The Fix (Carolina Connections #1) (18 page)

“Only
if it starts with ‘w’ and ends with ‘ine!’” came Fiona’s answer as she and
Rocco descended the ladder.

“Who
do you think you’re talking to?!” Laney shouted back and headed back into the
kitchen.

Fiona
and Rocco approached the table, Fiona rubbing at her hands trying to wipe the
dirt off. “I swear this red clay dirt is so hard to wash off sometimes,” Fiona
commented.

“You
should use douche,” suggested Rocco as casually as can be, wiping his own hands
on his jeans.

We
all froze. Well, all of us but Rocco. His only parent was currently inside and
had not heard what Rocco said and I think the three of us were all just waiting
for each other to come up with the correct response. Nothing.

Just
as Laney came out the door Gavin hissed at Fiona and me, “Do. Not. Tell. Laney.
I like my balls where they are.”

Now Accepting Applications for a Corner
Man

Laney

It
was official. I was in love. And everything all those damn movies and romance
novels said was all true. Well, almost. Nate couldn’t get it up ten times in a
night and doing it against a wall was ridiculously difficult, not to mention
entirely impractical. But all the parts about food tasting better and jokes
being funnier and finding yourself with a great big smile during a boring-ass
meeting? All true. It was a little like being drunk but still able to operate a
moving vehicle and hold down your day job. I was saying hello to complete
strangers at the grocery store and complimenting them on their outfits. I was
singing in my car and getting caught by other drivers at stoplights and not
caring in the least. All I had to do was think about that sexy man and I turned
into a fool.

Neither
of us had said anything regarding our genuine feelings yet, but I had a hunch
his heart was right in line with mine. Or at least I hoped it was. Not a day
had gone by without Nate sporting the scruff I’d told him I liked so much, so
that had to mean something, right?

And
everything else was going well too. Rocco seemed to like his new daycare a lot
better and I was really excited to see him start to engage with some of the
other kids. The nose twitching was still around sometimes but was not nearly as
prevalent as it had been. And he and Nate were getting along really well. Now I
just had to tackle asking Rocco how he’d feel about Nate having “sleepovers” at
our house. Part of me felt like it was too soon but my gut was telling me this
was
it
. Nate was
the one
.

I’d
finally introduced my parents to Nate over Skype last week. Yeah, that wasn’t weird
at all. But he felt that since we’d spent a few evenings with his parents
already, it was time to meet mine. Luckily Rocco dominated the online conversation
as he usually did so it all turned out okay in the end.

Fiona
was still in a Terrence-free zone but hadn’t had a date with anyone else as far
as I knew. She and Nate got along well too, which was a big bonus since I spent
so much time with her. And Nate being Gavin’s boss hadn’t turned out to be as
awkward as I’d feared. They hung out like friends when Nate was at our house
and Gavin still seemed to like his job so all was good.

Until
it wasn’t.

It
was Thursday after work and Nate let himself in the front door as usual. Rocco
and I had been home for a little while and I was chopping vegetables,
pretending to know what to do with them, while Rocco watched cartoons in the
living room. As soon as Nate entered the kitchen I could feel a weird vibe. He
didn’t come over and kiss me right away like he usually did so that was my
confirmation that something was wrong. He dragged his fingers through his
sweaty, matted hair and set down his hoodie.

“Hey,
mind if I jump in the shower? I’m a mess.”

“Sure.
You okay?”

“I
don’t know…” he hedged. “We’ll talk later.”

That
did not sound good. Not at all. My first instinct was to follow him into the
bedroom and make him talk. But then I forced myself to think like a guy and I
left him alone for the moment as he’d asked.

Dinner
was very quiet. Gavin hadn’t come home to eat, which wasn’t unusual, but it
would have been nice to have someone else to relieve the tension at the table.
Nate was stewing and even Rocco’s chatter wasn’t enough to rouse him. I just
spent the time responding to Rocco and asking him about his day.

When
dinner was over, Nate grabbed his hoodie and started to open his mouth to speak.
I cut him off before he could get one word out. “You don’t need to tell me
everything if you don’t want to, but you don’t get to leave here without saying
at least something.” I leaned against the stove and waited.

