Coffee and Conclusions

by Emma Sterner-Radley

  “I don’t know about that, babe. You need to keep your savings for you and Alberto. At least until your writing brings in some money. Especially now that you might not have your parents for backup if anything goes wrong.”

  “I have plenty of money saved. There’s also the money from the house sale, and Richard pays child support for Alberto, so there’s money coming in.”

  Erin looked down at her feet. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed. “Still, we should probably be careful with travel costs. It’s not like we can’t see each other on Skype, right?”

  For a moment, there was silence on the line.

  “We’ll work something out. I don’t want you to feel guilty about this, Erin. You’re pursuing a future for yourself, and I’m so proud of you for moving forward and being so brave. In fact, I’m proud of both of us for building a life we can grow into, one in which we can grow old together. You buying the gym, me going all-in with my writing, all to build a future for us in New York? It’s worth a little sacrifice right now.”

  Erin chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose. You know what? I’m glad we’re both old enough to know that. Putting a stable future ahead of my need to kiss you right now—yeah, that’s not something I would have been able to do when I was twenty-five.”

  “I know. Anyway, let’s talk about more cheerful things.”

  Stopping by a crossing, Erin nearly walked straight into an old man in the crowd. She smiled an apology, as she waited for the lights. “Sure,” she told Isabella, “I just have to say…thank you for being so supportive and for understanding what I’m trying to achieve here. You’re a gem.”

  “‘A gem’ might be overselling it. I’m just being the understanding girlfriend. I realized I had to step up my game if I was going to be the Maggie Sawyer to your Batwoman.”

  The light changed, and this time, Erin did walk into the old man ahead of her. “Sorry,” she mouthed, then held her hand up and ducked her head in apology. He scowled at her and shook his head before ignoring her and carrying on. Erin turned back to more important matters. “You’ve read Batwoman?”

  “Remember that phone call when I said I’d looked into some of your interests, but then you annoyed me with your stupid guesses?”

  Erin knitted her brows. “Vaguely, yeah.”

  “Well, I ordered Batwoman 1, 2, and 3 of the New 52 series and read them on my iPad. Not really my cup of tea. I prefer more words in my reading. But I see why you like the characters. I’m glad I got an insight into something important to you.”

  Erin bit her lip around her smile, not caring if anyone saw her looking all lovesick and goofy. “Thanks. I’m not used to people paying attention to my interests like that. That’s, um, some serious girlfriend points there. Not to mention some serious woman-loving-woman points for reading about the coolest lesbian superhero ever.”

  “Why thank you. I love…” Isabella trailed off. “Alberto, where are you going?”

  “What? Lil’ man is leaving?”

  “He’s sort of wriggling away on the floor. Out of his baby gym and toward the kitchen.”

  “Maybe he’s making a sandwich?”

  “Very funny. He’s really got some speed up. I wish you were here to see this.”

  Erin sighed. “Yeah. Me too.”

  “Don’t be sad, preciosa. One day we’ll all live together, and you’ll be tired of the sight of him.”

  “Unlikely. The kid looks a lot like you. I could stare at him all day. Besides, he looks funny when he gawps at you and says hoo.”

  “The last bit did not sound like a compliment. Be careful or I’ll have you change his diaper again.”

  “Fine. I’ll wear a raincoat and gas mask.”

  “I’m sure that would suit you nicely. Hurry home to your Wi-Fi, and I’ll see you on Skype. If he’s still wiggling about then, you can see it on camera.”

  “Okay. I’ll hang up and hurry home. Tell the kid not to stop.”

  Finally home, Erin made coffee while impatiently waiting for her laptop to power up. As soon as everything was ready, she called Isabella. Three signals and Erin’s screen was graced with Isabella’s face.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Erin said.

  “Good evening, preciosa. I’m afraid you missed it.”

  “What? He stopped crawling?” Erin tried not to look at deflated as she felt.

