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“God, it’s like the stars keep aligning and providing all these open doors for you and Stevie to see each other,” Bash said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I know. And the next open door appeared in front of me on Sunday morning. I saw Stevie at the running trail again and the heat between us was instant like before. I couldn’t help myself and told her that I wanted to kiss her even though I knew it’d be wrong if I did. She admitted to wanting to kiss me too but then agreed it’d be wrong for us to cross that moral line. I asked her to walk away from me after that because I didn’t have the willpower to walk away from her and knew I wasn’t gonna be able to continue holding myself back from her if she stayed—so she walked away. Stevie left me on the trail with my head spinning once again.
Bash set down his briefcase on the steps and then held up both his hands. “Okay, stop for just a second and let my brain catch up with all of this.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in. I’m still processing it.”
“Yeah, but it’s so great. What you’ve already told me reminds me of the first part of a romance novel. The sexual tension between the hero and heroine is building and I have a really good idea about what’s coming next, so go ahead. I’m ready to hear the rest of this story.”
“Well, late Sunday afternoon, I took Malcolm to get some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins and when we walked in, Stevie was standing at the counter with her back to us. I couldn’t believe my eyes or the timing.”
“I wouldn’t have either.”
“Malcolm recognized her, said her name. We talked for a minute, ordered our ice cream, and by the way—Stevie’s favorite just so happens to be the same as Malcolm’s and mine. Daiquiri Ice.”
Bash shook his head back and forth. “You’ve gotta be kidding me?”“Not at all,” I chuckled.
“So go on.”
“The three of us went outside and sat at one of the umbrella tables in front of the store, and kept talking to each other and laughing and during that whole time, Malcolm happily occupied Stevie’s lap instead of mine. She tended to him too, wiping off his mouth and all, and he loved it.”
“And I bet you loved seeing that happen, didn’t you?’
“Yeah, I did. Anyone watching us would’ve easily believed we were a family and for longer than I should have, I let myself imagine we were. Somehow, it felt wholesome and right. Does that make any kind of sense or am I just fucked up for allowing myself to go there?”
“It makes all the sense in the world, and no, you’re not fucked up. You’re meant to be a family man, Zac. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve wanted awholesomemarriage. You’ve wanted an equal and happy partner in a wife, which is impossible for you to have with the one you’re currently married to since she’s such a crazy bitch. You also told me from the get-go of our friendship that you wanted to be a father one day. Well, you’ve been blessed on that part because Malcolm Buchanan is the cream of the crop where kids are concerned.”
“I agree with you. He is the only thing that motivates me to keep going.”
“Not anymore. It’s obvious to me that Stevie is now motivating you too.”
I had to smile. “Yeah, you’re right. She does motivate me, and in more ways than one.”
“You dog,” Bash chuckled. “So what happened after your unexpected ice cream date with her?”
“Stevie did something I never imagined she’d do.”
“Which was?”
“She invited Malcolm and me over to her house so that Malcolm could go swimming with her in her pool. And now, here’s the mermaid story.”
“Okay.”
“Malcolm believes Stevie is a mermaid whose tail only comes out at night.”
“Why does he believe that?”
“Because that’s what Stevie and I told him while we were at the aquarium. We were just having fun and Malcolm was so intrigued. You know how much he loves fish, mermaids, water—all of it.”
“Yes, I do. Go on.”
“Stevie surprised Malcolm by appearing in a full-size, fake, sparkly-blue mermaid tail. When Malcolm saw Stevie floating in her pool with that tail on, you should’ve seen his face. I’ll never forget it. Stevie told him that she made her tail grow especially for him.”
Looking around the courthouse grounds, Bash sighed out a smile. Then he focused back on me. “I’m standing here with all of these visuals of Stevie going round inside my head and… I don’t know. You’re just fucking lucky as hell, dude, to have crossed paths with her.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“So what happened after Malcolm saw that beautiful, blond mermaid during daylight hours?”