He
set his sweatshirt back down and then his hand went back to his hair. “It’s
nothing, it’s just…well, have you seen Gavin today?”

I
looked at him warily. “No. I usually leave before he gets up. Did something
happen to him?”

“No,
I don’t think so.”

“Stop
worrying me, Nate. Wasn’t Gavin at work today?”

“No.
He never showed.”

“Are
you sure? Maybe he was at a different site today or something.”

“Laney,
I’m his foreman.”

“Well
there has to be a good reason, right?” But I was feeling uneasy all the same.

“I’m
pretty sure there’s a reason alright.” He sighed and then threw his hand out to
the side. “This sucks.”

“What
aren’t you telling me?”

“Gavin
asked me earlier this week if he could take today off. I told him he hadn’t
earned vacation yet so the answer was ‘no’.”

“Okay,
that makes sense I guess. Why did he need the day off?”

“He
didn’t say. He just said he had something he needed to do and it could only be
done today. But he seemed okay when I turned him down.”

I
approached him and put my hands to his chest. “Nate, I’m sorry he put you in
this situation. I hope there is a good explanation and this can all be worked
out, but it sucks that you were put in the middle like this.”

“No,
it goes with the job, regardless of who my girlfriend is.” His hands ran up and
down my arms. “The problem is that now I’ll have to dock his pay and put him on
probation. I’m worried he’s not going to take it well and I don’t want him
taking it out on you. He can be pissed at me, but he knew the consequences and
I know things can sometimes be tense between you two.”

He
wasn’t wrong. And I was pissed and disappointed that Gavin had put Nate in this
position. Things had been going so well and I’d thought the big dope had
finally grown up a bit. Where in the world could he be and how could it be
important enough to risk his job? Not to mention disrespecting Nate like that.

“Listen,
I’m sorry I’m being so moody. If it’s okay with you I’m just going to go home.
I don’t really want to run into Gavin tonight and I’ll have a more level head
in the morning if and when he shows up to work.”

I
told him I understood and gave him the biggest hug I could muster.

Damn
you, Gavin!

***

It
was eleven o’clock when I heard the front door shut – smoothly, thanks to
Nate’s handy-work. Gavin’s footsteps were hardly audible and I’m sure he
assumed I was asleep, not waiting to strike like the freaking rattlesnake I was
feeling like at this moment.

“Where
in the hell have you been?”

He
jumped and his hand covered his heart. Good, I scared the shit out of him. He
quickly regained his composure. “None of your business,
Mom
. Go to bed.”

“It
is my business when, a) you have me worried you’re dead in a ditch somewhere and,
b) my boyfriend is your boss and you decided to play hooky like you’re sixteen
again and put him in a really difficult spot.

“See,
I knew it was a bad idea for you guys to date. I totally saw this coming!”

“You
saw yourself acting like an irresponsible dipshit again?”

“I
wasn’t being irresponsible. I weighed my options and decided that the
consequences of skipping work were worth it.”

“Oh,
this should be good. What exactly could have been more important? Were you
donating a kidney?”

“Don’t
be such a bitch. I went to see Coach Willis.” He inched closer to the couch.

“Why?”
I was utterly confused.

“He
called me up this weekend and told me he’d be in Charlotte and wanted to see
me. But he was only going to be there today. I thought…I thought.
Goddammit!
I thought he was calling because he wanted me back on a team. I don’t know what
the hell I was thinking, I just got the call and I couldn’t
not
go.” He
slumped onto the couch next to me and his head dropped back.

He
was looking pretty pathetic so I calmed myself down a bit. “What did he really
want?”

“He’s
got some camps he’s working with and wanted to know if I wanted a temp job
coaching some kids. And he said he missed seeing my ugly mug so he asked me to come
in person.”

I
didn’t know what to say.

“I
don’t want to coach some snot nosed kids. I want to
play
. I was supposed
to play.”

I
remained silent and rubbed his arm. My heart broke for him.

But
only for a second because then he went and pissed me right off.

“I’m
quitting the construction job and going to Virginia.”

