Page 47 of Undone, Love Times Three

“Chicken,” I flip him off.

“I knew I should have called instead of driving down here.”

My laughter echoes around the empty bar and I hurry out the door onto the busy sidewalk. Standing still for a moment, I look around me, taking a deep breath in. I love this place, and this neighborhood.

“Excuse me.” A couple are standing just to my right. The man points to Blue’s. “Do you work here?”

“I do.”

“What time do you open?”

“A couple more hours,” I tell them, smiling.

They look disappointed but nod. I walk away when they stop me again.

“Could you take our picture?”

My smile spreads. If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. “Of course, do you want to get by the sign in the window?”

Going Viral

Daniel

Stuart, Jen and the younger two of their kids are walking ahead of me. Stuart, my sister’s husband is stocked up with snacks. Deirdre has a foam finger and is whacking Liam on the head with it. I snort a laugh as my sister tries to wrangle her eight-year-old twins into behaving. Not possible, they’re a pair of terrors.

Not like Elliott, he’s all about the Cubs and doesn’t care about his younger siblings on game day. He has a baseball game withhis little league team tomorrow but today is about his favorite team.

Having the box here is great for business, but when my nephews and niece get to use it, it’s a million times more fun.

Elliott sticks with me, rolling his eyes as his mom confiscates the finger and scolds them both into behaving. Who needs kids when I can spend time with these three, then leave when things get rowdy.

“Hey Uncle Dan, what do you think the score is going to be today?” Elliott bounces beside me. He’s decked out in Cubs merchandise, shirt, hat, a glove, with the ball stuffed in his pocket. “Wanna make a bet?”

“Don’t let your mom hear you gambling, El. And no, because I’m guaranteed to lose and don’t feel like giving you my money today.”

“Aw come on.”

“We’re supporting the same team, kid. You forget that? Why would I bet against them?”

“You don’t gotta. We can just bet on how many home runs the Cubs are gonna get today. Whoever comes closest wins fifty dollars.”

“You have fifty dollars to give me when I win?”

“You won’t win,” he takes out his ball and tosses it.

“That isn’t what I asked. You never make bets you can’t pay up.”

He pulls a face. The kid needs to learn everything isn’t handed to you on a plate. Jen tries her best. In the past she’s given into the kids for an easy life. I won’t be doing that.

“What about if we make the deal a little easier? You win, you get ten dollars. I win, you give me that baseball in your pocket.”

“What? No way.”

“Gambling is a risky business little man. You gotta know what you’re getting into. You don’t want to lose that ball, you don’t make the bet.”

He thinks for a minute, he’s twelve but he’s a smart kid. “Okay, how about this? We do it for fun. No prizes.”

Jen looks over her shoulder at me. We’re inside the stadium in the quieter hall that leads to our private box. She smiles at her son, then me.

---