  “Yes. Well, crawling might be a generous term for what he was doing. But whatever it was, I’m afraid it exhausted him. He’s asleep now,” Isabella replied.

  “Dammit!” Erin crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I’m sure he’ll do it again soon. We’ll see when he wakes up.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Hang on, I’m gonna go get some coffee.” When Erin came back, Isabella was sitting back in her chair and smiling at the screen. “Hey, what’s that smile about, Mona Lisa?” Erin asked.

  “I was just thinking. You’re here, I’m here, and Alberto…is fast asleep,” Isabella answered, her seductive smile and bedroom eyes making it very clear what she was thinking about suggesting next.

  Erin felt the corners of her own mouth pulling up in a smirk. She loved it when Isabella looked this…naughty.

  “Yeah? Maybe we should remind ourselves that we don’t have to travel to get some action.”

  “Take off the tank top, and we’ll see how lucky you can get, Miss Black.”

  “Oh, hell yeah,” Erin said with a grin, stripping quickly.

  Chapter 29

  Next Steps

  Three weeks passed. Three weeks with only one visit from Erin. What those weeks did have plenty of were seemingly endless days when Isabella sat and missed her.

  Admittedly, Erin’s busy schedule had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It had given Isabella lots of time to fill and an abundance of restless energy. In short, she’d managed to finish editing and proofreading her manuscript.

  Two weeks to the day after she’d called him, Isabella e-mailed Santiago the document. She worried that maybe she should’ve spent more time honing the manuscript, but she also knew she was a perfectionist at heart. She could easily spend the rest of her life moving commas around if she didn’t send the thing off. Now, it needed to be seen by someone else to get feedback on what needed polishing.

  Alberto could not only crawl perfectly but also shuffle himself around on his behind. Isabella was proud of that. Apparently, most babies seemed to do one or the other, not both. She wasn’t sure if this was something other parents would be proud of, but she didn’t care.

  She watched him shuffle toward her foot. He liked to do that, to grab her socks and try to pull them off. She smiled at him and said, “Look at you go, cariño. You’ll have to show your father.” Just as Alberto reached her foot, the intercom buzzed. “Speak of the devil,” Isabella crooned to him. She picked him up and went out into the hallway to open the front door.

  As she maneuvered the door open despite the fidgeting Alberto, Isabella saw Richard, Shay, and little Joshua on the doorstep.

  “Hello there. How was your trip?” Isabella asked.

  “It was good, thanks,” Richard replied.

  He stretched and took a deep breath of the balmy afternoon air. After a moment of apparent indecision, he gave her and Alberto a hesitant hug. He quickly moved back as if he’d been burned.

  It was such an uncomfortable moment that Isabella didn’t know how to respond. Luckily, Shay stopped any awkwardness by coming over and hugging Isabella too and then lifting Joshua up so he could do the same.

  Isabella didn’t know Shay or Joshua very well, so the hugs weren’t exactly normal fare, but she smiled as if it were a perfectly natural situation.

  Wondering if the visit had been a bad idea, Isabella fell back on the best icebreaker in the world—a child.

  “Alberto, can you wave to Daddy, Shay, and Joshua?”

>   The baby looked from Isabella to their guests and gurgled. Isabella grabbed his little hand and made him wave.

  Richard beamed. “Can I hold him?”

  She smiled encouragingly. “Of course. Go ahead.”

  Reverently, he lifted Alberto from Isabella’s arms, leaving Isabella free to walk in with Shay and Joshua while the reunited father and son brought up the rear.

  The scene was set for the rest of their visit. Shay and Isabella discussed moving and babies, while Joshua drew and played with some toys he’d brought along. All the while, Richard and Alberto stared at each other.

  A little later, Isabella served homemade brownies and coffee and some apple juice for Joshua. Shay looked over at Richard, who’d missed the brownies altogether and was just holding his forgotten coffee, too busy grinning at his youngest son. Alberto reached out his little hand to feel the bristles on his chin.

