by Lauren Rowe
I hear movement behind me. Is that the sound of track suit guy raising the gun and aiming it at the back of Dad’s head? At the back of mine?
We make it to the door. Dad reaches for the doorknob and turns it.
And I suddenly realize I can barely breathe.
Dad pushes me through the door and we’re out and running down the motel hallway, sprinting at top speed, both of us muttering phrases like “holy fuck!” and “oh my fucking God!” and “run, run, run!” as we go.
We reach Savvy’s car and pile inside and I peel out of the parking lot like a man possessed, my knuckles white on the steering wheel and my foot like lead on the gas pedal.
Finally, when we’re about two blocks from the motel and my heart has slowed enough for me to breathe again, I turn to my father, shake my head, and say, “Jesus fucking Christ, Dad.”
Dad chuckles. “I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my goddamned life.”
Chapter Nineteen
Aiden
Friday, 9:48 a.m.
“Thank God Savvy was the one who rolled the dice,” I say to my father. I put down my coffee mug. “My hands were shaking so bad, I couldn’t roll. I gave the dice to Savvy and closed my eyes, and, two seconds later, I heard everyone at the table cheering. I opened my eyes and there it was: lucky number eleven.”
“Amazing,” Dad says.
“A fucking miracle.”
My father and I are sitting across from each other in a diner about fifteen miles from the Strip. We’re celebrating Dad’s newfound freedom over breakfast. We’ve already talked about this morning’s harrowing events, and now I’m filling Dad in on how I got the fifty grand.
Dad shoves a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. “I’m sure if you’d have been the one to roll the dice, you’d have rolled an eleven, too. You’ve always been a lucky bastard.”
I gape at my father like he’s just shouted, “Someone, please, cut off my penis!”
“Dad, I’m the unluckiest bastard I know.”
Dad picks up his coffee mug. “Bullshit. You’re lucky as hell. Lucky. As. Hell.” He flashes me a cocky smile. “You get it from me, actually. I’ve always been a lucky bastard, too.”
Okay, now he’s rendered me speechless.
“Well, you’ve always been my lucky charm, anyway,” Dad says, apparently reacting to my facial expression. “From the minute you showed up on my doorstep, I couldn’t lose.”
“Says the guy who just completed a five-year stint in the pen.”
Dad scoffs. “That doesn’t mean I’m unlucky. I did the crime, so I did the time. If I didn’t do the crime but did the time, anyway, then I’d be unlucky. See how that works?” He winks. “Cause and effect, son. It’s as simple as that.”
I shake my head, but I can’t help returning his broad smile. There’s no one quite like my father.
“If I’m not lucky as hell, then how do you explain you?” Dad continues. “The condom broke one time with your mother—one fucking time in three months of us screwing like rabbits—and, boom, there you were like a four-leaf clover on my doorstep fourteen years later.”
I chuckle. If ever I wondered, even for a second, why I sold Betty to that museum to save my father’s sorry ass, he just reminded me in spades. “Okay, you’ve convinced me,” I say. “You’re the luckiest bastard who ever lived, Dad.”
“Second luckiest. You’re the luckiest.”
“Obviously.” I raise my coffee mug, chuckling. “To the two luckiest bastards who ever lived.”
“Cheers,” Dad says. He clinks his mug to mine. But, in a heartbeat, his smile fades and emotion washes over him. “Seriously, though. Thanks for coming to my rescue, Aidy. If it wasn’t for you, I’d have been a goner.”
“Yeah, well, it was a one-time thing. Even if I wanted to save your sorry ass again, I’m all out of shit to sell, man.”
“Oh, no worries about that. I’m gonna be a saint from now on.”
“In all seriousness, Dad. Please. Don’t fuck up again. I sent those fuckers every dime of my savings. Betty’s gone. And my bike broke down on the way here. I literally have nothing left to sell to help you again.”
Dad looks deeply sorry. “I’m so sorry about all that. The money you sent. Betty. Especially Betty. I know how much you loved that damned guitar.”
“You’re worth more to me than any guitar. Even Betty.”
