Rugged(82)
“Oh, all the time,” I say lightly. I mean, Thomas and I do come here. It’s a good way to get some fresh seafood and scope out the hot guys with their shirts off. But Flint doesn’t need to know that.
Once the ride is over, we put the kids back in their stroller. Apparently the overstimulation is catching up: Callum yawns, and Lily rubs a chubby fist in her eye. We amble over to a set of arcade games on the other side of the building. One of them is a figure of a man with a genie turban, and a sign saying LEARN YOUR FUTURE: $1
“My future’s not worth that much,” I laugh as I put in the change and watch the machine come to life, colored lightbulbs turning on and off rapidly. Flint leans against the machine, rolling the stroller back and forth. The kids are fast asleep now, drooling adorably.
“I don’t think that’s true,” he tells me. “You’ve got everything you want, don’t you?” He clears his throat. “Like yesterday, with that guy at the restaurant. You seem happy, like you’re in a good place right now. Like you have everything you wanted.”
I nearly scream ‘I don’t have you, you beast!’ before ripping his shirt open and terrifying the old women and pigeons. But we’re not going there. I saw the photo of Charlotte; I know what’s going on. If I brought the ‘are you back together?’ question up at this point, it’d be both pathetic and uncomfortable. I don’t want Flint to see how torn up I still am when he’s clearly moved on, so I am not going to say a damn thing.
“I don’t know,” I say. He studies me, then looks away.
“You don’t? You mean you’re not as happy as you could be?” It’s my imagination that he sounds hopeful. Right?
“I do have everything, mostly,” I say, feeling defensive. And that’s not a complete lie. “My career’s going in the direction I always dreamed. I love it.”
“Your career. Right. It makes you happy.” It’s not a question, the flat way he says it. Flint watches me as I wait for the genie’s fortune. “Everything out here makes you happy. Career wise, other things wise.”
“I guess. I mean, LA used to be a place where dreams happened to everyone else,” I say with a shrug. “Now, I’m finally becoming everyone else.” That didn’t sound as special as I wanted it to.
“That’s good,” Flint says, sounding distracted. “I’m happy for you.”
Look at us two. A bunch of happy, happy people. So happy. I force a smile and try not to grind my teeth.
The fortune finally pops out of a slot at the bottom of the machine. I pick it up and read it: YOUR AMBITIONS WILL ALL BE FULFILLED
“See? I’m on my way,” I tell Flint, grinning again to mask my unease. Ambitions fulfilled, but not desires. That’s a real shame.
31
“Can you see your mommy and daddy?” I coo to the twins, kneeling down beside them in their stroller. They wave and giggle as their parents step into view from the elevators. Callie and David are both grinning happily, walking hand in hand and not throttling each other. That’s a good sign if I ever saw one. “Did you two lovebirds have a good day? Or a very good day?” I ask, nudging Callie in the arm.
“Don’t answer that. I’m right here,” Flint says grimly, shaking his head. “There are some things brothers don’t need to know.”
“It was a good afternoon,” Callie says, looking at David with a warm, contented smile. “I think we’ve just been missing each other.”
“What I like about this woman,” David says, kissing Callie’s hand. “She makes up as good as she fights.” Then he winks at her.
“Please no,” Flint says, closing his eyes in pain.
“One of these days, buddy, you’re going to know what it’s like to really screw something up, and be so relieved when it comes back together,” Callie says, slapping her brother on the arm. My stomach jolts at that. Oh, I’m pretty sure he’s already got that figured out, what with Charlotte and the house he built for her. Nothing says ‘let’s get back together’ like ‘I worked thirteen hour days to build you a fairy tale chateau in the woods. Come, enjoy my mountainside hearth. I have made you elk stew and cheesecake.’
Okay, some of my own fantasies are crossing over here.
“You two are looking okay,” I whisper to Callie as David picks Callum up and bounces him on his hip. Callie beams at me. She looks radiant.
“We got a massage. And things. And then we talked. Honestly, Laurel, I think we were just taking each other for granted,” she says. “Lesson learned: don’t do that shit.”
“Are you going to go to counseling? Learn how to reconnect more often?” I ask. Man, learn to reconnect. I think Jessa is starting to rub off on me.
“Oh hell no,” Callie says. “But when it gets too hairy, we’ll know to drop the kids off with my brother for a night and go have hot sex in a hotel.” She sighs. “David is much more limber than I remember.”
Okay, we’re entering the land of too much information. Looks like Flint’s getting a similar earful from David, because he’s saying things like, “Yes, yes, I totally abstractly understand. I have to leave. I have an appointment. An appointment to do something.”