“Any plans for graduation?” Gabe leaned over, taking his beer from the coaster, and tossing his leg casually over the other.
“Seattle University. Early acceptance.” Bryan wiped his palms against the pressed front of his khaki pants.
“Impressive. I work in the city, great place.” Gabe pushed the bottle to his lips taking a healthy swallow.
“Should be fun. I’ve already secured a transfer, so I can still work for the Y out there.” Bryan scratched lightly at his head, running his fingers through his hair.
“And what are your plans for tonight?” Gabe asked as he replaced his beer.
“I’m taking Mia to Cafe Garden. Then, a bunch of our friends are meeting up to go to the movies, so if she wanted to, I was going to take her there too.”
“Just make sure she’s home by eleven o’clock.” Gabe nodded.
“Of course,” Bryan agreed.
“Well, let me go see what’s keeping Mia,” Gabe shoved off the couch with a heave.
“Come in,” Mia answered the knock and turned towards the door.
“Mia, honey ... wow.” Gabe pushed the door aside and stopped.
“Do I look okay?” Mia asked, pulling the sleeve of her dress down an inch.
“You look ... lovely ... just like your mother.” The words caught in Gabe’s throat as he looked at his little girl, not so little anymore. Her long dark waves fell down her back, her eyes were smoky with rims of mascara, her cheeks a rosy hue, her olive skin glowed.
“Thanks, Dad.” Mia, crossed the room and kissed him lightly on his cheek.
“Your date’s waiting.” Gabe cleared his throat quietly, blinking hard against the tears.
“I think I’m ready now.” Mia laced her arms around Gabe’s middle, giving him a light hug.
“Not too late, okay?” Gabe added, looking up at the ceiling, wondering when all of this happened.
“Dad.” Mia rolled her eyes playfully and patted his back as she passed by.
“Have fun,” he called after her quietly, forgetting the rest.
~ * * * ~
“I had a good time tonight.” Bryan leaned on the armrest of the car, looking intently at Mia, who crossed and uncrossed her legs.
“Me too,” she smiled.
It had been wonderful. They’d eaten their meal and laughed about school, talked about Bryan’s worries over college, Mia’s excitement for Sophia’s visit. They caught a movie with friends and walked hand in hand down Hollywood Beach with the others. Their rhythm together was simple.
“Can I take you out again?” Bryan leaned over further, fixing Mia with his deep eyes.
“I’d like that,” Mia blushed and thanked goodness the car light was low.
“Actually, no, what I meant was, will you be like ... my girlfriend?”
“Bryan ... ” Mia’s eyes popped open wide with surprise.
“I know that sounds, like, I don’t know ... dumb? But I like you Mia, and I just figured we could give this thing a ... title.” He shrugged, pulling back slightly.
“So, boyfriend and girlfriend?” Mia chewed her lip.
“Yes.”
Mia crawled out her seat, across the arm rest and kissed him lightly on his cheek. “Yes.”
She opened the door to the car and slipped out onto the driveway, waving once as she ran up the stair into the house.
December
“Kris?” Mia asked, sliding her pasta around the big oversized bowl at Bella Italia.
“Kris.” Gabe took a sip of wine.
“And she’s like what? Your girlfriend?” Mia asked again, her eyes lowering in speculation. She had heard Gabe and Ginny discussing this, she knew exactly what Kris was, but played coy.
“She’s a friend, an important friend, and I’d like for you to meet her … if you’re willing.” Her choice Gabe thought, it must be her choice—that’s how it had to be, at least for now, if he was going to push this on her.
Mia knew what this was.
“Sure, yeah, that’s cool. I’ll meet your friend.” Mia voice pitched over friend, letting Gabe know there was a boundary line to her willingness but nodded in agreement anyway.
“Okay, good.” Gabe smiled at his daughter, taking in the way the light flitted off her dark hair, reminding him so much of Jenna, the thought pinched at his heart.
“Aunt Sophia is coming for a visit, you know, for Christmas ... so maybe we could like all have dinner or something. Kris could come to the house, Ginny could cook something before she leaves,” Mia suggested, swirling her fork around a cluster of noodles drenched in a meat sauce.
