Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela (25 page)

were done with the subject, until Logan quietly said, ―I never told

anyone else
any
of that before.‖

―Not even Linda?‖

―No.‖

For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was their

synchronized breathing; Nick spent the time contemplating whether or

not Logan‘s revelation required a response from him. When he heard a

soft snore, he knew they really were done talking—for the time being.

His mind occupied with thoughts of fate, guilt, and confessions, Nick

stayed awake while Logan napped.

FULLY dressed and freshly showered, Nick stood over the bed and

jostled it deliberately. Logan cracked open first one eye and then the

other before saying, ―You want somethin‘, Nick?‖

―Yeah, I wanta know if you‘re gettin‘ up.‖

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151

Logan rolled over and stretched, saying, ―I doubt it. Not after

comin‘ twice not more ‘an…‖ he grabbed his watch and finished, ―a

hour ago.‖ While Nick enjoyed a laugh, Logan asked, ―What‘s your

hurry? You got somewhere else you gotta be?‖

―Well, if I‘m not mistaken, I saw some of the T-bird‘s parts in the

back of your truck, and I figured we got some work to do. Seein‘ as it‘s

almost four, I think we‘d better get to the garage. Soon.‖

―Shit,‖ Logan exclaimed, jumping to his feet. ―I almost forgot

about that. Just give me a sec.‖

―You always like this after sex?‖

As he disappeared into the bathroom, Logan tossed over his

shoulder, ―No. I ain‘t.‖

Rather than ponder that statement for long, Nick yelled through

the closed door, ―You hungry?‖

Logan popped his head out of the bathroom, a towel around his

neck. ―Now that you mention it, I could eat a horse.‖

―There‘s a pretty good takeout place down the street. I could pick

us up some burgers and meet you at Acken‘s. Sound good?‖

―Sounds great.‖

Nick headed for the door, asking, ―Want beer or pop?‖

A frown appeared on Logan‘s face. He leaned against the

doorframe and started sternly, ―No beer—‖ He seemed to catch himself

and amended, ―No beer for me when I‘m workin‘. Pop is fine.‖

Nick reflected briefly before answering evenly, ―Yeah, I can see

that. Pop for me, too.‖ He moved to leave but stopped with his hand on

the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, Nick resolved to follow through on

a decision he‘d made while Logan slept. Turning back to the room‘s

interior, he looked at Logan and said, ―Listen, thanks for tellin‘ me that,

about your brother. Couldn‘t‘ve been easy.‖

Logan nodded and tugged on the towel around his neck before

mumbling, ―Thanks for listening.‖ He gave Nick a crooked smile. ―And

for not bein‘… put off by my crazy family.‖

―No problem.‖ Positive he‘d heard some uncertainty in that last

statement, Nick rolled his eyes, adding, ―Besides, I got the market

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cornered there.‖ He slipped out of the door after promising, ―See ya in

a bit.‖

Double Days Famous Hamburgers was surprisingly packed for a

Sunday afternoon, and it took Nick twenty-five minutes to make it to

the head of the line. Consequently, Logan handily beat him to the shop

and was already unloading parts when Nick got to Arlington Avenue.

He swung the loaded bag of food over his arm and helped Logan get

the parts up to the shop.

Nick tossed a burger to Logan, asking, ―So what‘re we gonna do

today?‖

―We gotta get the crankshaft, rods, and pistons ready for final

assembly.‖

Nick saw that Logan had some parts laid out on the newspaper-

covered workbench. ―Got quite a bit done last week, huh?‖

Logan shrugged the praise off and opened his burger, protesting,

―I just cleaned the crankshaft and pistons real good and left ‘em to dry.

