“That’s because you want me to carry you,” I said.
Though I’d been terrible that first year, and the year after that, almost every bar had a pool table so I got pretty good.
“We’re just a winning pair,” he said with a toothy grin.
“Fine, I can play with dad,” Arthur said, not truly caring either way.
Arthur queued up the balls and Samuel chalked his stick, waiting for them to be set. Once ready, Sam lined up for way longer than necessary and hit the balls on the right, not fully breaking the triangle but spreading some out a bit.
Then the game began, Arthur going next, then me, then Dad. We played a few rounds like that, and balls started sinking until we were down to three and they had four.
“How are you and Tiffany?” Dad asked Arthur.
Now it starts,I thought to myself.
“Fine,” he said, not elaborating further.
“That’s good,” Dad said. “Her father is a fine man. Just make sure your eye is on the ball. We all know the company needs to be your focus for your future.”
“I agree,” he said, missing his shot.
Arthur had always been better at doing this. Maybe it was because he’d been getting these talks for so long, he became numb to it. Or maybe they have similar talks all the time. Arthur and Dad worked so close together every day it must have come up at least some times.
We played another round, almost nothing changing. Dad managed a lucky shot that tied us up.
“And Samuel, how are you and Rachel?”
His eyes got all dreamy the way they did any time anyone said her name. “Amazing. We’re getting a puppy,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. Had he learned nothing by now.
Father’s brows rose. “A puppy is a lot of responsibility and you’re both so busy.”
“I know, but we have plans for a sitter while we work, and it will be nice to have company in the house.”
“You know, if you started having kids soon, things would get less lonely.”
The irony of not having time for a dog but having time to produce an entire child was lost on him, it seemed.
“We will when we’re ready,” Samuel said firmly.
“You should be ready soon. You’re not getting any younger.”
I was spinning my pool cue, watching the two of them go at it. Though Samuel didn’t just take it like Arthur normally did, healways ended up shrugging and changing the subject, usually to golf. My father loved golf and could talk about it forever.
So when Arthur asked how his favorite player was doing, he was off to the races, talking about that.
We finished the game victorious and switched the teams, me with Arthur and Samuel with dad.
They won the next game when Arthur sank the eight ball before our last ball went in. We then switched it again, me with Dad, and Arthur and Samuel together.
We were in the middle of the game when my father remembered he hadn’t given me my lecture yet. “How are things with Juniper?” he asked.
“Fine,” I said. Over the years I’d learned from Arthur that less is more when it came to him.
“Seems more than fine. You’ve started gifting her. So you’re serious?”
“Seems that way,” I said.
