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“Well, yes. But that’s ok, it’s usually on my mind anyway.”
“You worry a lot?” he asked.
I supposed that I did. “I have to,” I explained. “I have to be in charge of it. Anyway, I’m glad we talked about all this because I liked learning more about you and your family. It’s funny how some people can grow up with a bunch of problems and come out ok, but some people have two parents who love them and they still…”
“What?”
I’d been considering how some people, people like Ward, didn’t always appreciate that advantage. “What’s the next step that they’re going to do?” I asked, pointing at the TV as the swing episode ended.
“I think it’s the foxtrot, which sounds very snappy. What do you think? Are my hips up for it?”
“Foxtrot is all about the flow,” I said, and we stopped talking about his hips and about our families. It had certainly felt strange telling him secrets that I’d kept for years. Who else knew that Aubin got stressed by the pressure that our dad put on her? She would never say it, but I could tell when it started to get to her, right around the time that she would announce that she had to leave and no, she would be with Bill’s family for Christmas instead of with us, or no, she wasn’t available on my dad’s birthday or the weekend after that, either. I didn’t like that she felt that way.
I looked over at Bowie’s big fingers drumming on the couch, keeping time with the music. I could teach him the foxtrot. He looked back at me and smiled and I smiled too, happy to be there no matter what we were talking about.
Chapter 6
“Thanks, Aubin,” I whispered, and she shrugged.
“Whatever. It’s no big deal.”
No, it was a big deal to our dad. I was glad that she had agreed to come today to meet us, after I’d called and texted her a few—well, a lot of reminders about her promise to me at Fan Day to talk to him.
“I only have a few minutes before I have to leave for a meeting,” she said, and checked her phone. Our dad came back from the counter carrying a large black coffee for himself, green tea for her, and straight water for me. We had the first Woodsmen pregame the next day, and I needed to be hydrated. I was also nervous enough that coffee wasn’t going to sit very well. I should have been rehearsing, probably, or working to loosen up my foot. But my sister had insisted that I had to come if she had to meet with him, and I’d wanted that to happen. So here I was.
He smiled at her. “You look beautiful, Aubin.”
“You do,” I agreed. “I love your haircut.”
“Really?” Her hand went up to touch it. “I wasn’t sure. Billy’s mother has said a few things about how long hair is for young girls and that I’m not anymore.”
“That was rude of her,” I said, and my dad nodded.
“You’re young. Wait until you get to be my age,” he advised. Aubin looked as if she smelled a pile of manure.
“Tell us what’s happening with your business,” I suggested, so she started to talk about sources of organic ingredients, possible streams of revenue, and investors whom she might have snared. I nodded, although I had never been exactly clear about Aubin’s cosmetics empire. Like, when would it actually produce something, a product I could buy and put on my face? She used a lot of words that made it sound exciting and new, but also tenable and serious, and I kept nodding as if I got it.
“Dad, if you wanted to invest more, we have openings,” she told him, and he frowned.
“The only thing I can do is mortgage the cottage—”
“No,” I interrupted. “No, you can’t do that.” We couldn’t afford another payment, not when we were still dealing with the car repairs and our recent medical bills.
Aubin glared at me. “Good Lord, Sissy. It’s not like I’m trying to throw you out on the street or something. It’s just, you know, I personally have a lot sunk into this. A lot.”
“Does Jess, too? I thought you were doing everything equally,” I said.
“Like you understand how partnerships work.” She shook back her new haircut. “Never mind. Tell me about tomorrow. Has Danni totally screwed things up?”
I tried to bring the conversation back around to Dad, to my sister, to her husband—to anything other than the Wonderwomen, but Aubin was stuck on the one topic. In the end, he didn’t say much the whole time we sat and sipped our drinks, and most of what I did was defend Danni and our team because my sister was sure that everything was messed up without her own capable hands taking care of it. Then Aubin was mad because I wouldn’t rip on Danni, and my dad was mad because he hadn’t gotten to have whatever communication or relationship-building that he thought would come of this day. Both of them directed that anger toward me.
“Thanks for setting this up, Sissy,” my sister hissed as she stomped off toward her gleaming car.
“God damn it!” my dad said as he settled into the creaky seat of my vehicle. “I didn’t get a word in edgewise. Do you know how tired I am of talking about the Woodsmen Dames?”
“We’re the Wonderwomen now,” I told him, and he said that name was even worse. I didn’t bother to continue that old argument and we drove in silence for a few miles. Aubin had wanted to meet us in Traverse City instead of at our cottage, so I’d rushed to pick him up after a trip to the college to try to get my schedule straightened out, and now I’d have to drop him back home again and hurry over to the NGS and then to our final rehearsal before the game tomorrow.
The game, the first game. The preseason was starting, and that thought made my stomach churn although I wasn’t sure why. I had lots and lots of performances under my belt and I usually only got excited about them because they were so fun. But tomorrow—well, it wasn’t like more people would be watching than usual, but I had a feeling that one particular person would be watching. No, that was ridiculous! He would have football to focus on and anyway, I had a boyfriend whom I should have been thinking about instead. My phone had been quiet, though, with no texts or calls yet from Ward to wish me good luck. He probably wouldn’t bother—
