I sighed. And I don’t know why. But I found myself telling her the truth I hadn’t said out loud to anyone. “Maybe.” I looked over at her. “This wasn’t how my life was supposed to turn out. I was supposed to be this huge baseball star, and then…”
I took another sip of my wine, my mind flashing back to the night that changed everything.
“Let’s just say that it has taken me way too long to get back on track. But I’m in a good place now, and I wonder if I can really continue to evolve in a town that will only ever see me as who I once was, you know?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I totally get that.”
I shrugged. “But then I reason, I live in the most beautiful place in the world, with a family I’m obsessed with, and, yeah, I have a business degree, so I could pivot, but I get to work with awesome kids in my favorite sport. Who could complain?”
Daisy shook her head. “Getting back out on the field and facing the loss of your big dream…” She looked me in the eye. “People can say whatever they want, but that’s the bravest thing I can imagine. People who’ve never had to face the source of their greatest trauma head-on don’t know how hard it is.”
It shocked and validated me. She understood. “Thank you,” I said. “It almost killed me. And then it healed me. You know?”
She nodded and looked down at her wine. “You didn’t run away. So maybe you feel like you haven’t been able to evolve as much as you want, but you stuck around for the people who love you, and that says something really great about you.”
That wasn’t one hundred percent true. I had run away, briefly, after the accident. But I was eighteen and stupid. “Well, I did go to college.”
She laughed. “You were supposed to do that. It doesn’t count. You came back. You let the people who love you heal with you.”
I cocked my head. “You’ve had a similar experience?”
She shrugged. “Or maybe the opposite? TBD, I think.” Then, kind of out of the blue, Daisy said, “Do you believe in soulmates? Or, if that’s too cheesy, that there is one right person for everyone?”
I was having this great, laid-back night with this very cool woman I really liked, and now I felt like a boa constrictor was twisting around my neck. My face must have given me away because she spit a little wine out. “Oh my gosh. Presumptuous much? I was thinking about Tilley and her broken heart and wondering if she never recovered because Robert really, truly was the only man for her.”
I put my hand to my pounding heart. “Oh, thank God,” I said lightly.
“I don’t believe there’s one right person,” I said definitively. It was off brand, but I had done some thinking about this.
Daisy gestured for me to explain.
“Well, see, I think Parker and Amelia are absolutely perfect for each other,” I said. “Two peas in a pod. They’re annoyingly happy and watching them together is like seeing some sort of synchronized dance. They finish each other’s sentences, work together like they have one brain, take care of the kids like they’re one person.”
Daisy was squinting at me. “I feel like you’re giving supporting evidence for my theory.”
I shook my head. “No, because, see, Parker and Amelia were both married before.”
She looked shocked.
“Right?” I said. “I know. Amelia’s ex came out of the closet, so definitely not the right person for her, but Parker and Greer McCann seemed, at the time, like soulmates.”
Daisy put her wine down and leaned toward me. “Parker was married to Greer McCann? Like McCann Media? Like Goodness Greer and all the self-help books and all those social media followers and stuff?”
I nodded. It was kind of surprising that my totally normal brother had been married to an icon of the 2010s. “Yes. And they were each other’s one. But then he and Amelia are too. So that’s why I don’t believe in just one perfect person for everyone.”
Daisy shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m still having trouble processing.” Then she gasped. “Oh my gosh! Amelia named her daughter after Greer McCann? Her husband’s dead wife?” I let her ponder this for a minute. “Damn. That’s a real woman right there. I would be so jealous.”
I laughed. “Well, it’s kind of a long story…”
Daisy’s eyes widened. “Whoa. My mind is just blown.”
“Is my thoroughly modern family making you fall in love with me a little? Hope that I’m your one true love?” I’d had too much rosé. How did girls slug this down and stay sober? It was so easy to drink.
“Oh, Mason,” she said. “Be careful what you wish for. I do believe in one true loves and, if you’re mine…” She trailed off, laughing.
There was something about her. A confidence. A certainty. I was used to taking the lead in relationships, and that was definitely not what was happening here. I got the feeling that if she wanted to, Daisycouldmake me fall in love with her. Maybe it was the rosé, but it shocked me to realize that I might just let her.
TILLEYSpoiled Rotten
