Spanish Bay (9 page)

Stacy, sitting next to Neil, saw it too. “Neil, you are one lucky fella! The way Chris is looking at you—that lovesick puppy—makes me all envious. I wish Curt would look at me that way, but I barely ever see his eyes. They’re usually focused on my tits. Sometimes I wish I were playing on your team.”

Her comment almost cracked him up. Stacy was the hottest girl in class, the lead cheerleader, and she’d been dating the quarterback of the football team—
what a cliché
—for the past two years. They had seemed inseparable. For her to say something like that to him—a guy she’d normally not even dignify with a look—either meant she was weighed down by the significance of the ceremony or that she had indeed grown up. Maybe, just maybe, life outside high school would be different.

Neil studied her and noted a genuine hint of sadness in her eyes. “Trouble in paradise? I thought you and Curt were such a tight-knit couple?”

She shrugged. “High school, you know the rules. Football jock banging cheerleader. Yeah, for a while I thought I loved him, but lately I realize that maybe it was just sex, a game. He’s going to Tucson on a football scholarship, and I’m off to UCLA. I doubt we’ll see much of each other in the future. What about you? How are you and Chris going to handle this transition?”

Neil sighed heavily. “Well, Chris has a meeting with Sally today, to talk about the café. She’s only been awake for a few days, and she’s not doing well. I guess a lot rides on that meeting today…”

Stacy leaned in and kissed Neil on the cheek. “You guys are going to be fine. I can see how much you love each other. I’m sure you’ll find a way to make this work. Just remember to always be honest with each other. It’s the very foundation of any successful relationship.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, for good measure.

“Thanks for the advice. I had no idea you were a relationship counselor.”

“Ha! It’s just something my mom always said. I guess she and my dad never really heeded that advice, which is probably why he fucked around so much, and why she became a drunk…”

Neil had no response to that, but he noticed Chris watching him, and he was still holding Stacy’s hand. Unable to say anything across the distance, he simply mouthed the words, hoping that Chris would understand,
I love you!
Chris smiled happily.

After the ceremony, Sarah and Joe invited Chris to join them for lunch, and all five of them drove back to the place above Spanish Bay, where they had eaten lunch after their first visit to the hospital, for some seafood—Neil’s favorite. For a few hours, the family let go of all the problems, challenges and issues and just celebrated life, love and what it meant to be together and care for each other. Phil and Chris were bantering incessantly, and Neil was happy to see his kid brother getting along so well with his boyfriend.

Boyfriend.
Who’d have thought, just a couple of months ago, that I’d meet someone like Chris.
In all the stories he’d been told by adults around him, they were dating all through college, experimenting, having sex with different people, and most of them only settled down after college, way into their twenties. And here he was, nineteen, but when he looked into those honey-brown eyes, losing himself in them, he was absolutely certain that Chris would be it, the one. How could he know? How
did
he know? Neil had no doubts; he just wondered what made him feel so certain about his emotions, and—even more incomprehensible—that Chris felt exactly the same. They were like two magnets, plus and minus, being drawn to each other, pulled closer and closer by some unknown force. Neil knew, he simply knew, that they would never separate again.

Lunch was drawing to a close, and a look at his watch almost had Chris fall backward out of his chair. “Shit, I need to leave. I promised Samantha I’d be at the hospital by three to see Sally. I better hurry.”

“Go,” said Sarah. “Drive carefully, and come by the house tonight to fill us in, will you? Give our best to Sally.”

Chris got up and took his leave, but not without kissing Neil. “I’ll be down at the café as soon as I can, okay?”

“Sure, no worries. Now go, don’t keep Sally waiting!”

Joe was confused. “Café? Are you going to work on your graduation day?”

“Yes, Dad. I don’t feel like going down to the beach anyway, not with my chair.”