“Actually, I was thinking we’d do a weekend in Seattle, take in some culture. And, if that goes well, then yeah, maybe we could do a dinner, but probably not over Soph’s Christmas visit.” Gabe looked meaningfully at Mia. Gabe knew Sophia would understand, would probably enjoy meeting Kris but the thought felt awkward to him, he wanted Mia to know Kris first.
“Like Pikes Place and stuff?” Mia asked hopefully, visibly brightening. She’d been only a few times despite living so close to Seattle and being old enough to drive herself. But, it had worked out that Gabe spent so much time in the city for work that when they had free time he coaxed Mia to the coast or the rainforest or just preferred the comforts of home. She imagined picking up a few small Christmas gifts for her friends and Ginny and Aunt Sophia and the boys and Bryan.
“Sure, we could get some of that golden raspberry jam you and Ginny like so much,” Gabe suggested, relief washed over him like salve. Mia was willing, maybe excited even. He couldn’t have hoped for more, didn’t have the right to hope for more, and yet the joy bubbled up. Kris and Mia would meet.
“Can Ginny come?”
“Maybe next time.” Gabe could understand Mia wanting reinforcements, someone to lean on if things got awkward, he could even respect that, but Mia had him and he’d be her ally.
Gabe had called Kris once he’d landed in Seattle for work after his conversation with Ginny. He knew Ginny was right. Mia was almost an adult, a smart, well adjusted teenager now who wouldn’t want her father to be lonely for the rest of his life; she was smart enough to understand the concept of balance. Jenna had wanted him to be happy again. He couldn’t run away from relationships just because he was scared; he was in love with Kris and wanted to infuse her into his life.
Kris, for her part, had been thrilled, so excited to meet Mia. She had offered the guest room in her apartment, and suggested different plays at the local theater they could take in, offered to make reservations and buy tickets. She mentioned a shopping trip to a local boutique that offered handmade wears, a trip to the spa below her building for manicures. She was trying.
Kris was a beautiful, smart, successful woman and he had been attracted to her immediately, for all the wrong reasons he had to admit, she was drop dead sexy. A photographer, working and living in Seattle, divorced with no children of her own, she was warm and inviting and soft and creative. Gabe had met her while finishing up an all suite hotel, she was photographing the promotional campaign. They had spent months getting to know each other as friends before their relationship tangled up into a romantic twist.
“So, when are we going?” Mia pressed, sipping an icy coke and wiping her mouth with the pressed cloth napkin.
“Are you free upcoming this weekend?”
“Yeah, sure.” Mia shrugged indifferently, Bryan was working his usual classes at the YMCA and going on a hike with his buddies to the rainforest and camping out, so she was looking at an empty weekend regardless.
“Great. I’ll book your charter flight out of the airport for after school Friday, Ginny can drop you off and I’ll meet you at SeaTac when you land.”
“Or, I could drive myself,” Mia suggested.
“To the airport?”
“To Seattle. Then, we can just drive home together later whenever.”
“I don’t know Mia, Seattle’s not a short drive, its highways and bridges.” Gabe shuddered lightly, imagin
ing his little girl sailing along the winding wet roads.
“I’ll be fine, Dad, just fine. I’ll take the Ferry, skip the bridge and be in Seattle by dinner time.” Mia smiled, liking her plan. “Besides, what did you give me that car for it? Just a place holder? It’s for driving!”
Gabe balled his napkin beneath the table, leaning back in his chair stretching his legs out. “If you can promise me, right there—no stops, no messing around. Fill up with gas in town, and call me along the way.”
“Yeah, right there, I promise.” Mia held up her hand in a visible oath before continuing, “so, since I’m going to meet this Kris lady, tell me about her ... ”
Gabe sighed deeply before starting, “Well, let’s see, she’s a photographer. Really talented, does a lot of work in Seattle, but she also travels all over. She actually does a lot of freelance for a travel magazine, man, the places she’s been.” Gabe let out a low whistle, shaking his head with an impressed smile.
