The Reunion by Dan Walsh

Author:Dan Walsh [Walsh, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC042030, FIC042040, FIC027050
ISBN: 9781441239747
Publisher: Baker Book Group
Published: 2012-08-31T14:00:00+00:00

28

After the waitress brought their dishes, they spent the next twenty minutes getting to know each other better. Karen told Dave about life as a realtor in today’s sad housing market. She’d talked a little about Gail and about her church, which Dave realized was at least ten times larger than the one he attended back home. She’d started to talk about her father a few times—her real father, as she called him, not Aaron Miller—but then stopped. Dave detected she was struggling, but he didn’t want to pry.

Dave started asking questions about her favorite music (country western, but she also liked Coldplay), the kinds of movies she enjoyed (romantic comedies and anything set in the 1800s), favorite places she’d visited (New York City, the Disney theme parks, and Rome). She’d stopped him then, insisting he talk for a while.

Dave told her what life was like growing up in an Italian family on the south side of Chicago, living with a Vietnam War widow who’d never remarried. It really seemed to affect Karen when she’d learned his father had died in Vietnam. Dave talked about how his mother had moved down to Florida to be near Jake after Anne had died. He’d spent the rest of the time talking about Jake and how much closer they’d become since he’d quit his job in Atlanta and moved back to Florida.

This felt much more like a date than an interview. He didn’t want the evening to end.

The waitress returned to clear their plates. “Would you folks like any dessert or coffee?”

“I’m not ready for dessert, but I would like some coffee,” Dave said.

“Me too,” Karen said. “But how about we head over to a Barnes & Noble down the road? It’s at an outdoor mall. We could get some coffee there and keep talking.”

“I’d like that.” He looked up at the waitress. “Guess we just need the bill.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Karen looked at Dave. “So where were we? You were talking about your son Jake. That’s great you guys are so close. Usually it’s just the opposite. Kids tend to pull away when they hit the teen years. I never had any children, but my brother Steve and his wife have had all kinds of ups and downs when their kids reached that age.”

“I’m really grateful for the way things are going between Jake and me. But lately, it feels like he’s pulling away a little. Not in a rebellious way. I think it’s just life. He’s a senior in high school, on the basketball team, making friends.” Dave paused, wondering what Jake was doing now. He looked at his watch; he needed to remember to call him. It was an hour later in Florida. “I’m kind of dreading next year.”

“When he goes off to college?” Karen said.

“Yeah.” He sighed.

“Did he get a basketball scholarship?”

Dave laughed. “No . . . that’s not likely to happen. But he’s got a 3.9 average, so we’re hoping he might get some kind of academic one.” He took a sip of his drink.

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