Page 81 of While You're There
“I’m not saying it’s the number one thing I want to do on a Saturday night… but yeah. I’d do it for you. I was pre-med, remember? And Teddy has Type 1 diabetes. He and I have been friends since high school, and I’ve had to help him a few times when his sugar got scary low.”
Tori quickly entered the shed, not wanting Fielding to see the tears threatening to spill over. She’d only been doing the injections for a few days, so it’s not like she could blame her emotional response on the hormones. She always cried when people were kind to her. She never expected it, so it caught her off guard. She was so damn lucky to have such good friends, and she was especially grateful to have Fielding in her life.
As if sensing that the moment was too heavy, he spoke up again. “Hey, you know what I just realized?” He followed her into the shed and set the canvases where she pointed, turning around and heading back to the picnic table to grab the next load.
“What’s that?”
“We’re super close to Valley Cream right now.”
“Valley Cream?”
“Wait. Don’t tell me you’ve lived here all your life and you’ve never been to Valley fucking Cream?” he exclaimed, gawking and carrying on in typical Fielding fashion. “Valley Cream is the best ice cream stand in all of northeast Ohio. It’s only open seasonally, and they only have like, two flavors a day because they churn it all by hand. Fuck—it’s so good, Tor. You’re going to love it. I’m taking you there as soon as we’re done here.”
She felt bad rejecting his idea, given his child-like excitement. But they had other plans that night, and she desperately needed a shower and a nap.
“I think we have to raincheck it, Field.”
He pouted—he literally stuck out his bottom lip and batted his eyelashes—as she continued.
“I’m sorry. I really am. But I’m exhausted, and I want to take a shower and rest a bit before we go to Clinton’s tonight.”
“Fine. But promise me we’ll go soon. You can’t just say raincheck to me and hope I’ll forget about it. I’m relentless when it comes to Valley Cream, Tori. Fucking relentless.”
“I believe that. I promise we’ll go soon. For now, let’s get the rest of these canvases sorted so we can go home.”
“To the man we can always count on to pick up a shift, pick up the tab, and pick up anyone still single at the end of the night!” Lia proclaimed, holding up her shot glass toward the man of the hour.
“To the OG master of walk-in cooler quickies and epic hot tub parties,” Cory added, a knowing smirk on his face.
“To the second-best bartender this place has ever seen!” Tori finished with a flourish.
Laughter erupted amongst the friends as Jake just shook his head in mock-shame. He was totally in his element: pouring shots, shooting the shit, being the center of attention. He was the only person standing behind the bar, holding court as all their friends toasted and roasted him. He was the king of Clinton’s for just one more night.
Tori smiled as she took in the sight of everyone celebrating together. Their hangout was going a lot later than she had expected, in part because Fielding and Dempsey had shown up with a few bottles of rum after Mike had left for the night. She couldn’t resist pulling out her phone and discreetly snapping a picture of Jake as he exchanged jabs with Lia.
V: It’s our boy’s last night at Clinton’s. After this he’s officially moving on to greener pastures.
“Tori! You and I have to do a shot together! Get over here!” Dempsey was drunker than she had ever seen him, which was saying something, given the amount of times she’d hung out at the Valet House over the last few months. She glanced at Fielding, who offered her a little smirk and an eyeroll at his brother’s antics. Dempsey didn’t know her well enough to know she rarely drank. And she was certain Field hadn’t told him anything about her upcoming procedure and why she absolutely could not drink tonight.
“Sorry, Dem. You’re going to have to take mine for me,” she hollered back across the bar, nodding to the two shot glasses sitting in front of him. “I’m one of the only people Jake trusts to drive the Jeep, so I’m DD tonight.”
“Your loss, my gain,” he declared as he accepted her excuse. Tori winced as she watched Fielding’s already wasted twin throw back both shots in quick succession. Her phone vibrated against the bar top as he slammed the glasses down. She picked it up to read Rhett’s reply.
Ev: Good thing those greener pastures are right next door. ;) Tell him congrats for me. I’m surprised you’re all still at Clinton’s this late?
Only Jake and Lia had worked that night. Everyone else showed up once the restaurant was closed, and it felt like things weren’t anywhere close to winding down anytime soon.
V: I’m DDing for Jake, so I don’t think I’ll be going home for a while. All the toasts have turned into roasts. I wish you were here. You would love it.
Ev: Text me when you get home safe. I’m sure I’ll still be up. Love you.
She blew out a long breath as she reread his response. He hadn’t said anything wrong—but she could tell even through his text that he was distracted. He hadn’t asked how she was feeling. He hadn’t asked how her injection went tonight. They had talked about the shots after her appointment on Monday, and she had sent him pictures of the needle she had to push into her stomach each night for the next several days. She honestly couldn’t tell whether he was treading lightly around the subject or if she was holding back from bringing it up as not to trigger him.
Regardless, the emotional stalemate sucked. She missed her husband. She was anxious to reconnect with him. She was desperate for him to comfort her, and to be here for her like he had promised.
She had no idea when Rhett was coming to Hampton next—she’d been too worried about adding to his burden to ask—but she knew they’d sort things out once he was finally home. It was just too damn hard to have any sort of real conversation while he was in Virginia. The physical distance exacerbated the emotional distance tenfold.
“Doing okay over here?”
