“What the fuck—”
“Eli, knock it off,” I said. “Let him go.”
“No. He just said I don’t really care about my father.”
“He’s just poking at you,” I said, but I had to wonder about the comment too.
“The two of you go through the motions, but when was the last time any of you played chess with him?” Nick said.
“When did you?” Eli snapped.
“Yesterday.”
What? Even Eli jerked back. Nick shook his head and then turned to head down to his car. Every step made me feel like I was losing something important. Like my family was losing something important.
21
Nick
Good riddance, I thought as I got into my car and drove off. My life was shit enough. I didn’t need Eli’s constant haranguing me about being a quack. I didn’t need to keep seeing Mia and know that she was ready, willing, and able to sacrifice me to save her client the hospital.
I knew they loved their father, but even that, I felt they could do better. I wasn’t going to give up seeing Jim, but I was done with Eli and Mia.
It was wrong, the satisfaction I got from Mia’s expression when I told Jim I had a hot date. I didn’t, of course. But as much as I would have enjoyed watching TV with Jim, I couldn’t be there while Mia and Eli were. For one, they needed to spend time with him. But two, considering how they felt about me, I didn’t want to spend the evening feeling uncomfortable. I was having to do that all day at work these days. I couldn’t tell Jim that though, so I told him I had a date.
I saw the flash of jealousy in her eyes. It was her choice to choose her work over me. I knew that this time, she was in a tougher situation. It wasn’t like there was a huge need for medical lawyers in Goldrush Lake. And she’d argue that I wasn’t leaving my job either, which was true. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. But if I thought she cared for me, if there was a chance to have what we had before, would I quit and do something else? I could open a private practice. I could get a job at the clinic down in Keddler or at any number of medical centers in Reno.
I shook my head, wondering why I was even going there. Mia and I had slept together twice, but nothing about us this time was like last time. It must have been the good memories fogging my brain.
I wasn’t ready to go home, so I drove up to my favorite nature spot to sit in peace looking over the lake. The water was cold, but I decided a late evening swim was in order to get my blood pumping and awaken the senses. I stripped naked, knowing it was unlikely anyone would be by this late in the evening. It was nearly dark out when most hikers were at their campsites or home.
When I was waist-deep in the water, I heard a rustle behind me and I had a moment to worry about the possibility of a bear. Instead, I saw Mia. She had the ability to rip my heart out, but I suppose I had a better chance at surviving Mia than a bear.
“Something wrong with your dad?” I asked.
She shook her head, her eyes staying glued to mine. “I wanted to apologize for Eli.”
I shrugged as I pushed the waist-high water around me. “It’s not like I didn’t know how he felt.”
She moved closer to the water. “You spend a lot of time with my dad.”
I nodded, wondering if she was going to tell me to stop. Certainly, Eli would. “Yes.”
“Why?”
I looked down at the ripples of water around me. Finally, I looked up at her again. “Why wouldn’t I? He and I are friends.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“There’s a lot both you and Eli don’t know.” I didn’t mean it to sound harsh, but the flare of annoyance in her eyes told me I did.
I decided to come clean, knowing that might hurt more. “Your mom asked me to look out for him. Initially, that's what I did, but now we’re friends. He kicks my ass in chess a couple of times a week.”
“The bongos?”
“We saw a nature show and your dad was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to go to Africa to see one. So, I found a place we could.” Since I could be put on leave or fired any time, that trip would likely be sooner rather than later,
She sat on a rock and I had the sense that all her bravado had left her. “Thank you for being so good to him.”
“He’s good to me too, Mia. We’re friends.” It was important to me that she knew I wasn’t being altruistic or simply fulfilling my vow to his dead wife. I liked Jim.
She was quiet for a moment. “So, this is your hot date? A frigid swim in a cold lake?”
“I had to give him an excuse that didn’t sound like I was fleeing.”
“Were you? Fleeing?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“You would have stayed if Eli wasn’t there?”
“Or you.”
She bit her lip, and part of me felt bad for hurting her. But I had to get her out of my system. Even watching her on the rocks, her porcelain skin looking ethereal under the moonlight, yearning for her expanded in my chest. I couldn’t have that.
She looked down for a moment. “Your lawyer is very pretty.”
“She’s a bombshell,” I said, and that time, I did feel like an asshole.
“Beautiful, sexy and smart.” She gave me a wan smile as she rose. I realized she was going to leave and I didn’t want her to. Let her go, my head screamed.
“Are you jealous?” I asked.
“What if I was?”
“I’d tell you that you didn’t need to be. I’m not fucking her. I have no interest in fucking her.”
Tension
