But . . . I can’t wait to ask you.” He searched her eyes. “Would you be my girlfriend, Sami? I mean, I’d like to ask you to be more than that.” He grinned at her. “But first things first.”

She dipped her head for a moment, laughing again. When she looked up he saw nothing but absolute assurance in her eyes. “Yes, Tyler. I’d love to be your girlfriend.” She hugged him and the two of them swayed some more. She whispered close to his face. “I thought you’d never ask. With you I’m myself. I feel like I can breathe.”

“You believed in me when no one else did.”

“Always.” She put her head on his shoulder. “Don’t ever leave me.”

“I won’t.” Just then one of their favorite songs came on. James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” “Dance with me?”

“Forever.” They waltzed around the deck, and Tyler could picture where this would go. The wonder of it all filled his heart. But then, wonder was part of the process. Choosing to see and believe, to hold on to faith even when nothing made sense. The way he’d felt a year ago. But all of that might as well have been a lifetime away. Someday soon he would ask her grandfather for her hand in marriage. And one day in the not too distant future they would dance like this at their wedding.

Tyler could hardly wait.

MARCUS AND SHELLY
were fifteen minutes late to dinner, just like Tyler had asked them to be. They reached the table just as Tyler and Sami were returning from the deck out back.

“Hey, guys!” Marcus hugged Tyler, then Sami. Shelly did the same. “You two look happy.”

“It’s official!” Tyler held Sami’s hand as they sat down. “We’re in love.”

Shelly looked confused. “I thought you two were already . . .”

“It’s a long story.” Tyler laughed. “But it’s all good now.”

Marcus looked from his friends to Shelly. He figured she might need more of an explanation, but she was checking her phone. No longer interested in Sami and Tyler. Marcus hated the way that made him feel about her.

Shelly looked at him. “Sweetie, order me a glass of char
donnay. Whatever the waiter recommends.” She winked at him. “Restroom break.” And with that she left the table and headed for the back of the restaurant.

Marcus watched her go. Was she serious? Shelly was only nineteen. He looked at Tyler and put his elbows on the table. “She’s not twenty-one.”

“I was thinking that.” Tyler made a face to show he empathized with him. “Difficult.”

Sami seemed to be checking the ice in her water. She smiled at Tyler and then Marcus. “How was your coffee with Mary Catherine?”

“Short.” Marcus could feel his heart soften at the mention of her name. “Hey, I’m happy for you two. I know Shelly doesn’t get it. But the two of you, it means a lot. Another piece of the most unbelievable story ever.”

“Thanks, man.” Tyler smiled and slipped his arm around Sami’s shoulders. “How are things with you and Shelly?”

Marcus furrowed his brow. “I’m trying to figure it out, but it’s not really working. I mean . . . just being around you two, it’s kind of obvious. She’s very young.”

The waitress came, and Marcus ordered a Perrier and lime for Shelly. She returned to the table as the drinks were being delivered. Marcus had no idea how she would react. She looked at the drink and then at him. “Tell me this is a Tanqueray and tonic.”

“Perrier and lime.” He smiled at her. “Come on, Shelly. You’re not old enough. No one else is drinking.”

“Are you serious?” Shelly rolled her eyes. She was clearly frustrated. “I’ve been drinking since I was seventeen. You know that.”

This was getting awkward. It was as if Shelly didn’t remember Tyler and Sami sitting right across from them. “Well. Drinking’s not my thing. I think
you
know that.”

“Fine.” She raised one eyebrow at him. “Your loss. I’m a better date after a few glasses of wine.”

“I’ll have to settle for sober.” Marcus wished he could dig a tunnel beneath the table, usher Shelly back to the car, and take her home. He smiled weakly at her and then at his friends. “Are we ready to order?”

The entire night continued that way, in fits and starts. Shelly never found the social rhythm that his dates usually found. He felt himself counting down the minutes, glad that it was only a dinner date and not an all-day hike. Something he couldn’t have gotten out of.

Throughout dinner, Shelly hung on his elbow. She would pat his arm and lean up and kiss his cheek. Already people were looking at their table, the way they sometimes did if they recognized him as the pitcher for the Dodgers. But with Shelly acting this way, they drew even more attention. The kind of attention that didn’t seem to have anything to do with his being a baseball player.

Before dinner ended, Shelly looked over her shoulder. “You think the paparazzi might be here? You know, waiting for us outside?” She fixed her hair. “I’ve always wanted to be in the tabloids!”

Marcus folded his napkin on his plate. That was all. He smiled at Tyler and Sami. “Early morning for me tomorrow. Running stairs again.”

“No!” Shelly gasped. Her voice was definitely louder than anyone else’s around them. “Not with your injured leg!”

“My leg’s fine.” Marcus could feel the stares they were getting. “Anyway”—he slid four twenties to Tyler—“this is for the bill. I think we’ll get going.”

Tyler stood and so did Sami. Another round of hugs and Tyler seemed to try to ease the awkwardness. “I have to be in early, too. Fun dinner, though.”

Shelly was still sitting down.

“We’re not leaving! Please tell me we’re not leaving!” Her voice was whiny and high-pitched. She wanted to be noticed. There could be no other explanation. So someone would realize who Marcus was and just maybe take their picture.

Marcus felt anger well up inside him. How could he have thought this would be a good time? He clenched his jaw and reached for Shelly’s hand. “Come on. I really do have an early day tomorrow.”

Thankfully, she stood and slinked up next to him like they were attached at the hip.

“Well, you two lovebirds.” Shelly waved her fingers. “It’s been real!” She nuzzled Marcus’s neck. “Till next time!”

On the way out, Shelly whispered to him, “No one’s home at my house. I planned it that way.”

Marcus ignored her. Dating Shelly reminded him of every wrong girl he’d ever been with. He felt sick about it. What had he been thinking?

Once they were inside his Hummer, Marcus turned to her. “Shelly.”

“Yes, love?” She leaned forward, so her low cut blouse left nothing to the imagination.

Marcus kept his eyes on hers. “Look. Tonight . . . it wasn’t good.”

She seemed to come to her senses. “What do you mean?”

“Everything.” He took a jagged breath. “You seemed really pushy.”

“It’s a date.” She sat back against the passenger door and crossed her arms. “How was I supposed to act?”

Like Mary Catherine
,
he wanted to say. Instead he found a dose of compassion. “It’s fine. Let’s just go.”

They drove home in silence, and Marcus turned up the radio. Otherwise the silence would’ve been deafening. He kept his right hand on the wheel so she wouldn’t think about trying to hold it. There was no point explaining how he felt. Maybe it wasn’t all Shelly’s fault. Ever since his walk with Mary Catherine, since her question that night, he found himself wondering the same thing. Who was pursuing whom? And why couldn’t he stop comparing Shelly to Mary Catherine?

Marcus walked her up to her front door, but before she could press up against him, he kissed her cheek. “Goodnight, Shelly.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” She batted her eyes. She looked sad, but her eyes were dry.

“We aren’t in an official relationship. We’re just dating.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked down the stairs. He didn’t wait for Shelly’s response as he climbed behind the wheel of his SUV and drove off. Only then did he actually feel like he could take a breath. What in the world was
he thinking, dating Shelly Wayne? He needed to talk to Coach and explain that things weren’t working with her. And not just because of Shelly’s antics.

But because all night long the face that filled his heart and mind wasn’t Shelly’s.