“Well, you remember our little adventure the other night?”
“The one where you ended up in the jail?”
“That would be the one. Vinnie ended up running into those guys again. This time, it was one against two.”
“How bad is he?”
“If I told you he probably looks worse than he really is…”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Let’s go see him.”
We drove down to Vinnie’s cabin, parked next to his truck. “He’s going to be surprised to see you,” I said as we went to the door.
I opened it. The couch was empty now, the blanket folded on one arm.
“Vinnie!” I said. “You’ve got company.”
I went to the bathroom, expecting to find him with his face in the sink again. Or maybe taking a bath, trying to make himself feel better.
He wasn’t there.
“Son of a bitch.”
“What’s the matter?” Natalie said.
“He’s not here.”
“That’s his truck outside, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I disabled it yesterday. I didn’t want him going anywhere.”
“Somebody else gave him a ride?”
I thought about it. “His cousin Buck,” I said. “Damn it, I bet Vinnie called him.”
“Where do you think they went?”
“I don’t know exactly.” I didn’t think he’d know where to find the vacation house down in Hessel. Unless he got Caroline to tell him. “But I know a few places to start. Come on.”
We got in my truck and rumbled down to the main road. I was about to gun it through town, but at the last moment I pulled into Jackie’s parking lot.
“Why are we stopping already?”
“I want to check here real quick, see if he stopped in. Jackie might know something.”
When we went inside the Glasgow, there was Vinnie sitting by the fireplace. He had a bag of ice pressed to his face. Before I could say a word, Jackie was all over me.
“Alex!” he said. “What in goddamned hell is the matter with you?”
“Jackie…,” I said. “Vinnie…”
“Look at his face, Alex! Look at him! You left him all alone in his cabin all day yesterday, and all last night! You even cut the goddamned battery cables in his truck so he couldn’t go anywhere! What were you thinking?”
“Listen-”
“Listen yourself, God damn it! What were you trying to do, starve him to death? What if he had to go see a doctor? Is this the way you take care of your friend, by leaving him stranded in his cabin? He had to walk all the way down here just to get something to eat and some more ice for his face! I’m waiting for an explanation, Alex. I really want to hear it, because this is the stupidest goddamned thing you’ve ever done. And believe me, that’s saying something.”
“Jackie-”
“What, Alex? What are you going to say?”
“I want to introduce you to somebody.”
That stopped him cold. He finally noticed Natalie standing behind me.
“Hello,” she said. “You must be the famous Jackie.”
“Hello,” he said, his voice suddenly throttled down about twelve notches. “You must be the famous Natalie.”
“Where’s Vinnie?” Natalie said. Then she saw him. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”
He tried to get up from his chair.
“Sit down,” she said. “Who did this?”
“I did. It’s all my fault.”
“I’m serious, Vinnie. Who did this?”
Vinnie looked up at me for some help. “Natalie,” he said, “what are you doing here?”
“I came to see Alex, so I could kick his butt. How come he wasn’t there to help you?”
“Hey,” I said.
“I told you,” Vinnie said. “It’s all on me. It’s not Alex’s fault.”
“We’re supposed to look out for each other,” she said. She touched the side of his face. “My God…”
“You scared the hell out of us,” I said. “We were about to drive all over the U.P. looking for you.”
“What, you think I’d go back for more? Already? How stupid do you think I am?” He tried to smile at Natalie. It was hard to do with a swollen upper lip.
“You should go to the hospital,” Natalie said.
“I’m feeling better already. Seriously. Come on, sit down, tell me what’s going on.”
That’s how we ended up spending the whole afternoon at the Glasgow Inn. Natalie got her chance to totally disarm Jackie and convince him that she was the best thing that ever happened to me. Vinnie kept icing his face and resting by the fire. I brought out some cold Molsons and gave her one, told her I knew which side of the border had all the good beer.
“At last,” she said to me, “you get something right.”
As great as it was, I couldn’t help feeling a little unsettled. Here was Natalie sitting in the Glasgow, pretty much owning the place already. But this was the one place I came to every single day of my life. I talked to Jackie here, I met up with Vinnie here, I watched a game on the television over the bar. Or I just sat here by the fire, all by myself. Now in one afternoon the place had changed. I’d never be able to come here again without thinking of Natalie.
And hell, what about my cabin? What about my bed? I spent the night sleeping beside her, waking up to listen to her, to touch her. To make myself believe that it was really happening. How will I ever sleep in that bed alone now?
If this thing with Natalie doesn’t work out…everything will be different. Everything. It’s like I’m putting all my chips on the table now, making this one last big bet with my whole life. Happy with Natalie Reynaud. Or unhappily alone forever.
That’s what I was thinking that cold July afternoon. But what the hell, right? It was about time.
Vinnie wanted to go back to his cabin, so we drove him up there. All three of us wedged in the front seat of my truck. We got him comfortable on his couch, got his bottle of ibuprofen, got his bag of ice.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay?” Natalie said.
“I’m positive,” he said. “Go out to dinner or something. Do something good.”
“We’ll come back later,” she said. “We’ll stop by and check on you.”
“Just go. I mean it.”
“Okay,” she said. “Okay.” She bent down and kissed him on his tired, beat-up face, this man who had once saved her life. And mine. “You rest.”
“Alex,” he said, as we were leaving.
I went over to him.
“Life is smiling on one of us,” he said in a low voice.
“You got that right.”
“Do me a favor. Don’t blow it.”
“I’ll try not to.”
We left him there, closed the door, and went out into the evening. It was still light out, a cold gray light that looked just like November. But I could not have been a happier man.
“Jackie makes a great beef stew,” I said. “How about it?”
“Let’s save that one. I’ve got another idea for dinner.”
