Forever (16 page)

Roni was crying, but she was also determined.

“She threw him out. He’s back in Wild Horse right now. At the moment, the wedding is on, but that’s only because she hasn’t figured out how to cancel it yet.”

“Idiot.
Fucking idiot,” Scott said. “I knew this was going to fucking happen sometime.”

For a moment, Roni fell silent. “Oh…Footer…I really wish you hadn’t said that.”

“Said what?”

“You KNEW?!! You fucking KNEW? I was hoping you didn’t, but I had a feeling you did. He was off screwing some other girl while Maggie is planning their wedding, and you KNEW?!!!
You bastard.”

“Roni, I didn’t know about this girl,” Scott said. “I had no idea about this.”

“But you knew something, didn’t you? DIDN’T you? You knew he’d been fucking around before? DIDN’T YOU?!!”

Scott’s heart sunk. “Yes, Roni, I did.”

“Ohhhh…. Scotty,” she started sobbing. “How could you? How could you not tell me?”

“I didn’t affect us, Roni,” Scott said, realizing at this point nothing he could say would help his cause.

“You’re goddamn right it affects us, Scott. They are our best friends. You knew and you did nothing.”

“What was I supposed to do? I warned him, lots of times. He just blew me off.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know, Roni. I’m sorry, baby. I guess I should have.”

“Is there anything else you haven’t told me? Have you been fucking around on me, too? You know, like your best friend?”

“NO! Roni, shit, there is no way. I would never do that!
EVER!”

And he meant it. Scott had lost his wandering eye; when he saw an attractive girl, his first thought was always, “She’s almost as pretty as Roni.”

“Footer, right now I don’t know that. Right now, I don’t know anything. Our friend is in so much pain and you could have done something about it. You helped him hide it and for all I know, you’re getting some all over Texas.”

“Baby, there is no way. Rick is bastard and right now, I guess I am too. But I would never cheat on you, Roni. And I would never lie to you.”

“Our life together is supposed to be based on trust. Right now I don’t trust you. And it’s killing me,” she said.

“I’m not saying we’re done and I’m not saying we’re not getting married. But I have a lot to think about. Please do not call me or write the rest of the time you’re there. If I want to talk, I’ll call you.”

“Roni, please…”

“No, Footer. I have to sort this out. You focus on finishing down there. Please do this my way, OK.”

What was he supposed to say at this point? “OK baby. I love you.”

“Good night, Scott.”

The phone went dead. Scott listened to the silence until the dial tone clicked back on, eventually hanging up the receiver. He realized he was actually shaking. He grabbed his cigarettes and walked back out of the room. It was going to be a long 10 days.

The time passed at a snail’s pace. Scott even volunteered for a 24-hour on-call shift at the ER on Saturday, just to keep himself busy. He and Carl went to the Riverwalk on Sunday, and the instructors took the whole class of 15 to the Hemisfair Tower restaurant for dinner the night before graduation. It was great, but Scott’s heart wasn’t in any of it.

“Well, buddy, our last night together,” Carl said as he passed a joint to Scott on the drive back to the Fort. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

“Yeah it has, man. I’m sorry I haven’t been more fun the last week, Swede,” Scott said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I’m scared.”

“Debi and I have been married for three years,” Carl said. “And we’ve been through some really rough times. There have been times I thought we were done, but we always came back to the idea that our love was stronger than our problems. I’ve seen you two enough to believe that’s true.”

Scott smiled as they pulled into the dorm parking lot. He put the Sarge into park, took a last draw of the roach and flicked it on the ground as he opened the door. “I hope you’re right, Swede. I’m not sure what I’d do, otherwise.”

He changed into shorts and a t-shirt and wandered down to the TV room. Carl had to call Debi and check his flight for the next day. They had a 30-day leave,
then they were moving to Fort Carson.

As some movie about the civil rights movement was ending and the 10:00 news began, Carl walked into the room. “You have a phone call.”

He flew down the hallway, then burst through the half-opened door, slamming it behind him. He took a deep breath and picked up the receiver.

“Hi, baby.”

“Hi, Footer. How you doing?”

“Better now. I love you.”

“I love you too, Scott.”

“How is everything up there?”

“Well, for some damn reason, the wedding is still on. They talked. He’s on a pretty short leash, but the wedding is on.”

“I’m glad.”

“Maggie said it’s going to be hard, but they’ve come this far, so they’re going to try.”

“Sounds like a good idea. How are we?”

“You going to Amarillo tomorrow?”

“I thought about driving straight through.”

“You are NOT driving 14 hours straight through, Footer. Tomorrow will be long enough. Getting back at 3 in the morning and making me sit up all night worrying about you isn’t going to do anything but piss me off. Amarillo, RIGHT?”

“Amarillo. I promise.”

“When you get back Saturday, unload the Sarge, then call me. Brooke is in Boulder; Mom and Dad are going to Dillon. We still have a lot to talk about.”

“OK, Roni.”

“Alright, get some sleep. Call me from Amarillo.”

“I love you.”

She sounded so tired, and really nothing was settled, but Scott felt better than he had in more than a week. He had 800-some miles to drive and think, but at the end of the road, at least there was hope.

It was nearing 2:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. The usual hot, humid weather that normally gripped the high plains of eastern Colorado had given way to a steady light rain and temperatures in the low 60s.

Scott had already stopped at his parents’ house to drop off his bags. Before he could leave to see Roni, he had to promise his Mom that they’d come back into town for dinner — ribs on the grill. He hoped he hadn’t misled her.

