Rekindled (16 page)

“Hmmm, I just don’t know where he could have hidden!” He stops in front of the fireplace tapping his index finger against his chin. “But I’m awfully tired. Maybe I’ll just take a nap on this nice little rock here in the fireplace.” He lowers himself to the floor and puts his head on top of Jonah’s body which is shaking from laughter.

“That’s an awfully loud rock.” I move over to join him. “Maybe it’s magical.”

“Maybe we should tickle it and see what happens.”

At the same time, Caleb and I reach out and begin to tickle Jonah whose squeals of laughter permeate the room. He writhes beneath the blanket until he can’t take it any longer and he leaps up and takes off running. Caleb holds his arms outstretched and chases after him dashing through the kitchen and up the stairs. I quickly follow and by the time I catch up to them in Jonah’s room, Caleb’s got him thrown over his shoulder and Jonah’s arms are held out to the side as he yells for Caleb to spin him faster. They finally collapse on his bed and I stand in the doorway with a smile that engulfs my face.

I should be sad that my marriage is over, but truthfully, my marriage to Zach dissolved long before he took off. We got married at the end of August before he started at USC, in a small courthouse with just us and his parents for witnesses. There was no flowing white dress like I’d always pictured, or four-tiered cake adorned with flowers and pearls. There was no live band playing our song while we danced on the smooth dance floor beneath a spotlight while our friends and family looked on.

Instead, I wore a cream colored skirt and pink blouse, and the only photos I have of that day are the ones that were snapped by his parents on my phone. We ate at The Olive Garden to celebrate, and instead of waking up the next morning in a hotel room on the sandy shores of Aruba, I spent my morning kneeling beside the toilet in his parent’s vacation home, fighting off nausea from morning sickness.

Shortly after he graduated, he started to change. His moods shifted like tectonic plates, and I never could predict how disastrous the aftermath would be. Some nights he’d come home from work with a fresh bouquet of flowers for me, and other nights he’d stomp around the house, throwing things around until he wore himself out and passed out on the couch.

A part of me wanted to leave him. Wanted to be done with his quick-to-anger temper and his self-entitled attitude. But fear made me stay. With Zach’s parents being influential people, I knew I didn’t have a good chance of gaining sole custody over Jonah, especially since I was a young mother with a barely-above-minimum-wage job and aside from Caleb, no family to help me. Zach knew this too, and used it as golden handcuffs to keep me chained. And so I stayed, knowing the sacrifice would be worth it, if it provided Jonah with everything he needed.

But now that I’m in Idaho, I can’t help but wish that I had left earlier. Because in the few short weeks I’ve been here, I’m finding that I’m stronger than I ever knew.

“You look pretty, mommy.” Jonah stands next to me in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” I smile down at him.

Earlier today, I made plans to meet up with Mari for drinks over at
Red’s
. Sure, I’m not too keen on spending my night off back at work, even if I’m not the one taking orders and serving food. But there’s only two places in town that offer live music, and Mari insisted that
Red’s
was the lesser of two evils. Considering the other place was a run-down little shack called
Polka Dot’s
which featured polka music, I can’t say I entirely disagree with her choice.

“Wow,” Caleb says, as he leans against the doorjamb of my bedroom. “I didn’t recognize you without sand in your hair and pasta sauce on your clothing. You look almost human.”

Scowling at him, I stick my tongue out at his reflection in the mirror and watch him laugh. I had picked out a white summer knit dress with a scoop neck that cuts off mid-thigh and paired it with a thin tan belt and white sandals. My hair is pulled into a low ponytail secured with a clip, and I lined my eyes with a smoky black liner, but left the rest of my makeup neutral. I won’t be mistaken for a supermodel anytime soon, but at least Caleb is right, I do look like a normal twenty-five-year-old girl.

“Thanks again for watching Jonah tonight,” I say turning to face Caleb while putting in a pair of small hoop earrings.

“No need. I love hanging out with Jonah.”

“What is it you guys have planned for tonight?”

“Oh just the normal guy stuff. You know, shooting guns, robbing banks, plotting to take over the world.”

I roll my eyes as a horn honks and I peer outside to see my taxi waiting. “Well, just make sure you guys finish plotting by nine because I don’t want Jonah staying up late again.”

“I know, I know.” Caleb grabs my hand and pulls me into the hallway, practically shoving me down the steps. “Now get out of here and go have a little fun. You deserve it.”

Red’s
is packed tonight. Stepping inside, I’m almost run over by a large burly man who obviously doesn’t know the rules of the bar, because he’s quickly backing up toward me as Trista jabs a finger into his chest.

“I don’t care who you are, you don’t walk into my bar and slap my waitresses on the ass. This isn’t a strip club and my girls aren’t whores. You want that kind of thing you take your fat-ass down to
Teasers
by the railroad tracks where twenty bucks will get you a lap dance with a happy ending. Got it?”

She shoves the guy with both hands sending him flying backward, and I leap to the side barely escaping being crushed beneath him.

