“That’s right. Listen, I—I think it’s better if I just go home. I can come back and get you when you’re—”
“No. I’ll ask my dad or Matt to take me home. I need to think.”
He offered a sad smile. “I understand, but I’m glad you think of Boston as your home now.”
“Yeah,” she murmured absently. “I worked too hard to get out of Schooner. I, uh… I’d better get back inside.”
He helped her up. “You know I’m head over heels in love with you, don’t you? That I’m not dangerous or crazy… that I’ll be right there waiting for you when you get back.”
She nodded, opened the door, and he handed over her bag.
As she took it, she said, “Thanks. It was sweet of you to think of my inhaler. I’m surprised I didn’t need it half an hour ago.”
***
Jason called his manager from the road. He was a young, single guy, so maybe he wasn’t all tied up with a big family Thanksgiving dinner. Fortunately, he answered his phone.
“Hey, Jason! What’s up?”
“Hi Brian, I need to find a batting cage and beat the shit out of some balls.”
“Whoa, that doesn’t sound good. Did something happen?”
“Yeah, but it’s hard to talk about.”
“What’s her name?”
Stunned, Jason hesitated, then asked, “How’d you know this has to do with a woman?”
“It always does.”
He sighed. “Look, I just need to get some aggression out and I’ll be fine. I figured you might be able to call around for me and see if there’s a place open or willing to open, even though it’s Thanksgiving Day.”
“Sure, buddy. Let me call some of my contacts and get back to you.”
“Thanks, Brian. I owe you.”
“Just give us a winning season and call it even.”
Yeah, right. If Merry doesn’t come around I’m fucked… and not in a good way.
***
Merry had taken the ring and tucked it into the zippered compartment of her purse. She would give it back, of course… or not, depending upon her decision. So many conflicting thoughts and feelings warred inside of her. Her family hadn’t seen it. She managed to hide it in her bra before she walked into the house, but she didn’t want to take a chance of losing it.
All day her family had asked what was wrong. Thank goodness her father had been in the shower when Jason showed up and didn’t know anything about it. She swore Matthew to secrecy with the threat of instant death if he breathed a word of it. So all anyone knew for sure was that she seemed more moody than usual. If anyone pushed it, she could always blame it on PMS again, but thankfully no one did. Now that she was on the seasonal pill, that would be a fib, and she was a lousy liar.
All day she’d been going through the motions, woodenly. Even during the meal and the football game, all she could think about was what had happened in Jason’s car. Did it really happen?
Before she moved to Boston, she was bored. Now boredom was beginning to look really attractive. However, she wasnotmoving back to Rhode Island. Not, not, not!
At last all the guests had gone and her father cornered her in the kitchen. “You seem so preoccupied, Merry. What’s wrong?Did Falco break your heart?”
She exhaled, defeated. “Not really.”
He balled his fists. “I knew it! Merry, I want you to come home. You’re far too young and impressionable to live alone in a big city.”
“I’m not alone,” she protested. “I have Roz and I’ve made several friends in my building, plus Jason didn’t break my heart. He just—surprised me.”The ring. Maybe if I see the ring again I’ll know I didn’t dream up the whole thing.
