by Mells, J. C.
Cali
The second Thatch left with Zak and the kids, I raced indoors to take a shower. Sitting in a bikini covered in oil while alone with Thatch was just asking for trouble. Trouble I wanted – but he didn’t. Or, at least didn’t want to want.
By the time Thatch came back around the corner, the oil was washed from my body, I still wore the bikini, but my lower half was wrapped in the midnight blue sarong my neighbors had bought for me.
“Thaddeus all settled in over there?” I asked as he sat back down on his pool chair.
“Yep, they seem like really nice guys,” he replied. His mood had definitely shifted from the playful one that had been on display when the kids were around.
“They’re the best. Thaddeus will love them.”
Then, an uncomfortable silence hung over us like a dark cloud heavy with rain.
“So tell me about the tattoo,” Thatch finally asked in a hushed voice.
I looked down and opened up the sarong wide enough to show the small word tattooed right above my left hip bone. “This tattoo?” I forgot he hadn’t seen it before. He hadn’t mentioned it all afternoon until now.
The tattooed word was Heavy.
“Yes, that tattoo. It looks like Rufus’ work.”
I wondered if he asked his father about the nickname he called me too.
“It is. He did it for me last week.”
“You let Rufus touch you there?”
What?
“Well, kind of hard to tattoo without touching. Are you going to accuse me of fucking him now, too?” I matched his accusatory tone with one of my own.
Thatch leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
“This isn’t easy for me, California.”
“It’s not exactly a walk in the park for me either. One second we’re friends, and then you do a complete Jekyll and Hyde thing and we’re back to me as the evil bitch tempting you from your righteous path.”
“I’m sorry about that, California. I really do want to be friends with you. It’s just so damn hard sometimes. I’m so unbelievably attracted to you and I just can’t be,” Thatch replied with a heavy tone.
“Talk to me, Thatch. Help me understand why taking a chance on me is so difficult for you. You have to know that attraction goes both ways. Tell me about Charity. Explain to me exactly why it is you think I’m just like her.”
“You’re not like her.” He gave a heavy sigh and draped his arm over his closed eyes. “I never really knew Charity, even though we were together for two years. I don’t really know you either, California. She was my first real girlfriend and I think our fucked up relationship put me off ever taking a chance on another one. When you add drugs into the equation, then all bets are off.”
“So, tell me about it,” I asked softly.
“Is it okay if we keep our promise to make this day all about the kids? I will tell you about her – just not today, if that’s all right.”
He was still in love with her despite what she’d done. What else could explain the pain in his eyes?
“You’re probably right. We have to go be sociable next door in a few minutes.”
I decided to clear all the heaviness in the air between us. “Come on,” I said standing up and offering out my hand to help pull him to his feet. “Let’s go eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving and Tony is the best barbequer in town.”
***
At Zak and Tony’s, we both acted as if the heavy moment had never happened between us back at my house. What I mean by that is that I played and chatted with the kids as if I hadn’t a care in the world. I told you I was an accomplished actress.
Thatch barely uttered two words to me. I think it was only me who noticed though, as he was certainly chatting with everyone else present. He got on really well with Hayley’s two dads and especially with Hayley herself. I think someone might have a little crush developing. And I’m not talking about myself for a change.
After Thatch and Thaddeus had said their goodbyes to the Solanos, I walked them over to their car.
“I’ll see you on Tuesday,” I smiled at Thaddeus after I’d secured his seatbelt. Monday was a public holiday and we all had a long weekend.
“Bye, Cali,” he smiled sleepily. “I love your pool.”
“Night, night, angel,” I whispered, kissing him goodbye on the cheek and then closing the car door.
Thatch was leaning on the driver’s side, watching me.
“I hope you guys had fun,” I said to him, conscious of the fact he’d been very quiet towards me all evening.
“Thaddeus had a ball. Thanks for inviting us,” he said, his unwavering gaze still so hard to read.
“Okay then, drive safe and I’ll see you on Tuesday.”
