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“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Marberry. Thank you for taking the time to see me like this.”
The woman stepped aside and gestured in the direction of her office. “Of course. Please, after you.”
A few minutes later, I sat in a cozy, antique leather chair. Everywhere I looked, the decorations reflected the seriousness of the woman sitting across from me. If nothing else, at least I was talking to the only person that mattered. If I had to guess, I would’ve said she was in her mid-seventies.
“Ms. Walters,” she began, looking at me over a pair of bifocals. “I understand you’re here to discuss the situation with your nephew, Simon. Is that correct?”
Crossing one leg at the knee, I nodded and smiled at her. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“Mmm hmm…” She nodded, pursing her lips and picking up a few pieces of paper from her desk. “I was very sorry to hear about the loss of his grant money from the state. That must be an awful disappointment to him, as well as yourself, obviously.”
“Yes, when I first learned about it, it was extremely difficult.”
She looked at me for a moment before responding. “Oh, do you mean to say that Simon is not aware of his status at the school?”
Half listening, I started to reply, “No, I didn’t mention to him and… wait, what do you mean by his ‘‘status’?”
Mrs. Marberry placed the papers back down on top of the desk. Folding her hands neatly together, she leaned away a bit.
“Well he’s no longer eligible to attend. I’m sorry, I thought you already knew that and were here to pick up his records.”
I frowned at her.
Pick up his records?
“Mrs. Marberry,” I began. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I came here today to discuss Simon’s enrollment for the next school year.”
Mrs. Marberry grimaced and shook her head. “Oh no, no dear, I’m afraid you’re very mistaken.”
Over the next several minutes, I sat there in disbelief as she explained that because Simon received state money to attend school, he’d been classified as underprivileged. According to the school’s bylaws, only a certain percentage of the overall student body were permitted to attend as underprivileged at any given time.
Confused, I sat forward in my chair. “Mrs. Marberry, I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this?”
“Well, my dear, since Simon has lost his funding, I’m afraid that he won’t be able to attend any longer. You know, since he’s fallen out of underprivileged status.”
I exhaled the breath I’d held in the center of my ribcage for several seconds. Sinking back into the chair, I blew it out and draped my hand across my chest.
“Oh, okay,” I began, sitting forward in the chair once again. “I’m not here to talk about state funding at all. I’m here to pay for Simon’s tuition myself. I’m very sorry for the misunderstanding.”
“I see,” she replied, hardly changing her position. She glanced down at the paperwork again, scanning it with her eyes for a few seconds before continuing. “Am I to understand you have temporary custody of Simon? He’s your nephew correct?”
I nodded. “Yes, that’s correct.”
Mrs. Marberry remained still for a moment before returning the papers to the desk once again.
She cleared her throat.
“I’m afraid I’ve got more bad news for you, Ms. Walters.”
Mrs. Marberry went on to explain that the school is only allowed to accept direct cash payment from a parent, adoptive or otherwise.
While she spoke, I dropped my head into my hand, rubbing my forehead. Since the day my sister died, I’d tried everything I could think of to adopt him. However, time after time, the state refused me on the basis that the biological father had to be absent from the child’s life for a period of seven consecutive years or sign a document waiving his rights as a parent.
The first of those conditions were never met, and since Dyson beat Gene into submission, the chances of him giving up his claim to Simon were less than zero now in all likelihood.
I just… I couldn’t believe my luck.
“Can I ask you a question, Mrs. Marberry?”
“Yes, of course you can.”
I nodded, having no idea if what I was about to say could even happen.
“If I’m able to adopt Simon somehow, would the school be willing to allow him to stay, if I paid in full?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Mrs. Marberry replied, “Absolutely. Of course. Simon is one of the best students we have here at the school. It would be an honor to count him among our own.”
Clinging to the tiniest shred of hope imaginable, I thanked Mrs. Marberry for her time and left the school soon after.
Sitting in my car a few minutes later, I stared straight ahead into the burnt orange of the setting Austin sun. There’d be no need for me to surprise anyone tonight. I started the engine, backed out, and headed straight for the airport.
AVA
After I returned to Los Angeles, I talked to Dyson briefly the next day. With his race looming, I decided not to bring up the way we left things. Maybe he did as well, because our talk was pleasant, but not much else.
He was optimistic about his chances of beating Gunter and informed me he’d have some special guests in attendance to witness it. He told me his parents and siblings would be coming to qualifying and also to the race.
To my surprise, he asked me if I’d like to meet them. I accepted but tried not to read anything into the invitation. On the day of qualifying, it was early afternoon when I arrived to the team garage where I was supposed to meet Dyson and his family.
As usual, a circus surrounded the pits and the team garages on qualifying day. I meandered through the throng of people and spotted Dyson’s unmistakable backside in the crowd. Yet, this time, something was different about him, and the change wasn’t subtle.
He’d cut off all of his hair!
Since the day we met, I’d always known him as someone with longer hair. I stood there, at a safe distance and smiled, wondering how different he’d look to me. Chuckling, I continued in his direction until I closed within an arm’s length.
Reaching out, I tapped him on the shoulder.
“Turn around,” I began. “Let me see!”
After I’d poked him a couple of times, he spun in place. A frown spread across his brow. Dyson looked at me in silence.
“Hey,” he began, looking me up and down. “Do I know you?”
What?
I jerked backwards, shaking my head at him. A small group of people huddled around him, all turned and looked at me.
“Are you serious?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
His expression never changed.
“Yeah,” he said, leaning away from me. “Believe me, I’d never forget meeting someone that looks like you.”
It wasn’t often I found myself speechless.
But, as Dyson’s charade continued, I found myself unable to make sense of it. Although my mouth was open, and I wanted to say something, I only managed a couple of puffs of air in response.
“Well?” he began, now staring at my eyes instead of my breasts. “What you have to say for yourself?”
“I… I-I don’t...” I stammered, trying to figure out what to say.
But before I could get a word out, a finger tapped my shoulder from behind. Dazed, I spun in place and as my eyes locked on the person behind me, I gasped.
“Dyson?”
Dressed in his fire suit, Dyson raised his chin at me. “Yeah, who were you expecting?”
I raised my arm and with my thumb sticking out, I gestured behind me. “But, you’re… there.”
Dyson frowned at me. “I’m where?”
Without speaking, I turned away from him and like a bizarre mirror, the shorthaired version of him appeared before me again. I shook my head, doing a double take, about to spin around and prove my point. But before I could, the long-haired version made his way into my line of sight and draped his arm across the other.
Both men looked at me before erupting in laughter.
I shook my head. “What is going on?”
Dyson, hardly able to contain himself, clapped his hands together. Afterward, he turned towards the other man and they slapped hands, before hugging each other.
“Ava, this is my brother, Chance,” he said, still chuckling. “We were just having a little fun with you.”
It was very close to the last thing I expected.
Actually. No. It was.
Yeah.
That was the last thing I expected.
I stared at Dyson and shook my head.
“Do you have any other surprises for me?”
Dyson lifted his arm off his brother’s shoulder and stepped towards me. He leaned in towards my ear and whispered, “I’ll introduce you to the rest of my family.”
What I didn’t realize was that the ‘rest of his family’ stood right behind him and his brother, watching the whole spectacle unfold. In less than a minute, I met Dyson’s father, Doug, his mother, Mary, and his sister, Melanie.
Of course, I already mentioned his brother, Chance.
Dyson was polite, more so than I expected. The strange thing was he introduced me as the team doctor. While I didn’t expect ‘girlfriend’ to come out of his mouth, I thought perhaps the time we’d spent together qualified me as more than a work buddy.