My
back got so straight I could have taught an etiquette class. “You what?! Are
you joking?”

“No.
I’m just not cut out for this.”

“Not
cut out for what? Being an adult?” I had officially lost the calm I had
regained. I leapt off the couch and my finger pointed right in his face. I
couldn’t have stopped myself if I’d tried – the urge to rant at him had been
bottled up for so long I just exploded.

“You
lived in Mom and Dad’s house for two years and never got a job – never paid a
dime. You let them buy you a Jeep, for Christ’s sake – it may be a shitty one
but you still let them pay for it. They were so afraid you were going to fall
apart and so disappointed
for
you that they would have done anything –
and you let them!

“You
acted like a spoiled child whose favorite toy had been taken away and you let
them wait on you hand and foot. It only took eight weeks to recover from your
injury – an injury that was a direct result of your goddamned impulsive nature,
by the way – but you milked the hell out of it and acted like a whiny baby. You
took advantage of them and refused to grow the fuck up and take responsibility.”

I
couldn’t seem to stop. “So life didn’t turn out how you wanted it to – join the
fucking club. Do you think that I lay in my bed as a child dreaming of my
future life as a single mom pinching pennies and working a boring ass job to
make ends meet? – And don’t even think of throwing the help I got from Mom and
Dad in my face. I know I was damn lucky to have them and I appreciated the hell
out of it. Never did I take it for granted, and I pulled my weight as best I
could. I got dealt a bad hand and took it on the chin, unlike you. I picked
myself up and moved on because that’s what it is to be an adult.”

I
was so worked up by this point I felt like I needed a corner man to wipe my
face down.

But
Gavin was up and facing off with me and had been swiping my finger aside
repeatedly. He had come to fight too. “You got dealt a bad hand?! Ha! You
decided to spread your legs for some douchebag with a guitar and suffered the
consequences. I chose to get on that motorcycle and you chose to be a slut, so
don’t paint me with a different brush, Laney. We both fucked up. The only
difference is that my fuck up killed the only dream I’ve ever had in my entire
life! Yours just changed the timing of what your life had in store for you anyway.”

He
laughed without a trace of humor. “You got an awesome kid out of your fuck-up,
and if I asked you on your worst day if you’d change one thing about how your
cards fell you would always say ‘no’ because a ‘yes’ would mean you wouldn’t
have Rocco. You ask me the same thing and I’d answer ‘yes’ every single time. I
would give anything to change that night and get my career back. There is no
fallback or plan B. There’s nothing.

“So
you go ahead and be all superior and call me an idiot like I know you love to
do, but you will never understand what it’s like to be me and lose the one
dream you ever had. You’ve got Rocco, you’ve got your new house, you’ve got
your perfect boyfriend, and you’ve even got the fuckwad California kid to fund
your life. Wow, I feel so sorry for you!” he sneered and started to walk away.

Then
he continued over his shoulder, “Now, if it’s alright with you I think I’ll go
get drunk with Brett because unlike my sister who’s supposed to have my back,
he has never failed me. Tell Rocco I’ll catch him tomorrow and tell Nate
whatever the hell you want to.”

He
tried to storm out the door but I stepped right in his way. “You don’t get to drop
the mic and stomp out of here. You talk about your dead dreams and, yeah, it
sucks ass that you didn’t get to play pro ball, but you could do anything else
in the world! You didn’t even bother to finish college. Mom and Dad were
standing there, money in hand, offering to help you finish. You could have
chosen anything, but getting drunk with Brett was what you chose – it’s what
you always choose!”

He
tried to push me aside but I wasn’t done. “And as for my dreams? I never had a
chance to even figure out what they were – I didn’t get the time to. I was
going to get a four year degree and a chance to figure out my future on my own
time. Instead I’m stuck in a cubicle for the rest of my life doing a job Brett
could probably do hungover.”

Gavin
rounded on me and shoved his finger in my face. “You’re so full of shit. You
curse me for taking advantage of Mom and Dad and then you tell me I should have
taken their money for college? Which is it? And if you hate your job so damn
much, why don’t you just quit?!” he hissed in my face and pushed me aside to
reach the door.