He hesitated, as if he was about to say something else then changed his mind.
“Yeah, okay, see you Tuesday.” Thatch got in the car and I watched as he drove away.
That stilted awkwardness between us just showed me that whatever this thing was that Thatch and I had, trying to be friends was obviously not going to work out.
{15}
Cali
After Thatch and Thaddeus left, I felt low and anxious and all the other feelings that could potentially send me into a place I didn’t want to go. So, I did what any good recovering addict would do. I called my sponsor.
Yes, it’s a little strange that my temporary sponsor in Vegas just happened to be Thatch’s father.
“I’m not sure I can come in on Tuesday, Bell,” I was saying on the phone to him after we’d discussed the events of the afternoon in full. Well, almost in full, I’d breezed over details of the suntan oil application part.
“I know it’s not a permanent position, Heavy, but I sincerely hope you’ll give it just a few more days.”
“But, I seem to just be aggravating him all the more by being there. We have moments here and there where we attempt the ‘friends’ thing, but it just isn’t going to work out, I don’t think. It’s like he hates himself for being attracted to me. And anyway, I have to start thinking about going home. My dad will be finished with the picture he’s working on, and I need to have a serious discussion with him about what I want to do with my future.”
“Aren’t you planning on leaving home and going to college?” Bellamy asked.
“Definitely leaving home, but haven’t fully decided on the college thing yet. Whatever I decide, I want to discuss it with my father in person. So I’ll go home, face the music, and then get the hell out of there as fast as I can,” I laughed dryly.
“Will you come back to Vegas?”
“I’m not sure there’s any reason for me to, is there?” I said quietly.
The phone went silent for a few seconds.
“He’s got a little too much of me in him, Cali,” Bellamy said, his seriousness emphasized by the fact he just used my real name. “Too blind to see what he’s about to throw away if he doesn’t get his shit together.”
“Talking of getting shit together,” I said trying to lighten the mood by changing the subject, “any chance we can go to a meeting tomorrow tonight? I really need one. If you’re busy it’s okay—”
“I think a meeting would be an excellent idea, Heavy. Why don’t you stop by the shop at seven and we’ll head out from there? I’ll get Mo-Mo to take Thad for a couple of hours.”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Bell.”
“Don’t worry, Thatch won’t be there. He has some sort of publicity promo thing he has to do for the National Finals. There’s something I really want to show you.”
“Okay, Bell. I’ll be there at seven.”
***
When I got to the tattoo shop Sunday night, I was delighted to find Thaddeus hadn’t left with Mo yet.
“He was waiting to see you,” Bellamy said as I bent down to give his grandson a big hug.
“I’ve missed you, angel,” I said, pretending to steal the aviator hat off his head.
Thaddeus giggl
ed.
“I missed you too, Cali. Are you going to a meeting with Pop-Pop?”
“I sure am, angel. I just stopped by on the way so I could see you first. And Pop-Pop has something he wants to show me before we go, too,” I said with a smile. Thaddeus might know we were going to a ‘meeting,’ but he didn’t really understand exactly what a ‘meeting’ was.
“Oh,” Thaddeus exclaimed, making a wide mouth to form the word. He pulled Bellamy over to the side and beckoned him to lean down so he could whisper something to him. Of course, I could hear every word, but the adorable five-year-old didn’t know that.
“Are you going to show her the painting?” Thaddeus asked his grandfather in a hushed voice.
“What do you know about the painting?” Bellamy asked, arching his eyebrow at the little boy.
“I know it’s a secwet, and it makes Daddy sad.”
What painting? Are they talking about the one Thatch did of Charity? Thaddeus had shown me that one last week.
“Hmm,” Bellamy muttered under his breath. “I think it’s time you headed over to Mo-Mo’s for some dinner.” He gave Thaddeus a quick hug and stood up straight to face Mo, who was saying his goodbyes to Rufus at the back of the shop.
“Thanks for taking him tonight, Mo-Mo,” Bellamy said as he opened the door for Mo and Thaddeus to go through.