Joe wasn’t happy. “Neil, I appreciate that you want to help Chris, and I get it that you guys are all chummy right now, but this is your life we’re talking about. You only graduate once in your life. You’ve worked hard for twelve years—thirteen if we count the one we lost to your illness—to reach this day. Do you really want to miss it just because of a fling with a guy you only met a couple of months ago? I mean, we like Chris a lot, he’s a nice enough kid, but what prospects can he offer you? He’s got no education, and I’m sure you’ve noticed that he’s not the brightest—”

Sarah butted in, “Not that there is anything wrong with not having an education. What your father is trying to say is, keep your options open. Don’t lock yourself into a relationship now. You’re only nineteen, and college is usually a lot of fun. Who knows who you might meet there? And what happens if Sally sells the café and Chris finds himself out of a job? Do you really think he’ll stick around? There’s hardly any jobs for people like him around here.”

Neil couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then again, hadn’t he asked himself the same questions before? “Look, Mom, Dad, Chris may not be a candidate for Mensa, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a good person. I love him, and that’s the end of it.”

Joe shook his head. “Son, you’re hardly qualified, nor experienced enough in the matter, to take the L-word into your mouth. What you think you’re experiencing is puppy love, and that’s fine, but it won’t last. Sooner or later, you two will have a fight, you’ll say things you regret, and you’ll realize that it was just hormones, craziness. And you’ll end up hating yourself for having missed your own graduation party on account of Chris, not to mention blaming us for not pushing you harder to get out there. Son, you have to sow your oats. You’re nineteen, for Christ’s sake!” Joe had worked himself into a rage now. “You’re not telling me that this half-wit is the one, are you?”

Neil turned around and rolled away. He wasn’t in the mood to dignify his father with a response. He was crying; the words he’d heard had been very painful. He was relieved only by the fact that this parents hadn’t said those awful things in front of Chris. But if that’s how they felt, then he’d no longer stay in the house. He pulled out his phone and had dialed the local “handicap cab” when his mother approached him from behind and took the phone from him.

“Your dad is an idiot. He doesn’t mean even half the things he said. He’s in there feeling sorry. Don’t do anything to aggravate the situation. Let’s not make it worse than it is, shall we?” She motioned for him to turn around and go back in, but Neil could be as stubborn as his dad.

“Why should I aggravate the situation? You heard what he said about Chris. He’s not a half-wit, he’s got the biggest heart and kindest soul, and we love each other. How could that be wrong?”

Sarah kneeled in front of her son. “I think that’s wonderful. If that is really, truly how you feel. And if Chris and you are destined for each other, then you have my and your dad’s blessing. We just worry. We want to make sure—we
have
to make sure as parents—that you are absolutely certain about him, about you, and about each other.”

“Mom, I’m nineteen. I’ve never been in love before, and nobody except my family has ever loved me or shown any interest in me. How can I know if there ever will be another? Chris is good to me, and he sees me, not the chair. How can I ignore that?”

“I know. He’s an amazing person. Nobody is questioning that. What we are asking you is, how can you be sure that he is the only person who will ever see you for who you truly are? How can you know you’re the right person for him?”

“I don’t, not with absolute certainty. I don’t think anyone can honestly ever say that they know. Did you know that about dad when you first met? Are there other people out there, somewhere among the seven billion humans, that would be a good, a perfect fit for me? Probably. But they aren’t here. They didn’t pick me up from the street. They didn’t clean the sand from my wounds. They weren’t at my graduation, Mom.

“Chris was, and I have faith in him. And I believe, quite honestly, that love is more than just chemistry. It’s hard work, the desire to make a relationship successful. Remember when I first got the chair? How the doctors said that my legs would get weaker and my muscles would deteriorate continuously? Remember? But look at my legs. They look almost the same as they always have—not because I still walk on them, but because I exercise, I work hard.

“Four years ago, the doctors told me how my life would be, how dependent I’d be on the help of others, and look at me now. I’m helping out in a café, I have a job, and I do it well, despite my chair. Don’t you think I can make this relationship work? I’m sure there will be rainy days. I’m sure there will be challenges ahead, but I love Chris, and I know he loves me. That is all I need to know to commit to what we have. Can you understand that? Can you and Dad respect me for that?”

“Wow.” Sarah had tears in her eyes. “Look at you, all grown up. What happened to my baby son? What did you do with him?” She fell into her son’s arms and hugged him for what seemed like an eternity.

“What’s going on here? Did we miss something?” Joe asked from behind, his voice subdued, as he and Phil came out into the restaurant lobby. “I’ve paid our check, and we can leave if you’re ready.”

