Here is a little teaser:
Matthew boarded the train for London with thoughts
of the previous week. He liked Carlee, enjoyed her. He liked Andy, liked that
he could share conversation with them both. He wasn’t working that evening, and
when he arrived, he went to a bookstore, one of his local hangouts. He ordered
a coffee and browsed.
“Hey, Essie,” he said.
“Help you find something, Matthew?” the gal behind the counter asked.
“Older book,” he replied. “Paperback or used is fine. The title is Rock and Roll Never Forgets.”
“Not familiar,” she replied as she got on the computer to search. “I
have one,” she said. She walked from behind the counter leading the way. She
pulled the copy from the shelf, and looked back at Matthew. It didn’t seem the
kind of book he usually looked for, most were on photography.
“Special project,” he said knowing her thoughts, knowing it was special to him.
He went home, grabbed a beer and stretched out in his recliner. He flipped
through the pages glancing at pictures first, and then began to read. He
wanted to know. Class was late the next day, and he wasn’t working, so he read,
and read. The last time he looked, the clock read 3:06am.
When he woke the next morning, he was still in the recliner with the book
on his chest. He got a bite to eat and thought about Carlee. He read about that
‘rollercoaster’ she referred to, and thought about her growing up without her
mama. He thought about the love-affair that Andy and Bethy shared, and how her
dad must have felt. ‘Lost’, was the word that came to mind, and he wondered how
Carlee didn’t end up lost as well, but then… he saw how much Andy loved her,
and she turned out OK in spite of her losses.
He’d seen a beat up piece of paper on the bed in Paris as she sorted her
things when she was packing her bags. “Emerson,” he said.
“Mmm hmm, it’s something that gives me peace,” she told him as he picked
it up to read it. “For everything you
have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you
lose something else.”
He thought about how profound that statement really was, now that he
understood more.
He looked at the clock; it was too early to call his mom, so he sent an
email.
At 1:10 his phone rang. “Hey, Mom. Thanks for giving me a call.”
“What’s up? You said nothing’s wrong but it feels like you have
something on your mind. I’ve got fresh coffee and I’m sitting on the back porch
watching the herons down by the river, so shoot!”
Since he’d met Carlee, he’d told his mom about her in previous
conversations, so Geni Davis knew he liked her. She realized as he talked that
she didn’t really know how much.
Matthew told her about the book, and Geni felt tears in her eyes, partly over
Beth’s story, but the thought of a young girl growing up without her mother
broke her heart.
“Reading the book gave me a better understanding of Carlee, but it made
me sad. I can’t even begin to imagine growing up without you and Dad.”
Geni listened intently, and then finally said, “Matthew, you really seem
to like this young woman.”
“Like? Nah,” he replied and paused for effect. Geni waited, because she
knew there would be more. “I’ve fallen way past ‘like’ Mom. She’s different,
special and I can hardly wait to see her again. I can’t wait for you to meet
her.”
See her. Meet her. Geni thought as she listened. She hung up thinking, My baby boy is in love.
Matthew went to bed that evening thinking of Carlee. He’d dated plenty
of girls. He liked some of them a lot, but he had never been with anyone that
he couldn’t stop thinking about. She was quirky, fun, passionate… and
beautiful. He loved their conversations; he pretty much loved everything about
her; she was adorable. He was ready to explore a relationship with her, explore
the passion; but it wasn’t sexual passion, although he thought of that, too. Her
true passion was for ‘life’, and now he understood why.
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