  Shay smiled at them before calling out, “Earth to Richard!”

  He looked over at her. “What?”

  “Just wondering if you were going to let Joshua take a closer look at his half brother, or if you were going to hog the baby all night.”

  “Of course.” Richard looked apologetic. “Come here, champ. You can fist bump Alberto. Look, I’ll hold out his hand, and you can bump it.”

  Shay turned back to Isabella, who was sipping her coffee and secretly counting down the minutes until they left and she could call Erin. As if she could read Isabella’s mind, Shay asked, “So, Richard told me you were dating someone new. Emily, was it?”

  “Erin,” Isabella corrected her with a smile.

  “Sorry. I’m so bad with names. Well, I’m glad you seem to have landed on your feet. It’s nice to see that some breakups leave both parties happier than before.”

  “Yes, well, it’s hard to be heartbroken if you weren’t truly in love to begin with. What Richard and I had was an initial crush that led to a friendship, nothing like what he has with you, or I have with Erin.”

  Shay smiled. Isabella recognized that smile from Joshua, who was an exact copy of his mother, other than his lighter skin. It was a fetching smile, as beautiful as the rest of her. Combined with her quick wit and warmth, Isabella found it very easy to see why her ex-boyfriend had fallen for Shay. The second she thought that, she realized with a jolt that it hadn’t been a purely platonic thought on her behalf. I’m a lot gayer than I realized.

  “I see your point,” Shay said. “So, she lives in New York, right? How are you getting on with the long-distance-relationship thing?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Isabella replied, “Not great, to be honest.”

  “Ah, that’s a shame. But not surprising. I’ve done long distance in the past. It’s hard. If you feel like telling me what you are struggling with, I might be able to help.”

  Sharing wasn’t really her thing, especially with a virtual stranger, and Isabella weighed how much she wanted to tell. But she knew she needed to vent. And there were only so many times she could listen to Marie tell her to keep her chin up and to “think of the shining bright future you’re building together” before ordering a hit on the poor woman. Or saving the money and doing it herself.

  She shrugged and put down her coffee. “Erin’s saving all her money, as she’s in the middle of buying a gym. Which means she can’t afford to visit much. Sadly, she’s far too proud to let me pay for all her train tickets. She’s also basically working two jobs right now, while she takes over the gym and finds other trainers for her old clients. So she doesn’t have much time to come visit anyway.”

  “I see. Yeah, that’s gotta be tough. Well, if she won’t let you pay for tickets for her, and she doesn’t have time to come here, why don’t you and Alberto go there?” Shay asked and sipped her coffee.

  “You mean move to New York?”

  “Erm, no, I meant for a visit.”

  Isabella grimaced at her mistake. “Oh, of course. I suppose we could go up there for a weekend, yes. Erin doesn’t work such long hours on weekends. It’s not so easy traveling with Alberto and all the baby paraphernalia, though.”

  Shay rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I remember that pain. It’s crazy how much stuff they need, considering they’re so small. I’m so relieved that Joshua’s old enough not to need much for the journey up here. Still, you survived the flight from Florida with Alberto, I’m sure you’d be okay with the short trip to New York.”

  It did sound like a good idea, now that she thought about it. Isabella hummed thoughtfully. She’d have to look into it.

  “I suppose that means you’re planning to move there one day? If Erin’s investing in a gym?” Shay took another sip.

  “Yes. When the time’s right. I’m quite prepared to move, but Erin…has a few things she wants to work through first.”

  “Okay. Well, I’d recommend not waiting too long. Long distance takes its toll on a relationship, especially if you can’t talk very often. Sorry, this is none of my business. I’ll butt out now.”

  “No, no. I asked for your advice.” Isabella smiled. “More coffee?”

  “Not right now, thanks. I thought I’d see if I can convince Richard to let me hold Alberto for a second. I’m really missing babies.”

