by KG MacGregor
“Tell me all the good ones.”
“I feel at home, obviously. That’s probably the main one. And I’m excited you’re here with me because I get to see it through fresh eyes.” They exited the airport onto North Harbor Drive toward the Eight, a ten-lane freeway that divided the county into north and south. “But it also makes me feel conflicted about committing to a couple of years in Kentucky. I thought I’d made peace with it, but being here again is stirring up doubts.”
“It would be weird if you didn’t feel all those things, especially since your dad getting sick forced the issue. You didn’t get to think it over and weigh all the pros and cons. But you did the right thing, don’t you think?”
“Sure…but probably not for the right reason.” She confessed to losing out on the Regent job the very same day she learned about the Longdogs. “It was the perfect job for me, and I would have nailed it. If they’d hired me, I’m pretty sure I’d have told Dad and JT to find someone else.”
“You’re perfect for the Longdogs job too. Every day you go to work, you make that team more valuable. It’s gonna be worth millions, Britt. Would you really have left all that money on the table?”
“Money only matters if it lets you do the things you want. I think I’d have chosen the job that let me stay here. That’s how much it meant to me. I only said yes to the Longdogs because my finances were circling the drain.”
“If that’s the case, then what you did was a no-brainer. Stop torturing yourself with doubts. You made the only real choice you had.”
“What I really torture myself over is how I got myself in this position. I should have been more insistent with Candice about expanding our client list so we wouldn’t be so vulnerable. She didn’t want the responsibility of taking on staff. I always said if Teem Toys got bought out by somebody, it would wipe us out. In the end, we were both right. She got what she wanted and I got wiped out.”
After pointing out San Diego State, her alma mater, she fell silent. Dredging up her failures triggered a wave of frustration, perfectly timed to spoil her happy homecoming. On the surface, she could convince herself the opportunity in Leland was too good to pass up. Underneath, she knew the bitter truth, and now so did Ninah.
They exited the freeway onto a divided boulevard lined with big box stores and chain restaurants. But for the palms and junipers, it could have been suburban Lexington, an observation she decided to keep to herself. Their ride ended in the parking lot of her modest two-story apartment complex, where all the units faced inward to the courtyard.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” she said glumly as Julio drove away. “And I do mean humble.”
“Nothing wrong with humble. I’ve read about California’s exorbitant rents. You lucked out to get a place this nice.”
Britt wouldn’t dare say what she paid for a mere six hundred square feet, the best she could find on short notice. At least the building was quiet and well-kept.
Bags in tow, she led Ninah down a winding walkway lined with palms and flowering shrubs. A pristine pool occupied the center of the courtyard, surrounded by lounge chairs and an iron fence with its posted list of what wasn’t allowed. No alcohol. No diving. No swimming after 9 p.m. One could reasonably think they didn’t want tenants to use the pool at all.
“I should warn you, my apartment is super tiny.”
“You’ve seen mine. It’s not exactly palatial.”
“But yours looks like someone lives there. When Candice’s mom died, she inherited all her furniture, dishes, artwork, everything. We had to sell off our stuff to make room for it. So of course when she left, there wasn’t anything to divvy up because it was all hers.”
Her living area was outfitted with a cheap burgundy love seat, perfect for hiding spills. The ottoman doubled as storage for magazines and a pile of remotes for the wall-mounted TV. In place of a dining set was her Scandinavian desk and file cabinet.
“Did I mention this is also where I work?”
“I can tell.” Ninah looked around and smiled. “I may have had more furniture than this in my dorm room. That’s an observation, not a criticism. And I appreciate that you seem to be obsessively neat, like yours truly. It won’t take long at all to pack this up.”
“Most of what you see here is cheap. Except the sheets. I’m a sheet snob. Which reminds me…”
Ninah peeked through the doorway into her bedroom, also sparsely furnished. A queen-sized bed, sans headboard, sat between two sets of drawers made from collapsible cubes. “I’ve got no problem sharing the bed, if that’s your question.”
“It was.” They shared a laugh that lifted her mood. Before she could offer a glass of wine, her cell phone rang. “I bet that’s Holly. I asked her to call.”
Ninah silently mouthed “little girls’ room” as she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.
“Hey, thanks for getting back to me.”
“You there with your squeeze?”
“She’s not my squeeze, and she’s in the other room. I just wanted to touch base about tomorrow. What time are people coming?”
“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s skip Gossip Grill. How about we meet for dinner at BB’s? Izzy and Kim said they’d come too. It’ll be easier to talk. We want to hear all about Britt Iverson, sports mogul.”
BB’s was Baja Betty’s, just down the street from the bar. A brunch favorite, it also happened to have the best margaritas in town.
“Why don’t we do both? We can meet at BB’s for an early dinner and walk down to Gossip when we’re done. Ninah’s never been to California. I want to take her to a first-class dyke bar so she can see what she’s missing.”
“We can’t do Gossip Grill, not tomorrow.” Holly’s voice fell. “Fucking hell, I was going to lie and tell you everybody had the flu.”