Sarah gave Joe a look, and he stopped in his tracks. “Erm, uh, I’m sorry, son, for what I said. I really like Chris. I hope you understand that.”

Neil nodded, and Sarah got back up and added, “I’ll have you know that my dad called this one a half-wit quite a few times while we were dating, and then some.”

Joe seemed surprised. “What? Your old man called me a half-wit?”

“Half-wit, airhead, pothead…you name it. At least the last one was quite appropriate! Come on, let’s get out of here. Neil needs to get to work.”

***

Samantha watched Chris walk into the hospital room, wondering what Sally saw in the kid, but then again, she had learned early on not to question her sister. Stroke or no stroke, if Sally had made up her mind, she wouldn’t budge. Maybe Chris had finally filled a spot in Sally’s heart where other women store their love for their kids? For some reason, Sally had never found love, never had any children of her own. She’d always been happiest on her own, in her house, far above the coast, overlooking the town that had adopted her.

With all the people coming in and out of her café, Sally had once told Samantha she needed the solitude at night. Then Chris had shown up and touched Sally somehow. Samantha didn’t see it, couldn’t fathom how, but here he was, with flowers, carefully approaching the hospital bed where her sister lay.

“Hello, Sally.” Chris put the flowers down and grabbed Sally’s hand. “How are you doing? You had us all very worried.”

Sally looked at him, and gestured with her eyes for him to sit down. Chris took a seat.

“Sally still has a lot of trouble talking,” Samantha explained. “It is very tiring. But over these past days we’ve managed to piece together her will and what she wants to do…” She trailed off, trying to gather her thoughts, and keep her smile. She had no intention of scaring the kid any more than he already was. “Sally wants you to run the café, as yours.”

Chris seemed shocked. “But, uh, I, uh, I don’t have the money to buy it.”

“You don’t have to. Not yet anyway. Here’s what we’re suggesting. You can lease the café and pay Sally a monthly fee, and we can discuss it. I guess you know approximately how much turnover you have, and what the profit margins are. If not, I’d be happy to help you go over the numbers. We’ll agree on a fair price, and I’ll have the contracts drawn up. It will also include an option for you to buy the property if you want to do so.”

“Wow,” Chris managed to squeeze out of his mouth, “Sally, Samantha, I don’t know what to say.” He felt Sally squeeze his hand, and only then he realized he’d never let go of it. She smiled at him, and looked to Samantha to speak for her.

“You don’t have to make up your mind today, Chris. Go home, think about it for a couple of days. I’ll be taking my sister home to New York with me at the end of the week. We’ve secured a spot in an amazing rehab facility in Manhattan, where she’ll be in excellent care. We leave Friday morning, and I think Sally would love to hear the answer from you personally.”

Chris looked at Sally who nodded. “Thaa-ng uuu!”

“Thank you, Sally. I’ll have an answer for you by Thursday night, I promise.”

Chris got up and took his leave from the two sisters. Samantha followed him with her gaze, wondering what her sister saw in that kid. It certainly wasn’t ambition, or drive. If anything, the responsibility she was trying to unload on him seemed to weigh him down. Samantha wasn’t sure if they were doing the right thing.

***

When Chris came by the café after his meeting with Sally, he seemed pensive, and inside Neil, alarms began to go off.

“You okay? What happened? Is Sally okay? What about the café?”

“She wants me to take over. She wants me to run Sally’s. Can you believe it? She’s moving back east, to some rehab facility in New York, to be closer to her family. But I have to make up my mind before Friday. What am I going to do? I don’t have the money to buy the café, and I’m not sure I have the skill set to run it. I’m not exactly Einstein here, I don’t know the first thing about books and taxes. Manage the café is one thing—all I have to do is open and close, make sure we have the supplies we need—but run the place?”

Neil forced Chris to sit down in his lap, and he held him while he came up with the right words to say. “Hey, listen, you’ll be a great boss. You can learn to do books; you can learn to file taxes. You’re just scared, because you’ve never done it. I mean, just a few weeks ago, you had never made an espresso from one of those fancy machines, and look at you now. Look at how you draw those cute drawings in your latte foam.