  Isabella laughed. “Well, from the awestruck look on Richard’s face when he looks at Alberto, I think he might be prepared to have another. So, if you want a sibling for Joshua, I’d start working on your campaign now.”

  Shay grinned conspiratorially at her. “I might just do that.”

  Chapter 30

  Assets

  It was late in the morning when Erin walked into the gym. Most of her clients had gone to other trainers, so she easily fit a therapy session into the morning, as long as Chris didn’t mind. Which, of course, he never did.

  This morning’s session with Dr. Ariadne Hopkins had gone well. Erin really liked her; she was kind, patient, and surprisingly funny. Maybe Erin’s confidence in Dr. Hopkins was why she felt like she was making progress, because she was. Something which she had sworn to rub in Riley’s face when she gave her all the details. Riley had been doubtful, actually downright skeptical, about how much good therapy could do for Erin. According to Riley, therapy was only for those with a clinical diagnosis. Now, Erin could cheerfully tell her she was wrong.

  Progress aside, Erin wasn’t sleeping much better. She was sure that was mainly due to the stress of all the changes in her life. Plus, they’d examined her sleep patterns and realized that the nights she slept the best and the longest were the ones when she’d spent a lot of time with Isabella.

  Dr. Hopkins called Isabella Erin’s “anti-abandonment medicine” but stressed that Erin needed to find that security within herself and not rely on other people for it. That way would lead back down the rabbit hole if things went wrong. Erin was well aware of that. It was the whole reason she was in this mess to begin with. Not that she begrudged a moment of lost sleep. Without the insomnia, she knew she never would have found Isabella.

  The sense that the sessions were working made Erin feel much calmer and more confident. Thoughts of screwing up Alberto and his entire childhood didn’t send her off into a wild-eyed panic anymore. Nope, now they just made her hyperventilate. A huge step forward.

  She walked into the locker room to get ready for Riley’s session with her head held high. Riley had so far been impossible to pawn off on another trainer. Erin couldn’t be completely sad about that. She enjoyed Riley’s company after all…and their chats about Isabella.

  “So. Chris is leaving next week, right?” Riley was lacing up her sneakers.

  “Yep. End of the week. He says I’m ready to take over.” Erin sighed, trying not to sound as skeptical as she felt. “He seems to think I have picked up most things he does on a daily basis, and the books on managing your own company are…well, they’re half freaking me out and half enlightening me. Still, Ch
ris says they’re teaching me more than he knew when he took over the place. His uncle passed away so suddenly, he didn’t have time to ease into it. It was jump in and sink-or-swim time, you know?”

  “I heard.” Riley squeezed her shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Most of the people who come here know you’re new at managing. Besides, most of them have been here so long they’ll probably tell you how the place is run.”

  Erin chuckled. “Fair point.”

  “Is that weekend manager guy sticking around? What do they call him? Doc?”

  “Yeah, he’s staying on with me. He’ll continue to manage the place on weekends and when I need some time off.”

  “There you go, then. He’ll be a big help. Oh, and you’ve got an accountant, right?”

  “Yeah. I’m using the same accountant as Chris did. He’s cheap and seems to know what he’s doing. Always a bonus.”

  “Then you’ll be just peachy. I don’t know what the hell I’ll do, though. I don’t want another trainer, I only come to our sessions because you feel more like a friend than someone who’s paid to tell me what to do.”

  Erin rolled her eyes. “Then we’ll find someone else that you can be friends with. Maybe Tyler?”

  “Nah, Tyler wants to date me, so he’s out. I need to find the right person, or I won’t get my ass down here. I want someone inspiringly buff and hot like you, but not someone who I need to worry about constantly hitting on me, ya know?”

  “Riles, I could’ve hit on you.”

  “Nope. I hinted that I wasn’t interested in our first session, and you’re too good a person to try after that. People see my skimpy outfits and hear how freely I talk about sex and assume I’m up for anything, and I’m really not. You got that about me and never made a move. And you never, ever made me feel slutty or weird. That’s rare, Er.”