Page 80 of Caught in a Storm
“Believe me,” Margot says. “I know how stupid twenty-something-year-old men are.”
She means this to be funny, but it’s not, and Robyn’s sharp laughter takes a sad-sounding turn. “Right,” she says, “but at least you got to be with Law—No, nothing. My point is, I broke his heart. And it broke my heart to do it. But me giving him up was the catalyst for Billy getting his shit together. It made him who he is now. Then you swoop in, with your tattoos and your hair that does that fall-across-your-face thing, and you get to have the good Billy. The grown-up. It’s not fair.”
Robyn’s right, it isn’t. Good or bad, life is all about timing. We’re either its victims or its beneficiaries. Margot picks out a strawberry for herself and then one for Robyn.
Robyn smiles as she chews. “It’s good,” she says.
“Very fresh,” says Margot.
“We could get some star fruit if you want,” Robyn says.
Margot tells her that maybe they should take things slow, and Robyn laughs. Then Margot does something she couldn’t have imagined doing earlier: she hugs Robyn. The other woman stiffens, surprised, which is understandable. She relaxes, though, and hugs Margot back. It’s nice. Farmer’s markets. Who knew?
“Ready to go back?” Margot asks.
“Yeah,” says Robyn. “In a sec. Maybe another strawberry?”
She holds out the carton, and Robyn takes a few. “Usually I wash them first,” Robyn says. “But fuck it, right?”
They walk, finally, in the direction of home.
“So, yeah,” Margot says. “It didn’t work with you and Billy. The timing was off, like you said. But you have a sweet son. And a great house. And Billy says your career is going well. And you have Aaron, too, right?”
Which is when Robyn bursts into tears.
Chapter 44
Caleb is staying positive about this “Dad vs. Lawson Daniels” stuff.
Okay, yeah, apparently Margot is going to choose between them, Bachelorette-season-finale style. And at least on the surface, that doesn’t bode well for someone like Billy Perkins, him being not famous and just a normal guy and all. But Caleb is sticking to his original line of stoned thinking: Billy Perkins is still the best person Caleb knows.
That said, Lawson Daniels really is cool as fuck.
“I’ll take you, mate,” he told Caleb a few minutes ago. “You and me against Club Dad Bod here.”
Caleb isn’t used to being picked when it comes to athletic things. “Me? Really?”
“Yeah. You’re Shaq, I’m Kobe.”
How would he even begin to explain this to Justin and Shin-Soo? He didn’t tell them about Lawson showing up last night while the three of them played Grand Theft Auto online, because he was afraid they’d log off immediately and race over. Now he and Lawson are playing pickup basketball in the driveway like besties.
Lawson dribbles between his legs, jukes Caleb’s dad with a crossover, and hits Caleb with a high lob. Caleb dodges Aaron and lays it in.
“That’s it, mate! See? You’re a foot taller than these geezers. Keep the ball high and they can’t stop you. You’re a bloody scoring machine.”
Caleb tosses the ball back to Lawson, who checks it with Caleb’s dad. “Ten two, mate. Should we get some oxygen for you? You don’t have a tank up there in the flat, do you?”
Billy checks the ball back.
They play on, make-it-take-it, and Caleb and Lawson continue to dominate. Caleb knows that he’s not good at this sport or any other, but Lawson’s advice was solid, and he hits a few more shots. It helps that his dad and Aaron are objectively terrible.
Lawson drains one from the crack in the pavement that they’ve all agreed marks the three-point line. “Apparently there’s…reign in the forecast, lads,” he says. It’s a total dad joke, but it’s funny when he says it.
“Are you even trying to guard him?” Aaron asks Caleb’s dad.
“You can help, you know,” his dad responds, and Caleb is startled by his tone. He wouldn’t need one whole hand to count the number of times in his life that he’s heard his dad raise his voice.
The tension has been building since they started playing. His dad grabs at Lawson’s arms on defense, and Lawson keeps driving into him with his shoulder. Caleb gets it, since they’re both competing for Margot, like a driveway duel. What Caleb doesn’t get, though, is why Aaron seems so mad at his dad.