I clear my throat to keep emotion at bay, grab my fork, and take a big bite of sausage.
“So tell me about this ‘amazing’ girl you’ve been hanging out with,” Dad says.
“Her full name is actually Savannah, but she goes by Savvy.” A huge smile spreads across my face. Just thinking about Savvy instantly brightens my mood. “She’s sweet, smart, funny. Sexy as hell. The total package. Honestly, she’s the greatest girl I’ve ever met. She’s got book smarts enough to fill the Grand Canyon, but not enough street smarts to plug a ladybug’s asshole.”
Dad laughs.
“The first time I met her,” I continue, “she was like, ‘I’m Savvy, but don’t let the name fool you.’”
“Talk about an easy mark.”
“That’s exactly what I thought when she said that! Man, the old me would have had a field day with her. I’ve been calling her Savvy Who Isn’t Savvy.”
“And you don’t have a twitchy trigger finger at all with her?”
“Nope. Just the opposite. The more she trusts me, the more I want to deserve her trust. Like I keep telling you, Dad. I’m off the con for good. And even if I weren’t, meeting Savvy would have reformed me. The only thing I want to do when it comes to Savvy Valentine is protect her from guys like I used to be. Guys like you.”
“Hey, I’m off the con for good, too, same as you.”
“Says the guy who just had to pay fifty grand to avoid getting a bullet to his head.”
“That debt was from before I went into the joint. I came out a new man, same as you. And even if I hadn’t come out straight, I’d be straight now after getting this second chance at life, thanks to you.” He leans back in his chair and grins. “Plus, now that I’ve met Bethany, I can’t risk getting locked up again. I’ve got too much to lose.”
“Bethany?” I ask.
“My girlfriend. She’s on her way to pick me up.”
“She’s on her way to Vegas, you mean, or to this diner?”
“The diner. She lives in Vegas. I met her in LA a month ago, right after I got out of the joint, and we both felt like we’d been hit by a thunderbolt. She was visiting her sister in LA and wound up staying way longer than she’d intended, just to hang out with me. But, finally, she had to come back to Vegas last week for a big jewelry convention, so I joined her. That’s how I got nabbed by Antonio’s goons, actually. I was helping Bethany at her booth at the jewelry convention, and one of his men happened to spot me.”
“Really? I assumed you got nabbed at a casino.”
“Nope. I haven’t stepped foot in a casino since I got out. I told you I’m a new man.”
“Sure, Dad. I’ll believe it when I see it.” I glance at the clock on the wall, and my stomach twists. Ten seventeen. Shit. Time’s running out. I’ve got to decide what to do. What the fuck would Gramps tell me to do about Betty? Would he tell me to stop being a “drama queen” about Regina—that I should bite the bullet and go to her? That it’s just two short days of discomfort in exchange for getting to spend the rest of my life playing a guitar that gives me more pleasure than words can express? Or would he tell me nothing, not even Betty, is worth forfeiting my self-respect? And, of course, there’s also the twenty-five-thousand-dollar question: Would Gramps’s advice change if he knew how I’m feeling about Savvy?
Savvy.
God, I’m so confused. How could I possibly even think about choosing Savvy over Betty when Savvy and I could easily get back to LA and immediately realize we’re just too different to make it work? That our whirlwind romance was nothing but a crazy blip fueled by the high-stress circ
umstances, lust, and booze? I can’t imagine it, but it’s possible. How would I feel if I were to give up Betty only to get home and have Savvy realize she could never be with a guy like me in real life? Which means, fuck it, I should definitely… What should I do? I still don’t know. I close my eyes and try to imagine myself playing Betty in some club, knowing full well Savvy Valentine was out there in the world, somewhere, feeling rejected and hurt. I imagine myself playing Betty while knowing Savvy was out in the world, fucking some other guy…and my heartrate spikes. And then I torture myself by imagining Savvy not just fucking someone else, but falling in love with him…and I suddenly feel like I’m having a heart attack.
“I wish I would have been able to talk to you again and suggest that to you,” Dad says, pulling me out of my thoughts. And, suddenly, I realize Dad’s been talking the whole time I’ve been letting my thoughts run wild.