“Hey man, when you have four already, what’s one more for a couple of hours?” Mo laughed.
“Either Thatch or I, whoever’s done first, will come get him.”
“Copy that, Bell,” Mo replied as he passed through the opened door.
“Bye Cali, bye Pop-Pop,” Thaddeus waved at us.
Bellamy crouched down next to him for a final hug. “Yeah, I’m going to show her the painting, kiddo,” he whispered in his grandson’s ear before pushing him out the door.
“What is this mysterious painting you seem so keen for me to see, Bell?” I fake-reprimanded as I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow at him.
“Follow me, Heavy,” Bellamy responded with a crooked, Thatch-like smile.
He led me up the stairs and down the hall to a closed door.
“This is Thatch’s studio,” Bellamy said as he opened it.
“I didn’t realize he did much painting anymore,” I replied as I followed him into the room.
“He doesn’t. That’s why this particular painting is so significant.”
Bellamy lifted the cloth sheet off an easel at the back of the room.
“Oh my God,” I exclaimed in astonishment once I saw what the sheet had covered. “Oh my God,” I repeated, this time in a more hushed tone.
The oil painting now on display was of me. Thatch had captured a moment as he’d seen me all those months ago back at the hotel when we first met. My hair was wild and every shade of brown and red, just as it must have looked in the low light in that room on that night. My face was flushed, and my eyes aroused, and I looked… beautiful. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever used that word when describing myself. Is that what he saw when he looked at me? Because that’s definitely not what I saw in the mirror every day. I was completely mesmerized.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Bellamy said in a low voice.
My cheeks warmed at the fact he was seeing this intimate moment that had happened between his son and me.
“And Thaddeus saw this too?” I asked, horrified.
“It’s a beautiful picture, Heavy. Everyone should see it.”
I looked at him in wonder.
“This is a special painting, Cali,” Bellamy continued. “This sort of work is not something you can just churn out on a whim. This was painted by someone in love. You can see it in the brushstrokes, you can feel it in the way he’s captured the moment so exquisitely.”
“What are you saying, Bell?”
“If I need to spell it out for you, then you’re just as much in denial as my hopelessly clueless son. All I’m saying is don’t give up on him too soon.”
“What if you’re wrong though? He’s made it quite clear that regardless of the way he’s attracted to me, he’ll never be able to trust me.”
“Well, then it’s up to you to prove him wrong.”
{16}
Thatch
On Sunday, as soon as I walked in from my early morning workout, my dad suggested a trip to Lake Mead for the day. We hadn’t been there in ages and Thaddeus loved being out on the water. One of my dad’s friends owned a boat rental place and would hook us up with something if we ever called last minute – which was always.
“I invited Heavy to come join us, too,” my father said as soon as I agreed to the trip. Sneaky old coot.
“You kept that little tidbit close to your chest didn’t you, old man.”
“She was very subdued at our meeting last night and was even suggesting it would be better if she didn’t come into the shop tomorrow. Can you think of any reason why that would be, Thatcher Reston?”
I shrugged my shoulders at him while Thaddeus could be heard shouting in excitement in the other room at the prospect of going on a boat.
“We’re just friends, Dad. That’s all we’ll ever be, okay. Stop pushing it.”
“Well, as her friend, you should want to cheer her up then. You look like you could use some cheering up yourself, young man.”
“I’m just thinking ahead to the finals.”
“Yeah, sure you are,” my dad smirked.
“I might give Ruf a call and see if he wants to come,” I said in response to his look. The more people that came, the less chances for California and I to be left alone.
My dad gave a harrumph sound and left the room to help Thaddeus pack his stuff.
I called Rufus, who was off today. Mo and dad usually worked Sundays, but as it was Memorial Day weekend, the shop was closed.
“Can I bring a couple of friends?” he asked in a sleepy voice.
Yeah, he’d had a late one and the ‘friends’ he was talking about were probably complete strangers he’d brought home with him the night before. I had thought the more the merrier two minutes ago… couldn’t back out now.