“So she travels a lot. That’s cool. Maybe she could put in a recommendation and we could go somewhere over spring break?” Mia suggested, raising her eyebrow. She was always up for somewhere warm that offered beaches with sand instead of rocks. Gabe pursed his lips and nodded in agreement, he liked to treat Mia to good travel, nice vacations.
“She’s very nice. About my age—”
“So old?” Mia smirked across the table, cutting her father off.
“She is forty-three, she is not old! Do you think I’m old? I’m not old!” Gabe feigned horror; it was true, he was fifty-nine—almost sixty, but he didn’t feel old, Mia had kept him young. The only trace of his age was the silver that shot through his hair and nested around his temples, but otherwise he could pass easily for younger.
“You’re older... and way older than her,” Mia corrected teasingly, still laughing, mentally calculating the difference of sixteen years—her whole life.
“Fine, I’m older. But really, she’s a wonderful person, I think you’re going to like her,” Gabe consented, smiling brightly at the humor.
“I don’t have to like her, Dad, she’s your friend,” Mia corrected. “You don’t like all of my friends.”
“That’s not true, your friends are fine.”
“Oh really? Is that way you always get uppity when I ask if Bryan can come over?” Mia challenged, lowering her eyes and fixing them on Gabe.
“Bryan, believe me, isn’t interested in just hanging out and being good buddies ... ”
“Okay! Ew. No. We’re not talking about this, and for the record Bryan is a good friend.” Mia shuddered, she worked very hard at keeping all things of that nature off the radar with Gabe.
“But, more to the point, I’d like it if you’d like Kris.”
“We’ll see,” Mia amended. “Tell me more about her, so it’s not weird—since obviously you know a lot about her and this is the first I’m hearing.”
“I told you she’s a photographer, lives in Seattle ... what else would you like to know?” Gabe offered, suspecting Mia had questions of her own.
“Husband?”
“She’s divorced.”
“Kids?” Mia looked up for that one making unreadable eye contact.
“No, none.” Gabe shook his head.
“Is she pretty?”
“Very.” Gabe wasn’t sure how to elaborate on that, she was different than Jenna, not the typical type that attracted him. Kris was soft, fuller bodied, curvy with long blond hair and startling jade green eyes, her skin was constantly kissed by the sun, her smile was wide and inviting with perfect rows of stunningly white teeth, she felt organic under his touch, exotic and exciting.
“Okay.” Mia nodded, “What color eyes, hair ... Come on, you have to give me something ... ”
“Blonde, green ... she’s pretty ... ” Gabe tried to sum Kris up, knowing words would fail him regardless.
“So, why’d she get divorced?”
“That’s very personal,” Gabe answered quickly, feeling that they were entering uncomfortable territory.
He’d be happy to answer questions about her art, her easy laugh, even her way of making everything funny or how she was never without her camera, strung around her neck bouncing off her large, full breasts. But he felt he owed her her privacy, Mia was a stranger to her and the question—why did her marriage fail—was shockingly personal. It was an uncomfortable balance, keeping her secrets from his daughter when he wanted so badly for them to be equal parts of life. He wanted Mia to know Kris, really know her, to understand why he loved her and why he was now breaking his rules to bring her into the fold with them. He knew that Kris had to make the choices on what Mia knew and when, just as Mia would have choice to open herself up to Kris.
“Bad, huh?” Mia nodded stoically, swirling her straw around the melting ice in her coke.
“Not bad, but definitely private. It’s a personal thing ... relationships, I mean ... sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t—but that isn’t my story to tell you,” Gabe tried to explain. It was the same answer he’d given Kris when she’d questioned him about Mia, the personal stuff was what belonged to Mia.
“But she’s cool, right?”
“Absolutely. Very, very cool. Smart, you’ll think she’s funny, and she takes amazing pictures; her eye for that stuff is pretty incredible. Oh, and she likes to shop ... just like someone else I know.” Gabe raised his brows, finding the common ground.
“You really like her?”
“Yes, I really do. She’s my friend, but she means a lot to me, and you two should get to know each other.”