“What? Sorry.”
“I was saying I wish there were some way you could buy your guitar back from that museum. You know, like in a year or something? I wish I would have been able to talk to you again after our conversation on Wednesday to suggest that idea to you. But I didn’t think of it when you said you were going to head straight to the museum.”
Man, I hate not telling my father about the buyback provision I negotiated with the museum. But I can’t. If I tell him about it, he might do something stupid to get me the money, the same way he did something stupid to help Uncle Jimmy. Not to mention, if I tell him about the buyback provision, then I’d probably wind up telling him about Regina’s indecent proposal, too. And I don’t want to do that. He doesn’t need to know I called Regina, begging her to help me save my father’s life, and she used my desperation as leverage to make her “Mrs. Robinson” fantasies come true.
“It’s okay,” I say. “Don’t worry about Betty. All that matters is you’re okay.”
Dad scratches his chin. “But still, even if you didn’t negotiate any kind of buyback rights with the museum, do you think they’d let you buy it back anyway if you showed up with twice the money in a year? Because if Bethany and I wind up making a killing with her jewelry business, I’d give you fifty grand to buy it back.”
I rub my face. “There’s no point in talking about this, Dad.”
Dad sighs. “I just feel so guilty you sold Betty for me. I know how much you loved that damned guitar.”
“Yeah, well, I love you more.”
Dad’s face lights up with an epiphany. “Hey, maybe Savvy could loan you some money. It’s worth a shot, don’t you think? And when Bethany’s jewelry business takes off, I’ll pay Savvy back with interest.”
I roll my eyes. “Savvy doesn’t have money, Dad. She’s in debt up to her eyeballs, thanks to a condo she bought. And I’d never take money from her, anyway. She already offered to help me try to buy the guitar back and I said no. She offered to hawk a ring of hers worth a couple grand and gamble with the money.” I can’t help smiling. “She wanted to try counting cards.”
“She’s a card shark?”
I snort. “Not at all. She’s just good with numbers.”
Dad shakes his head. “Any casino would have made her in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, I told her.”
“Sweet of her to want to try, though. That’s a sweet girl right there.”
“That’s Savvy. She’s the sweetest girl in the world.”
“I’d like to meet her. Why don’t we do a double date in LA?”
“I don’t know, Dad. Savvy and I might wind up saying our goodbyes here in Vegas.”
Dad looks surprised. “But you just said she’s the sweetest girl in the world.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Is she married or something?”
“No. It’s just bad timing.”
Dad rolls his eyes. “Look, son, I know you’re young and on the prowl, and girls can’t get enough of you. It was the same for me at twenty-four. But you can’t play the field forever. If you find yourself a really sweet girl like Savvy, then grab her because you never know—”
“I’m not playing the field, Dad. I’m not on the prowl. You always think that about me, and I keep telling you I’m not like that. That’s you, not me. You can’t keep your dick in your pants. I manage it just fine. It’s just complicated with Savvy, okay? Let’s just leave it at that.”
“What the fuck is so complicated? I saw your face when you were talking about her. Now stop over-thinking things and get out of your own way. You always think and think, Aidy. To a fault. It’s not good for the brain to think so much. Follow your goddamned gut on occasion, Aidy. For the love of fuck.”
“I met Savvy two days ago, Dad. My gut is hardly trustworthy on the topic.”
“So what if you met her two days ago? You know what you feel.”
“But what I’m feeling can’t be real. I can’t make any promises to a girl I met two days ago. Not this fast.”
Dad narrows his eyes. “Who said anything about promises?”
“Savvy’s not the kind of girl to string along.”
“Ah, I get it. So you’re just gonna push this girl away like you push everyone else away, huh? You’re gonna be the lone wolf, yet again.”
“I don’t push everyone away. I just don’t like letting people get too close. It’s easier that way on everyone, in case things don’t work out.” I rake my hand through my hair. “She’s squeaky clean, Dad. She went to Stanford. Obviously, she doesn’t need a guy like me in her life.”