“Okay, sure. Can you be at the Caville Bay Marina by one o’clock?”
“See ya there, kiddo!”
***
We picked up California and made the hour-long drive to the Lake, arriving at just after one. She sat in the back with Thad and spent most of the trip chatting with him and playing some sort of ‘I Spy’ game.
Okay, so maybe I ended up joining in for a little bit before we arrived. My dad was being quiet, as per usual, so what else did I have to do? If my son was having fun, then I wanted to be a part of it.
As California and I started to unload all our stuff, my dad and Thad went to find Charlie, the owner of the marina and dad’s friend. Rufus’ car pulled up next to us, and he and his two ‘friends’ fell out laughing loudly over something one of them just said.
“We’re not too late are we, kiddo?” Rufus asked as he picked Cali up and kissed her on the cheek.
“We just got here,” she laughed, holding onto her sunglasses that were in danger of flying off her face.
“This is Cali and Thatch,” Rufus said to his companions. “Cal and Thatch, this is Zoe and Freddie.”
“Hey,” they both said at the same time, Zoe giving a little wave.
Zoe was a leggy blonde with tanned skin and what had to be silicone breasts. They were just a little too high and a little too perfect-looking. Freddie was fair-haired with a crew cut and had a build like a linebacker. Between the two of them, plus Rufus, it looked like the Scandinavian invasion.
“Nice to meet you,” Cali said, returning Zoe’s wave.
I nodded in their general direction as they took off down the marina to look at the boats.
“Don’t worry, beautiful,” Rufus said, putting an arm around each of us, but talking to Cali. “They have no idea who you are and my guess is they’re too out of it to make any sort of connection between you and your father.�
�
“I’ll keep the sunglasses on anyways, Ruf,” she replied with a low laugh that twisted my insides just a little. “Which one did you hook up with last night?” she asked innocently.
“You mean I was supposed to choose?” Rufus responded with a wicked grin.
California’s face went beet red as it dawned on her that this little threesome had been exactly that just a few hours ago.
She was completely adorable and I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from twitching. I rolled my eyes at Rufus to hide the smile.
“Now, don’t give me that disapproving look, beautiful,” Rufus chuckled at California. “I realize the little man is here today and it’s not like the three of us are about to go at it in public. At least we’ll try and keep our hands off each other.” He raised an eyebrow in Freddie’s direction. “But dayem, that boy can do things with his tongue…”
This had California giggling like a schoolgirl, which in turn made Rufus grab her and throw her over his shoulder.
“Where’s this damn boat then, Bellamy?” he called out as he headed up the marina towards the rest of the group.
“And thanks for the help with all the stuff, guys!” I called out after them in a mock-frustrated tone.
Cali
Bellamy’s friend, Charlie, was an older, weatherworn man in his late sixties. Thaddeus called him Captain and I could immediately tell the gruff-looking man loved it. I also soon realized, as I sat with Bellamy and Charlie as we made our way through all the other boats, that these two men had been friends for a very long time. I suspected, as a self-proclaimed man without a family of his own, spending the afternoon with his good friend and his son and grandson, was something really special for Charlie – and that was why Bellamy had suggested the trip. I guessed that was Bellamy’s thing – finding people who were lost or lonely and taking them in. Charlie and I were kindred spirits it seemed.
Thatch and Thaddeus were sitting together on what Charlie informed me was the bow. Thatch sat at the edge of the boat with his legs firmly wedged under the small rail that ran the length of the bow, with Thaddeus sitting securely on his lap, held tightly in his father’s arms. We had all been given life vests and were told to keep them near and to definitely wear them when we stopped and if we decided to go for a swim. Thatch and his son had theirs on – the boy over the moon at the Thaddeus-sized vest just for him. My heart did that little melty thing it liked to do when I saw Thatch and Thaddeus sharing an intimate father-son moment. It was similar to the heart-melty thing I felt every time I saw Thatch, only this one was the PG-rated version.