There‘s a lot more to do this week. We gotta get off all the burrs and

scratches from the connectin‘ rods and pistons.‖

―Okay.‖ After swallowing a huge bite of his burger, Nick asked,

―We use the sandpaper for that?‖

Logan took a swig of his coke before answering. ―That or a

deburring knife.‖ After setting the bottle down, he displayed the tool in

question. ―Then we gotta go over ever‘thin‘ with the Scotch Brite.‖

They fell into an easy rhythm with Logan performing the initial

work on each part before turning the final polishing over to Nick. He

was squinting down the length of one piston, checking for scratches,

when Logan said, ―Forgot to ask before, how‘s your mom?‖

Nick winced at the subject, admitting, ―Not great. She‘s got a

feeding tube in now.‖

―Shit.‖ Nick heard a soft thud that must have been Logan putting

a part on the bench. He looked over to find Logan staring at him with

concern. ―When‘d that happen?‖

Showing far less distress than he felt, Nick answered, ―Friday. It‘s

not as bad as it sounds. The doctor says it‘s only temporary, so she

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doesn‘t lose more weight. But… it‘s still rough seein‘ her like that.‖

Before Logan could ask any more questions, Nick changed the subject

by asking, ―How was the weekend with your girls?‖

―It was… good.‖

Sure that the truth of the matter was contained in that pause, Nick

prodded, ―But…?‖

Logan picked the piston up again and went back to sanding,

explaining, ―They were kinda… let‘s just say they were a little harder

to deal with than before.‖

―Weekend visitation with you is a change; they could just be

adjusting to that.‖ Nick almost left the subject in that comfortable

place, but feeling an impulse to give Logan the whole truth, he added,

―Or it could be that some of their anger is finally coming out.‖

Braced for an outburst, Nick was surprised when Logan just

nodded sadly and said, ―Yeah. Trudy warned me about that.‖

―Good.‖

His voice took on an edge as Logan retorted, ―Sure, she found

time to do that after makin‘ me sign that goddamn
no violence

contract.
‖

―That‘s pretty standard with her for joint counseling.‖

―Why? Like I‘m gonna haul off an‘ hit Linda right in her office?‖

Logan objected. He held out a piston to Nick while adding, ―It‘s

stupid—and insulting.‖

Instinctively, Nick snapped to his boss‘s defense, grabbing the

part while insisting, ―Trudy knows what she‘s doin‘, Logan.‖

―Yeah, then why‘s she tryin‘ so hard to get me and Linda back—‖

Logan bit down on the rest of his objection.

He needn‘t have bothered, since Nick heard the rest anyway.

Unintentionally using his counselor voice, Nick asked, ―You don‘t

want to get back with Linda, do you?‖

Nick had to strain to catch Logan‘s soft reply. ―No.‖

―Then don‘t. Tell the truth.‖

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Logan started on a connecting rod with unnecessary vigor while

snarling, ―I thought you didn‘t wanta let Trudy know about us.‖

―Fuck!‖ Nick put the piston down on the workbench and threw up

his hands. ―I didn‘t realize a homosexual affair was the only grounds

for divorce in the state of Pennsylvania. Just tell ‘em both the marriage

wasn‘t workin‘ for you and you want out. Which is the truth.‖

―You think it‘s that easy, huh?‖ Logan hurled a spent piece of

sandpaper at the trash can while insisting, ―You don‘t understand. What

would I tell my girls? You think it would be easy tellin‘ ‘em I won‘t be

comin‘ home—ever?‖

Taking a minute to absorb that objection, Nick finally offered,

―Easier than explainin‘ why you broke your promise.‖

Hand suspended halfway to the pack of sandpaper, Logan whirled

to face Nick. ―What promise?‖

―The one where you said you‘d do your best to make sure you

never hurt Linda again. Remember that?‖ The only answer Nick got

was Logan taking up a fresh piece of sandpaper and going back to

work. He stepped over and touched Logan on the arm, saying, ―Just

think about it, okay?‖

Logan didn‘t look up from the rod but sighed, ―It‘s harder than

you can imagine.‖

Nodding at Logan‘s bent head, Nick admitted, ―I guess it is.‖

By silent accord, they let all serious discussion lapse and talked

about nothing but the car and the Steelers‘ prospects for a repeat

championship while they worked. Ninety minutes later, they stood at

the shop door together, looking over their handiwork with tired but

pleased expressions. Nick asked Logan, ―They gonna have the rest of

the parts ready by next week?‖

―They should.‖ Logan shuffled his feet nervously and reseated his

baseball cap before saying, ―So… we ain‘t gonna get together

again…‘til then?‖ He squinted over at Nick, clarifying. ―Next Sunday, I

mean.‖

Nick felt a smile splitting his face in half. ―We don‘t have to wait.

