I pulled her into a hug.
“I think Mom is getting the 411 from Ashley right now,” I said.
Peggy rolled her eyes at me but left to get in on the gossip. I sat down on the floor, and Allen promptly crawled over and sat in my lap.
◊◊◊
After lunch, Uncle John and Aunt Bonnie showed up. He took me into the office to talk.
“Your dad told me about your big-brother idea. How did it go over?”
“Good.”
“How’s school going?”
“Good.”
“You going to talk to me, or do I have to start asking you about your feelings?” he asked.
“Dick.”
“So, what’s new? And if you tell me everything’s good, I’ll go get your mother,” Uncle John threatened.
“It’s all sort of … you know … good. I miss Brook. My classes are okay, but I do like the virtual business one. I’m working out and getting ready for baseball. The Bond movie sent someone to teach me how to be a spy, which is fun. I’ve been working on getting my instrument flight training certification. It’s all … just good.”
“You sound bored.”
“No, I’m not bored; I’m just … going at a slower pace than I’ve been used to. Tim and Wolf told me that I’m missing out on simply being a senior and having fun. The problem is, I really can’t imagine what I would rather be doing. It’s just not the same when I’m not going full steam ahead and when Brook isn’t around,” I finally admitted.
“How do you feel about that?”
I resisted my knee-jerk reaction to that question. How did I feel?
“About Brook? Betrayed, lonely, confused. I mean, she just ended it. I get it, though. Her situation made everything, including breaking up, hard for her, and I want to make it easy on her. She had to pick her family over staying, and I’m completely on board with that.
“But I miss her. Like this week, she called Cassidy to tell her about the drama going on at her school. I had to hear about it secondhand,” I rambled and had to look away because tears of frustration started to form in my eyes.
“You still love her?” Uncle John asked.
I just nodded, not trusting myself to say the words.
“Mine was Gale Rife. I met her freshman year of college, and we fell for each other. I was sure she was the one until she went home for the summer and never came back. She married her high school sweetheart, who had no idea that she and I had been together in college. The poor sap believed she’d been the faithful girlfriend at school.”
“Dude, that sucks.”
“I dodged a bullet on that one. Gale popped out a couple of kids, and then he came home and caught her with his best friend.”
“If Brook were anything like that, it would be easy to hate her and get over it. I didn’t realize how much she meant to me until she was gone. I keep catching myself thinking, ‘I need to share that with Brook’ and then realizing that she isn’t around. What did you do to get over yours?” I asked.
“Engaged in a lot of meaningless sex.”
I looked at him to gauge the veracity of his statement. From his expression, he was telling the truth.
“Did that help?” I asked.
He just smiled. Yep, dumb question.
“So, you’re saying I need to engage in a string of meaningless sexual encounters to get over Brook,” I said.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“That you’re the best uncle I’ve ever had!” I said with my sarcasm meter set on eleven.
“Your Uncle Jim didn’t set the bar very high,” he reminded me.
Yeah, my mom’s brother was a piece of work. He’d be the one who would get voted out of the family if that were possible.
“So, all kidding aside, what do I need to do?” I asked.
“If I were you, I would explore the sex angle. If that doesn’t work, then I suggest you focus on others.
“Last year at about this time, we helped your friends set life goals. It might be time to revisit that and see where they are and whether anything has changed. At the very least, it will get you out of your head and focused on something other than Brook crushing your soul.”
My uncle really did suck sometimes.
“Oh, and your friends are right. You need to just be a kid,” he added.
I wasn’t amused.
◊◊◊
My phone rang as I was getting ready for bed. I was glad to see it was my former coach, Bud Mason. The last I’d talked to him had been in California, where my dad and I had dinner with him and Bo Harrington. We’d talked about my future options.
Bud had come out surprisingly strong with the suggestion that I play baseball. He had some interesting stats about length of career and potential income. Those made it look like baseball might be my best long-term option, both financially and health-wise.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” I teased when I answered.
“You young people have no idea how little sleep old folks actually get. Plus, it’s not that late here,” he said to remind me of the time difference.
“I’ll have to take your word on the sleep thing. What can I do for you?” I asked.
“I wanted to congratulate you on picking Michigan. They are lucky to have gotten you.”
“Thank you. It’s a big relief to finally make a decision.”
“I also wanted to let you know if you ever need to talk football, or even something other than football, that I am here for you,” Coach Mason said.