“Don’t you think she’s too ... you know, young?” Mia asked.
“When you get older, honey, age doesn’t mean as much as it does when you’re younger and starting out. Eventually you become an adult, and you meet another adult, and you’re both established and suddenly the difference in age isn’t so … so … glaring. You’re all kind of in the same place, working, living, paying bills ... it’s a wash, everybody is sort of equal.”
“But she’s like ...way, way younger.” Mia squished her nose up. The sixteen age difference was hard for a sixteen year old to understand, it was her entire life.
“It sounds bigger than it is.” Gabe nodded, signaling for the check over Mia’s shoulder.
“Can I ask you something and you can’t blow it off?” Mia asked quietly.
“Of course, honey, you can ask me whatever you’d like.” Gabe took the final swallow of his wine and waited.
“Are you two serious?”
Mia was insightful. Much like Jenna, and yet it still surprised Gabe. He should have known better than to decoy their relationship under the guise of friendship, but he didn’t want Mia to feel excluded, like she had missed something important and life changing.
“We’re friends,” Gabe allowed.
“Dad, you promised ... ” Mia folded her napkin and fixed her eyes on him.
“Yes, I guess we are.”
“How serious?”
“Serious enough that I want you to meet her, that your liking her is very important to me ... ”
“And if I like her, are we moving to Seattle or something?” Worry creased the spot between Mia’s brows into a tight furrow.
“Absolutely not.” Gabe didn’t even have to think about the answer, he’d never considered leaving Port Angeles, never considered uprooting Mia now and taking her to the city. That ship had sailed. If it was ever a possibility, it had long since passed. When Mia left Port Angeles, it would be because that was her time to go. She could leave for college, or to chase a dream, but Gabe could not imagine being the one to make the decision to leave this place.
“Are you sure?” Mia asked, suddenly feeling like things were spinning outside of her control, imagining a moving truck and cardboard boxes and hugging Ginny for the last time. Tears stung like bees behind her eyes.
“One hundred percent sure, honey.” Gabe laid a small stack of bills inside a leather folio and locked eyes with Mia. “Wh
y don’t we talk about this in the car, okay?” Gabe gathered his coat and helped Mia shrug into hers.
The rain pelted their faces as they walked quickly towards the sleek black Mercedes parked on the street. Haloed in the harshly florescent light of the street lamp, it glowed a glossy hue lit up with droplets of rain.
“Is Kris moving here?” Mia implored before Gabe had even turned the engine over.
“You’re putting the cart before the horse. This is just the start. If things get to that point, we’ll all make that choice together, and you’ll have your say, same as always.”
“I want you tell me the truth, Dad,” Mia snuggled down into the warm, dry leather. “You’re telling me she’s friend, but it obviously something more.”
“Oh Mia, it’s complicated and I want to ease you in ... this is ... new, for both of us—for all three of us, actually.” Gabe pulled the car out onto the road and concentrated on the slick black pavement.
“The truth, Dad, come on. I’m not some little kid, if you love this woman then I have the right to know!”
“I’ve told you the truth, honey,” Gabe reminded her. “She’s my friend ... I like her a lot, and I want you to get to know her as well, that’s all this is right now.”
Mia glared hard out the windshield as the small town whipped by.
“Dad?”
“Yes, honey?”
“Have you always dated a lot?” Mia was suddenly curious.
“Off and on over the years, honestly. Nothing serious. But I’ve seen some women.” Gabe nodded, squeezing the steering wheel.
“Oh.”
“Does that bother you, Mia?”
“I don’t know. Yes and no. I guess I always suspected as much, I just wish you had told me,” Mia answered honestly, the words catching in her throat.
“I’m sorry.” It was all Gabe could think of to say. He wasn’t sure how to explain the balance he’d tried to construct for them all, how he felt like—for a long time—he was being an unfaithful husband, an unfaithful father. How he wanted to move on with his life, but how he wanted Mia to stay her course. It was the balance of polar fields, magnets of the same charge being forced together.
The Milestone Tapes Page 22