Britt’s stomach tightened and she braced herself to hear that her so-called friends were too busy, which was the same as saying they had better things to do. After being gone less than a month, she hardly expected anyone to have missed her that much, but Holly should have been able to coax a few of them out for a sendoff once they heard she’d be gone for a couple of years.
“So no one’s coming.”
“That’s just it, they are. Penelope’s doing up a big-ass welcome home party for Candice. The bitch is moving back to San Diego.”
“You can’t be serious. She’s only been gone eight months.” For a split second, it crossed her mind to reach out to Teem Toys about picking up their work again. That was her homesickness talking. “What does she think she’s going to do back here? I’ve been working this event market for eight months. It’s booked out three years already.”
“She, uh…fuck me, Britt. I hate being the one to have to tell you this. I’m so fucking sorry. Candice got that Regent job you wanted.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“This is magnificent,” Ninah said, taking in the panoramic view of the Pacific Coast from Torrey Pines State Park. “If I lived in San Diego, I’d be out here every weekend drinking this in.”
Britt smiled weakly and nodded. “I had a feeling you’d appreciate this more than the harbor or Balboa Park. Dad loves it too. I bring him out here every time he comes to visit.”
Kentucky had its own natural beauty but nothing to rival the raw grandeur of the gnarled pines and sandstone sculptures lining the coast, bent and worn from the brisk wind blowing in from the ocean. At the Yucca Point overlook, it was as if they were standing on the edge of the world.
Britt reluctantly agreed to a selfie, though after three tries Ninah gave up on eliciting anything resembling a genuine smile. There was no cracking her sullen mood, which had settled like a pall after Holly’s call. Absorbed in misery, she’d barely spoken as they packed, dividing their tasks so they worked in separate rooms. Every snippet of conversation was muted by the knowledge that Britt’s thoughts were elsewhere.
Ninah had no idea how to comfort her, or if she should even try. In a moment of candor, Britt had des
cribed an overwhelming sense of humiliation. Candice had bested her at every turn—claiming their friends, winning the job—even stealing the one lousy afternoon in which she might have had the spotlight to herself.
The movers had arrived at seven thirty that morning, making quick work of the sealed boxes and furniture. By ten, the apartment was empty, the car packed to the gills. Eager to put the incident behind her, Britt had changed her overnight flight to one that left at three p.m. She’d be back in Leland tonight.
For the stroll back to the car, Ninah looped her arm through Britt’s and was pleased that she didn’t pull away. Even as a gesture of friendship, it was exciting to do such a thing without fretting over a stranger’s judgment or insult. This was the joy she felt at a Pride celebration, made even more remarkable for its apparent normalcy. “I like it here.”
“There’s so much to see in California. I hope you’ll drive up the coast before cutting over to the Grand Canyon.”
“About that…I think I’m gonna skip the sightseeing this trip and come straight home. Maybe you’ll come back with me one of these days and we can see it together.”
“I’d love to show it to you, all of California.”
“It’s beautiful, but there’s also an aura about it that’s special. I felt it almost as soon as I got here. I can see why it means so much to you.”
Had Britt just offered to show her California or was that wishful thinking? After sleeping together for two nights—close enough to hold one another—she wanted to think they were moving toward something more serious. But Britt was emotional right now, much as she’d been the last time they’d—
“I was never able to make Dad understand what this place meant to me. To him, home was where you were from…and where you’re supposed to go back to, obviously.”
“You need to stop worrying about Leland, Britt. I know, easier said than done, but you’ve got the opportunity of a lifetime. If the Longdogs had landed in Candice’s lap, I bet she’d have squandered it. You won’t. So picture her haughty nose when she finds out you’re a multimillionaire. Bye, Felicia.”
Britt rolled her eyes and sighed. “If I quit sulking, will you quit patronizing me?”
“Maybe,” she replied drolly, adding a lighthearted smile. “I wasn’t trying to be patronizing. I was just pointing out the obvious, that you’ve managed to charm everyone in Leland not named Wesley Hodges. However long you stay there, I hope you’ll end up being glad you did.”
At a fork in the trail, Britt steered them toward another overlook called Razor Point. By her silence, she was either considering her fortunes or hoping Ninah would drop the subject.
“Britt, we don’t have to keep talking about this if you’re sick of it, but if it’s stuck in your head, you might as well get it out.” Getting no reply, she added, “I get the feeling I’m dancing on your last nerve.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s just that…God, I can’t possibly say this without sounding like a shallow, pompous twat.”
“Go for it. If you really are a shallow, pompous twat, it’s gonna come out sooner or later. And now’s as good a time as any, since I’m willing to overlook a multitude of sins in a gorgeous place like this.”
That put a tiny crack in Britt’s stern facade, but it didn’t last.
“You’re right about the Longdogs, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I should feel good about it but everyone knows it was handed to me on a silver platter. And I had to go crawling back to Leland to get it. In my book, that’s called failure.”
Everyone knows. What she really meant was Candice knows. It was killing her to think Candice was taking a victory lap at her expense. That wasn’t failure. It was wounded pride. Ninah thought better of saying so.
“I’d have taken that Regent job in a heartbeat. Call me crazy, but I’d rather have lived here and made thousands than in Leland making millions. If I was going to prove myself, it had to be here on my own.”