The Sarge turned north off County Road 9 and up the long lane into McIntyre’s ranch. Scott’s gaze was drawn upward. Roni was out on the balcony, sitting in the porch swing outside her bedroom, wrapped in her big blue blanket. She pointed to the garage and Scott parked inside.

“Grab me a beer on the way up,” she called from the balcony as Scott walked in the side door.

Beers in hand, Scott walked into Roni’s bedroom; it had changed a great deal. The drawing table and all of the art equipment were gone. Boxes were packed or half-packed.

He pushed the screen door open with his foot.

“Hi, baby,” he said. With everything that had happened in the last two weeks, he almost forgot it had been nearly two months since he’d seen her. She stood up and dropped the blanket on the swing. She was wearing cutoffs, a Wild Horse Wrestling t-shirt and the field jacket he bought her at the Fort Riley PX.

Roni stood, took the beer from Scott’s hand,
then slapped him, hard, across the right side of his face. She then turned and sat back down in the rocker and wrapped back up in the blanket.

Scott was too stunned for words, even though he half-expected this reaction. “Roni…”

“Shut up,” she said. She looked so tired. The baby blue eyes were red-rimmed and looked so tired. She fished into her jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of yellow legal paper.

“You made me doubt you. Doubt us. I never wanted to have to do that.

“I am going to ask you some questions,” she said. “Whatever answer you give me, I will accept as the truth, but understand one thing: Whatever answer you give me had better be the truth. If I ever find out anything differently, you will never see me again.”

“OK,” Scott said, sitting down on edge of the balcony. “I’ll answer anything you want.”

“Number One: Since December 16, and not counting you screwing Liz Logan at the State wrestling tournament, have you been with another girl?”

“No, Roni, I haven’t.”

“Number Two: How many girls have you been with, starting with Pam Kistler?”

“
Mmmm…10.”

“Please list them all.”

Scott listed off all 10 girls he’d slept with, although there was the girl at the Who concert at Boulder who he thought was from Fort Collins. It was either Cindy or Carol or something.

“Number Three: Is there a possibility that one of these girls is going to show up someday with a little kid who is a really good kicker and guitar player?”

“Not that I am aware of right now.”

“Last question: You covered up for Rick for years with his cheating, and no matter how many times you say you tried to tell him to stop, you didn’t tell anyone, especially ME? Why do I have any reason whatsoever to trust you now?”

“Because while I never said anything about Rick cheating on Maggie, you need to know I’m not made up that way. I love you, Roni. I want only YOU.

“I can’t even imagine being with anyone else. For every night for the rest of my life I want to go to sleep with you beside me. Every morning for the rest of my life, I want to wake up with you next to me. I want to make love to only you, and have babies and grow old.”

“Mark cheated on me,” Roni said, tears streaming down her face. “Dave Moss cheated on me. Jeff Hutton cheated on me. They all said they loved me too. I just switched to random sex –I became an ‘anybodys’ because it was emotionally safer.

“But then there
was you. And you were there, and you loved me, and I loved you. And finally, finally, FINALLY, I allowed myself to trust again, and then this. I love you sooo much Scott. And I want forever. But I have to trust you. Can I trust you?”

Scott slid across the swing and took Roni’s face in his hands. “Yes. From this day forward, from this moment on, you can trust me Roni. And that’s more important than like or love or lust or any of the rest of it.”

Roni looked deep in his eyes. The baby blue discs had brightened, but they were still drawn and tired. She hugged him around the neck. “Right answer, Footer. Right answer.”

They separated and looked at each other again. “It’s kind of cold, baby. You want to go in?” Scott asked.

“I want to go in. I want to take a long, hot shower. I want you to make love to me. I want forever to start right now.”

Scott stood up and offered her his hands, and led her back inside. He took the blanket off her shoulders and tossed it on the floor, then slipped her jacket off. She turned to face him and
they – in a technique they had mastered over the last few months – pulled off each other’s shirts in one motion.

“We are getting really good at that, Footer.”

“We are really good at lots of things.”

Scott undid her cutoffs and started to take her cute little Bobby Brooks off her butt and down her legs. He took his own shorts and underwear off. They stood there, naked together for a moment and held a long gaze. He took her in his arms and they kissed, long and lovingly. She took his hand and led him into the huge master bath. She started the water and they climbed behind the curtain.

For the next 20 minutes they soaped and rubbed and loved and pleasured one another to incredible satisfaction. The smell of Brut body wash, Herbal Essence Strawberry and Johnson’s Baby Lotion intertwined with the musky smell of sex.

After they cleaned up and dried each off in huge towels, Scott went back into the bedroom and grabbed the blanket.

“Well, we have about three hours until we’re due in for ribs. How about a nap?

“I thought you’d never ask.”

****

CHAPTER 20

The ribs were delicious and spending time with the family was great, but after dinner, Scott had an errand to run.

He turned
Sarge into the stock driveway of Memorial Park and pulled up toward Horse Barn 1. Rick was already there, standing inside the door of the barn. The rain continued to pour down on the steel roofs of the buildings, keeping up a constant drumming.

“OK, I’m here,” Rick said. “What’s the big mystery?”

“We’re going to talk,” Scott said.

“Fuck, Footer,” Rick said, rolling his eyes, “are you going to start on me about this? It’s settled. The wedding is on. Maggie forgave me. It’s none of you business.”

“One: It’s not settled between us. Two: Maggie might be more forgiving than I am. Three: You bet your goddamn ass it’s my business,” Scott said, stepping closer to him with each word.

During Rick and Scott’s lifelong friendship, Scott always played the role of sidekick. All the way through high school, Rick was the leader and Scott was the follower. So, Scott jumping Rick about his wandering ways was out of character. Or at least it always had been.