You busy Tuesday night?‖

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155

―Nope.‖ Logan smiled back just as wide, adding, ―Your turn to

get the room.‖

Nick nodded and ran a hand over his mouth. Suddenly he said,

―Hey, why don‘t you come to my place instead?‖ The look on Logan‘s

face told Nick his offer had surprised both of them.

Recovering quickly, Logan agreed, ―Sure. Uh, where is it?‖

―Observatory Hill.‖ Nick found a piece of paper on Dave‘s desk

and scrawled out directions before he could change his mind. He

tucked the paper into Logan‘s shirt pocket after collecting a dazzling,

two-minute-long, breath-stealing kiss as a reward.

On the drive home, he had to contend with a voice in his head

asking what the hell he was up to. His answer, ―Big deal, I‘m havin‘ a

friend over to my house—high time,‖ didn‘t fool Nick or quiet the

voice.

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Chapter 12:

Always Something More to Say

The truth is always a compound of two half-truths, and you never reach

it, because there is always something more to say.

—Tom Stoppard

THOUGH it was still early on Monday morning, Nick muttered his

tenth salty oath of the day, cursing Microsoft, Bill Gates, and

computers in general. He was frantically trying to finish his budget

report, and Excel was definitely not cooperating. The quarterly budgets

had actually been due the previous week, but Nick hadn‘t gotten around

to preparing his. He rationalized his tardiness with the thought that

technically it was still September, so he wasn‘t
really
late. He was

rooting around in the top drawer of his desk, looking for some receipts,

when the phone rang. Nick didn‘t bother to look up, just grabbed the

receiver and put it to his ear. His greeting, a curt ―Nick Zales,‖ put his

irritation on full display, not that he cared at the moment.

―Well, good morning to you, too.‖ Trudy Gerard‘s voice was split

between amusement and admonishment.

―Sorry, Trudy. What can I do for you?‖

―You can tell me why your butt isn‘t in my office as of ten

minutes ago.‖

Nick‘s eyes snapped to the clock display in the corner of his

computer screen.
Fuck! How did it get so late?
Though he‘d gotten in

two hours early, Nick‘s plan to get his budget done before his meeting

with Trudy was now in shambles. ―Sorry, I lost track of the time; I‘ll be

there in a minute.‖ In an effort to stop his morning from getting any

worse, Nick diligently saved his spreadsheet before leaving his office.

Whatever paltry progress he‘d made on his budget report, it was better

than starting from scratch.

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157

On the way to Trudy‘s office, Nick grabbed a fresh cup of coffee,

sure he‘d need the caffeine jolt to get through the meeting. He found

out how right he was ten minutes later. After a brief chat about his

mom‘s situation, Trudy started grilling Nick about his late budget

report. ―Janice says your department expense accruals aren‘t in yet.

What‘s the problem there?‖

Since he was feeling that he‘d already worn out the word ―sorry‖

that morning, Nick explained, ―I‘m afraid I didn‘t make it a priority last

week, but I‘ve been working on it all morning and I‘ll turn it in before I

go home today.‖ Immediately, Nick started wondering how he was

going to keep that promise, since he had a full day of sessions and a

four p.m. meeting with his mom‘s doctor.

Trudy peered sternly over her reading glasses as she reproved,

―It‘s not like you to be late, Nick; Janice said she sent you two

reminders. She does need a full week to get the site report together.‖

―I know,‖ Nick acknowledged tiredly. He sipped his bitter black