Dad squints at me for a long moment. He takes a bite of his food. Chews it slowly. “Okay. I get it. And I agree. Fuck Savvy. She’s sweet but she doesn’t need a loser like you in her life.”
I take a bite of my food. “I didn’t say I’m a loser,” I mumble. “I just said she’s too good for me.”
“Got it.” He takes a big bite of his toast. “Hey, you know what you should do?” He motions to Savvy’s white SUV out the window in the parking lot. “You should hawk Savvy’s car and take the money to that museum and beg them to let you buy back your guitar. I know a guy who fences cars without the pink slip. A nice SUV like hers, you could probably get enough money to convince them to—”
“I’m not gonna sell Savvy’s car out from under her,” I snap. But then I look around and lower my voice. “What the hell kind of asshole do you think I am? I just finished telling you Savvy rolled the dice that saved your life. And then she let me borrow her fucking car to come buy your freedom. You think I’d let her save your life and help me like that and then turn around and fuck her over?”
Dad shrugs. “Hey, you just met her two days ago. You said so yourself. She can’t possibly mean more to you than Betty. So why not sell her car and head straight to the museum? It’s worth a try.”
“You just finished telling me you and Bethany got struck by lightning the first time you met.”
“We did.”
“So you get to find the perfect girl and have some kind of white picket fence with her while I find the perfect girl and treat her like shit?”
“What do my feelings for Bethany have to do with your feelings for Savvy? You didn’t feel a lightning bolt with her, did you? She’s just a sweet girl you met in a bar. She could leave you next week, for all you know, just like everyone else has always left you at one point or another. So why would you want to risk getting left by someone you care about, again, when you could head to that museum and try to buy back a guitar you know will always treat you right?”
I lean back in my chair, realization dawning on me. “Holy shit. You’re doing that thing you do, aren’t you?”
Dad smiles wickedly.
I shake my head, but I can’t help returning his smile.
“Did it help you figure things out?” Dad asks.
I grab my coffee mug. “Fuck you. And yes.”
Dad laughs. “You’re welcome.” He brings his mug to his lips to cover his cocky smile. “Now finish your breakfast, dumbshit. You’re gonna need to fuel up so you can show Sav
vy an extra good time this afternoon.”
I take a huge bite of my eggs. “You’re good.”
“I am. Especially when it comes to you.” He winks. “I can read you like a book, son.”
I feel electrified. Free. Thanks to Dad’s manipulations, I suddenly know what to do about the Regina-Betty-Savvy situation—because I know exactly what I want. “I would have figured my shit out without you playing armchair psychologist,” I say. “Don’t give yourself too much credit, old man.”
Dad shrugs like he doesn’t believe a word of it, his eyes twinkling.
“So tell me more about Bethany,” I say, bringing my coffee mug to my lips. “She’s got a jewelry business?”
“Yeah. You should see the stuff she makes. It’s beautiful. She designs everything, all by herself, and then she solders it together. She’s a true artist.”
“Is jewelry her day job?”
“Not yet, but that’s the dream. She’s a cocktail waitress at the Golden Nugget for now, just because she’s got her son to support, but—”
“She’s got a son?”
A huge smile spreads across Dad’s face. “Austin. He’s four. Cutest little bugger you ever saw. Smart as a whip, too. He’s exactly how I’d imagine you must have been at the same age.”
“Damn. She’s moving fast with you, considering she’s got a kid in tow.”
“It’s love, Aidy. Pure and simple. I told her I’m gonna do whatever I have to do to take care of her and Austin ’til the end of time, and I’m gonna keep that promise, no matter what. For starters, I’m gonna be director of sales for her jewelry business and make big things happen for her.”
“What do you know about jewelry?”
“Nothing. But I know I can sell ice to an Eskimo.”
“True.”
“Watch me. I’m gonna get Bethany’s stuff into those fancy boutiques on Rodeo Drive or those hipster shops on Melrose. Hell, maybe I’ll even get her stuff onto QVC. And if not, if the jewelry biz doesn’t work out, then, okay, I’ll figure something else out. A buddy of mine said he’d hire me as a bartender. I could do that. As long as I’m with Bethany and Austin, I’ll be okay.”