“Fucking bitch.” The guy spits as he wipes his hands on his jeans and tries to stand up, which takes him a couple of attempts.

“Excuse me?” Trista stands with her hands braced on her hips and a sneer on her lips as she cocks an eyebrow at the man. He doesn’t say anything, instead just flips her off and wobbles down the sidewalk into the darkness. She swipes her hands together and gives me a nod. “Hey, Callie,” she says as if throwing out a guy who was easily twice her size was no big deal. “Be careful, there’re a lot of drunken assholes tonight.”

I nod as she heads back inside, disappearing into the crowd. The band playing tonight is some up and coming rock band, which means the crowd is full of twenty-somethings from nearby towns who drove in for the weekend to see them. Most of them are girls dressed in skimpy outfits, who obviously came hoping to garner the attention of the band, and guys hoping to get lucky when the scantily-clad girls realize their odds of going home with one of the band members isn’t looking so hot.

“Hey, you,” I say as I approach Mari, who managed to find a booth in the corner of the room, as far away from the band as possible.

“Callie!” She yells with a wide smile as she leaps up and wraps me in a hug. “God, I’m so glad you called, because if I had to spend another night at home playing Uno with my parents and their friends, I’m pretty sure I’d go insane.”

“Uno, huh? I don’t think I’ve played that since I was like, ten.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” she groans. “My parents have been on this huge game-night kick and so every night for the last week they’ve had their friends over to play different games. The first night was Monopoly, which my dad won, no surprise there, and then following that was Chutes and Ladders, and then Scrabble. Last night was Uno, and I guess everyone had so much fun with it, they were planning on playing it again tonight. Luckily, you called and gave me a reason to get out.”

“Well, I’m glad I could be of service,” I say, doing a funny little bow which makes her laugh.

“Okay, so tell me, what are the best drinks here?”

“I haven’t had a chance to try everything yet, but so far my favorites are the chocolate martini and the mojitos.” I pick up a menu and begin to flip through the beverage section, even though I have most of it memorized by now.

Shari, one of the waitresses comes by and takes our orders, stopping to chat with us a little bit before leaving to check on her other tables. She returns with our chocolate martinis along with some mozzarella sticks and we begin to dig in.

“So tell me, what have you been up to all these years?” I ask, while stuffing a fried cheese stick in my mouth.

“Well, after I graduated from Brown, my parents wanted me to come back home and work at the Marina, of course. You know, prep me to take over the family business someday.” She rolls her eyes and gives a dismissive wave with her hand.

I grin, remembering what a source of contention it was between Mari and her parents when she was younger. They wanted her to major in business so that she could learn to run the Marina facilities which included boat rentals, storage, and a grille. But Mari was much more interested in watching reality TV shows and spending her afternoons at the local newsstand, reading the most recent issues of gossip magazines.

“I double-majored in business and communications, and in my senior year I got an internship working for a local PR firm who taught me the ins and outs of the business. They helped me get a job in New York right after I graduated, and I stayed with them for three years before realizing that I wanted to branch out on my own.”

“Wow, that’s awesome.”

“Yeah, it’s been going really well. One of my newest clients though, is an up-and-coming Japanese fashion designer who’s looking to get her line over here to the states, so I’ve been going back and forth over the past few months trying to get her into the New York Fashion Week show. It’s been a mess, but I think I finally got her in.” She gulps down the remainder of her drink and signals to Shari for another.

“Are you just here for vacation, then?” I ask.

“Sort of. I was seeing this guy back in New York, but things ended when I walked in on him fucking my assistant. So of course, I did the whole dramatic throw his things out of the window, and kick him out bit. Unfortunately, the apartment was in his name so he got to keep that, but I found a rent-controlled apartment over on the Upper East Side with amazing views. The only kicker is it won’t be ready for another couple months when the current tenant leaves, so here I am…biding my time in good ol’ Idaho.”

“Well, maybe McCall, Idaho will be the next fashion mecca of the world, and you’ll be like the next Diane Von Furstenberg.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a higher chance of world peace than there is for Idaho to become a fashion capitol. Besides, there isn’t enough money in the world to tear me away from Manhattan.”

“That’s a lot of loyalty for a city.”

She laughs and gives a content sigh. “Have you ever been?”

“A couple times when I was younger, but I’ve never really cared for big cities.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. There’s about a hundred reasons why I should hate New York, but for each one of those hundred, I find a thousand more why I love it. The bustling streets, the late-night venues, and the men.
Dear God
, Manhattan men are absolute gods. Smart, forward, ambitious, and wicked good in bed. Well, except for my good-for-nothing ex, Adolfo. He had the dick of a toddler and the stamina of a pubescent teen. Three thrusts and done, if you know what I mean.”

I cringe with her analogy.

“God, look at me, I’ve completely hijacked the conversation.” She shakes her head and takes a sip of her drink. Reaching over, she places her hand over mine. “Tell me about your life. I can’t believe it’s been so long. I feel like shit that we haven’t at least kept in touch over the years on Facebook or something.”