I'm not sure if I'll have time before work. What happened? Are you all right?
I'm good but my right-hand pinky has seen better days. It's no biggie.
It was easy to pretend that a broken little finger was no big deal, but it had huge ramifications. There was no way Doris was going to let me work with a bandaged hand.
Oh no. Is it bad?
Not too bad. I'll talk to you later. Let me know if you have any free time. I could drop by and see you and Jack.
I'll let you know.
That was the end of the conversation, and something about it felt abrupt. Like the end to something.
Colin sensed how I was feeling. "Everything all right?"
"Nope. I somehow managed to turn my life to shit again. And now I think I just got the brush-off from Rachel."
"Sorry about that, bro. I know you liked her. Well, we're going out tonight for Bucky's birthday, remember?"
"Yeah, I don't think so. This hand is starting to throb, and I don't think I'll be much fun tonight. I've got to talk to my boss and see if there's anything I can do at work with one hand. Dorislikes me, but I'm sure there's no way she needs me hanging around with only one good hand."
"Maybe it'll heal faster than the five weeks the doctor mentioned. Remember when I busted my wrist snowboarding? The orthopedic guy told me I'd be out for at least eight weeks, but I cut that cast off after four." He held up his left hand. There was still a slight bend in the wrist that no doubt wouldn't have been there if he'd waited the full eight weeks. "Even went on to score third place in the contest."
"That's cuz Lady Luck follows you around like she's hot for you. I, on the other hand, only get scowls and lectures from her. Like Dad likes to say, you're the light and I'm the dark."
Colin turned down the street that led to our apartment.
"You've got to keep Dad's toxic shit out of your head. Otherwise, it's like that self-fulfilling prophecy crap. You know? You think you're supposed to have shitty luck so you have it. Keep up a positive attitude. Maybe your boss will take pity on you. You said your boss is a woman. Use some of the old Wilde charm on her, and your sweet puppy dog face wouldn't hurt either."
"Fuck off with your puppy dog crap. Doesn't matter if I beg. If I'm worthless, then she won't need me. And about that self-fulfilling prophecy stuff." I looked over at him. "Things were really looking up. I have a cool place to live. I found a job that I actually like, and I met a woman who fucking steals my breath away just thinking about her. I was feeling really positive about everything, then that damn tree jumped into my path to stop that nice trajectory dead in its tracks. Rachel works her ass off to make ends meet, and I'll be sitting at home with this." I lifted my bandaged hand. "She's not going to give me the time of day, and I won't blame her."
"Oh wow, someone is feeling really low. You know what, I'll buy us some burgers. You have a rest and see if you're not morein the mood to go out tonight and get hammered. Bucky hasn't decided where we're going yet, but we'll have a good time."
"I don't think a burger will help, but we'll see how I feel later. At the moment it's a hard no."
twenty-three
. . .
Rachel
Jack insisted I catch him at the bottom of the slide. He didn't always need me to catch him, but today he was feeling less confident about the playground equipment. I crouched down and smiled as his round pink face peered over the top of the slide.
"Here I come, Mommy!"
"I'm ready."
"Should I roar like a T-rex on the way down?"
"Definitely!"
He dropped his little legs over and released a big growl as he slid down. He landed right in my arms. I picked him up and swung him around. We laughed and growled together. I stopped when the spinning around caught up to me. I lowered his feet to the ground, and he took off for the climbing bridge.
"He's great," a deep voice said from behind.
I spun around. Evan was wearing a navy-blue sweater, black trousers and leather loafers. Something told me that was his casual attire. He looked very handsome, but my heart instantly ached for the rugged, far more disheveled man I'd grown used to.
His eyes dropped to my wrist. "Thought you might wear it."