Meet You in the Stars

I was on my second cup of coffee the next morning when Jimmy wandered downstairs. I silently poured him a cup and pushed it across the counter. I launched into the words I had rehearsed for hours, keeping my eyes on the steaming mug in front of me.

“Look, what bothers me more than anything is that Brian was the one to explain everything to me and not you. Why wouldn’t you tell me you had a problem so I wouldn’t just leave a whole bottle of pills lying around. I really need you to promise me that you won’t ever do something like that again. I’ve had too much bad in my life already, I can’t handle any more.”

“I’m sorry, Avery, I really am.” He reached over and put his hand over mine.

“You don’t have to apologize, just don’t do it again.”

“It kills me to know that I hurt you, I’ll do my best to never do it again.” He moved around the table and wrapped his arms around me and I couldn’t help but let down my defenses and lean into him.

“What can I do to help you?” Silently he pulled the bottle of pain meds from his pocket and handed it to me.

“I don’t need access to those or the temptation will be too strong.” With a nod I slipped the bottle into my pocket. I was still a little uneasy about the whole thing. Sure he had agreed not to do it again but that really didn’t mean much. According to Brian he had made that promise before and broken it more than once. But for now, I’d give him a chance to stick to his word.

“What do you say we get out of here for a while? Maybe spend the day at the beach.”

“Whatever you want.”

-x-

Later that day found us lounging on the beach. “I just can’t get over how beautiful this place is. I could stare out over this water forever and never get bored of it,” I said with wonder. I had never been to a more beautiful place in my life.

“That’s how I feel when I look at you,” Jimmy murmured.

I felt my cheeks flush. “Stop.”

“I’m serious. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever had the pleasure of calling mine.” He moved closer to kiss me and all of my doubts from earlier seemed to vanish into thin air. All that mattered was his lips and how they moved against mine.

He gently pushed me onto my back so he was hovering over me, never breaking the kiss. One hand rested on my waist while the other pushed my hair back from my face. When he finally pulled away we were both breathless.

“I’m really pissed off about that no strenuous activity thing right about now.” He rolled over onto his back next to me and we stared up at the clouds. “Holy shit, that one looks like a fuckin’ stallion duck!”

“What’s a stallion duck?” He pointed up at the sky but I didn’t see anything resembling a duck.

“You know, like a normal duck only bigger and with a longer neck,” he explained like it was the most commonly known thing ever.

“So like a goose.” He suddenly sat up and looked at me with the most serious expression I’d ever seen from him. “What did you just say?”

“Umm...goose?”

“So that’s why everyone thinks it’s so funny when I say that but won’t tell me why, of course! Well that’s not even a cool name, I’m sticking with stallion duck.” All this talk about geese reminded me of a place I’d found on the way to Huntington.

“Come on, weirdo. I’ve got something to show you that I think you’ll love.” We packed up everything and hopped into his car with me giving him directions.

The park ended up being farther out of town than I remembered and it was getting close to sunset when we arrived. Through the entrance and down a steep hill was a large pond with at least a hundred geese on the banks. Jimmy’s eyes lit up like a child’s and he took off at a brisk walk and went straight for the closest group. Laughing harder than I had in a long time, I settled into a swing and watched the scene unfold in front of me.

A short time later he joined me at the swings. “Thanks for this, I needed it.” In a comfortable silence we watched the sunset while swinging back and forth, seeing who could go the highest. It amazed me that even the smallest of things seemed so huge when they were done with Jimmy. He could make anything exciting and after the life I’d had up to this point that was something I really needed. I just hoped he would stick to his words and things could stay good.

Notes