“We aren’t here to prove ourselves, Britt. We’re here to live life and be good people. Besides, what Candice did, that’s a relationship failure, not a business failure.”
“She knows how I feel about Kentucky and why. I’m sure she’s heard the news by now. I bet she had an absolute field day, probably told everyone I’ve gone back to the cult.”
Plainly, Britt was hurting on so many fronts. Ninah couldn’t help but think her presence made it worse. Britt had been bursting with excitement to show off the great life she had in San Diego, and Candice had turned it into a shit show.
“I hate what she’s done to you, and what she’s still doing. Especially how she came between you and your friends, but that’s on them too. It’s hard to believe they don’t know what an asshole she is, but sooner or later they will.”
When they reached the second overlook, Britt led her all the way to the edge, where she folded her arms and tapped her foot defiantly. “I need to get over it. Maybe I ought to start over somewhere else…make some real friends.”
“You have real friends here, Britt. The others don’t count.”
Britt answered with a scornful grunt.
“It’s beautiful here. Who knows? If all the dominoes fell just right, I could learn to love this place too.”
Had those words actually left her lips? She’d practically offered to move to California if it meant a future with Britt. Bold. Or maybe foolish. Either way she felt no urge to walk it back. It hardly made a difference that she’d said it, since Britt gave no indication she cared one way or the other.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Dad wanted to welcome himself home with another dinner party but I put the kibosh on that.”
Ninah laughed and plugged her phone into the dashboard jack that allowed Britt’s call to come through the Prius’s stereo system. “It’s good to know he’s back to his old self.”
“And he’s dying to go to the ballpark, but I’m making him wait a couple of days. The doctor said he had to take it slow, but he didn’t think there’d be any more seizures.”
Their conversation was delayed while a double haul oil truck passed Ninah on the left. Their jockeying had become a game of sorts, her passing on the incline and him rolling past on the downslope.
“Die, you fucker!” Britt suddenly yelled. “Sorry…mosquito. I’m sitting out here in the gazebo drinking the last of your Blue Moon ale. That got me wondering what you thought about while you were driving all alone through Bumbletucky, New Mexico.”
She was delighted to find Britt in such a cheery mood. “As you can probably tell, I’m not alone. I’m locked in mortal combat with half a dozen trucks that keep passing me and slowing down. You’d think I was driving around topless.”
“Now there’s a visual. My head just exploded. Now all the little water moccasins are swimming to the surface to eat my brain bits.” She animated the image with nibbling sounds. “How far are you going today?”
“Tucumcari.”
“Gesundheit.”
Britt related the results of her sales meeting that afternoon with Kroger, during which she’d learned the value of holding out premium space for those with deep pockets. She could have sold a full-season sponsorship package for top dollar had she not already sold off pieces to smaller advertisers. “But they bought out the rest of the season on the back page of the program, and I agreed to make them my first call next year.”
“Wow, it’s like your secretary said. The fish are jumping in the boat.” She gunned it to get past the double truck at the crest of the hill. “I checked the box score this morning. Oscar hit another one last night against Spring Hill. That’s what, twenty-two homers in fifteen games? He needs to chill, or he’s gonna get himself called up.”
“That would be a disaster. I hope you didn’t just jinx us. We sold twenty-eight more club seats for the season. People are jumping on the bandwagon because of Oscar.”
Ninah had always found it frustrating that the team’s breakout stars were usually whisked away to Bradenton or Al
toona as soon as they showed promise, but that was the nature of the league. The Pirates didn’t care if the Longdogs were in first place or last. Players in the Valley League weren’t there to win, but to develop. Guys like Oscar were more valuable up the chain.
“You’re sounding awfully chipper for somebody who got home so late. You must have been dragging.”
“I’m sure it’ll hit me later tonight. But I have to admit, I felt better about getting back here than I expected to. After our talk, I mean. It was good for me to hear all that, so thanks for ignoring my cranky mood. I’m more settled about being here…for the next year or two anyway. I have to focus, because if the Pirates don’t renew their contract next year, all this is for nothing—and Dad loses his investment.”
Ninah was pleased to hear her resolve. “But keep an eye on the job listings in San Diego. You’ll see how long it takes Regent to fire Candice and advertise that job again.”
“Wouldn’t that be a scream?” Britt’s voice abruptly turned serious. “Ninah, I’ve been thinking about what you said at Torrey Pines, about the dominoes falling a certain way. Would you really consider moving to San Diego someday, or was that just…”
So she had heard. Ninah didn’t want to have this conversation on the phone at eighty miles an hour, but she’d never forgive herself if they put it off and it never came up again. If Leland was the only thing keeping them apart, she needed to lay her cards on the table.
“Let me put it this way, Britt. We all have to do what makes us happy. I like living in Leland, but it’s not the most important thing in my life. I realized that when Teri and I split up. I came so close to leaving. All that stopped me was not having another job lined up.” Again she waited while three trucks barreled down the hill beside her. “You still there?”
“Yeah. Does that mean—” The next part was muffled, as if Britt had her hand over the phone. “Sorry, Dad was yelling at me from the back deck. I need to go in and see what he needs or he’ll try to get it himself.”