“And yet, you can’t find one single moment in all of these years we’ve known each other to tell your best friend that you had a sister, a sister who passed away?”Dante looked at him with a combination of anger and sadness.
Dante was right.
Aspen was right.
He needed to find a way to share a part of him and give up control if he was ever going to live an actual life.
Wolfe took a deep breath and shared the story he offered to Aspen several days prior.While it didn’t get any easier, he was relieved to tell his best friend.
“Man, I’m sorry.I take it you’ve not told people about your sis?”
“No.Just you and Aspen know.”
“I know a lot of years have passed, but whatever you need, man.Whatever you need.”
Dante came around the island and gave Wolfe a hug.Not a handshake, pat-on-the-back-hug.No, this embrace held Wolfe in place and screamed of comfort and support and family.
“Thanks, man.”
“So, where do you and Aspen stand now?”
Wolfe crossed his thick arms not wanting to acknowledge anything, especially the anguish he’d been feeling over the last several days.
“We don’t.Like I said, we fought and it escalated quickly with both of us saying shitty things.”
“It can be fixed.”
“I’m not so sure about that, brother.”
Silence settled across the kitchen, neither Wolfe nor Dante speaking.
“Gonna tell you something, Wolfe, and I want you to listen closely,” Dante took a place on a stool next to Wolfe at the island.He let out a deep breath before continuing.“I don’t know for certain, but the dad-sense you tease me about says you have something special with Aspen.It’s something worth fighting for, that’s for sure.Check your ego and your stubbornness at the door and make it right with your girl.”
Wolfe was shocked.Outside of Dante’s obliviousness to the world around him and incredibly lame dad jokes, there was real pain, a real story behind his wisdom at this moment.
“I’ve never seen you this serious, Dante.”
“Well, let’s just say life happened and the girl of my forever got away.That said, not a single day goes by that I don’t think about her.”
“So go find her.And when was this by the way?”
“It was a lifetime ago,” Dante offered a wistful smile.“What matters, my friend, is that your...what do chicks call it?Your happily ever after is within reach.Fucking go for it.”
“Okay, Fairy Godfather.How do I do that?”Wolfe couldn’t believe he was getting advice from someone who acted decades older than his body honed to athletic perfection appeared.“When I left BB—Aspen’s—shop, I was gusting and bellowing louder than the air conditioner that literally died on the spot before I stormed out.”
“You’re the fix-it guy.Fix the air conditioner.Fix things with Aspen.”
“First, that ‘fix’ is way outside of my wheelhouse,” Wolfe remembered his shitty conversation with his dad and knew soliciting his help wasn’t an option.“Second, she doesn’t want my help.”
“I would say the ‘fix’ could be the extension of an olive branch.Maybe she just wants to be your partner and not someone dictating the way she runs her life and her business.I mean, I haven’t interacted with Aspen a lot, but she seems reasonable.Besides, every time I’m around her she’s making woo-woo eyes at you.That’s gotta count for something.”
“Woo-woo eyes?What does that even mean?And wouldn’t me fixing her air conditioning unit be construed as dictating her life and business?”
“Again, not if you go about it the right way.”
“I’ll have to think on that one.”
“Don’t wait too long,” Dante clapped Wolfe on the shoulder.“Life’s way too short to let unfinished business linger.”
