Page 38 of Love Over Easy

“My mother’s death was hard on him. If he’d gotten help, talked to someone, maybe things would have been different. Anyway, I took up wrestling in middle school to learn how to defend myself and I was good at it. My dad noticed and I’d found a way to gain his attention. He put me in Karate and boxing classes. By high school, I was the regional champion. I started doing underground matches before I was eighteen. When I fought and won, I felt as if I finally won my father’s approval. He became my manager and hired the best trainers my earnings could buy.”

I remember reading her remarkable stats earlier. Her talent for the sport is unmatched. “You became the US Champion four times in a row.”

Her gaze moves back to me. “You’ve read up on me.”

I nod, but she looks anything but proud of her gifted skills. “I did. You’ve accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.”

“I have. But, you see, I never wanted to become a fighter. In fact, I hate fighting. Fighting is something I did to survive and to make my dad proud of me. Three years ago, I finally told my father I wanted to retire. That didn’t go over very well. He promised if I defended my title one more time, I could retire at the top of my game with the most consecutive wins of all time. Then an arena would offer millions and he’d talk me into doing one more. Then another. The last fight I was in was supposed to be the end, but right before it started, he told me Madison Square Garden was setting up a match between me and the German MMA Champion.”

A panicked feeling threatens to overwhelm me at just the thought of her fighting in such a match. Any match really. “You left.”

“That was the last straw. After the match, I walked out of the locker room and right into a cab and eventually ended up at the only place I ever really felt at home.”

“Faire Island,” I answer for her and she turns to share a somber smile.

“Right. Then you caught me trying to break into my grandmother’s old house. I knew someone else owned it, but it was the only real home I’ve ever known. That’s where I’d planned to hole up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this then?”

She gives a half-hearted shrug. “I had until the twenty-third to sign the contract for the match at the Garden. I thought if I could stay out of sight until then, there wouldn’t be a match. At least that’s what I hope happened.”

An unsettling thought occurs to me. If she was only biding time on the island… “You never planned to stay?”

She bites her lip and looks down at our joined hands. “I want to. I never planned on opening the café…exactly. When Hannah Murphy offered to let me open and run the café at the marina, I just couldn’t turn it down. It was like my dream was finally coming true. The only thing that could have made it better was if it were my Gram’s restaurant.”

“I remember eating at the restaurant. The food was good, but nothing like the professional quality you’ve been delivering. How did you get so good?”

“At eighteen, I wanted to go to culinary school, but I was starting to make a name for myself in the MMA arena and I was bringing in pretty good bank with each match. To appease me, Dad would set up private lessons with the chef at whatever hotel we were staying at. He even let me take some courses in New York while I was in training for the second national title. Once, we were staying in Las Vegas for three months, and the chef at the hotel let me work as an apprentice.”

It must have been a grueling pace to keep up with. “What happens now?”

She shrugs again and her bottom lip quivers. She takes a breath. “Well, I imagine those pictures I took today have made their way onto social sites. That most likely means my dad now knows my location. He’ll probably show up soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up tomorrow.”

I’m going to lose her. The biggest void begins to form inside me. “Are you going back with him?” I ask, holding my breath afraid of what her answer will be.

“I don’t want to. Being here, taking time away, has given me insight to the relationship I have with my father. I finally realize my dad is never going to really love me. Just me. Not the MMA fighter. I don’t think he blames me for Mom’s death; I just think he’s mad at the mistake he made which caused her pregnancy. I figured that out a long time ago. There’s a large gap between me and my youngest brother. I asked my oldest brother about it once and he said I wasn’t planned.”

I don’t think I’m going to get along with Shy’s father. At the moment, I’d like to punch him in the gut.

With a finger beneath her chin, I swing her head my way until I’m sure she sees me. “What about us?”

Her eyes glisten in the moonlight. Her voice breaks when she asks, “Is there still an us? I understand this is a lot to lay on a person.”

I pull her onto my lap and take her face between my palms. “Don’t you know, Shyanne? Don’t you feel it each time I hold you? Kiss you? Don’t you feel it when I sink inside you? Yes, I know we said this wasn’t headed towards a relationship, but by then it was already too late for me. It just took me time to realize I’d already fallen.” I brush my lips lightly over hers. She shudders and I whisper as I stare deep into her eyes, “I love you.”

She tries to pull away, but I won’t allow her to dismiss my confession. We may not have known each other long and it may be too early for the words, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

“I’m not sure I know what love is. I know I loved my Gram. I know that when I am in your arms and our hearts start to beat as one… I’ve never felt as close to another person. I love the way we are with each other. Even playing Scrabble or telling each other about our days as we share the evening meal. The thought of leaving you makes me think my heart will never be whole again.”

“Then don’t leave,” I plead.

She rests her forehead on mine. “It may not be that simple.”

My arms wrap tightly around her as if I can keep her with me always. My voice is coarse with emotion. “Shy, stay. I don’t want you to fight anymore. I saw the bruises. I know you get hurt. I can’t go through seeing someone hurt you like that. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished, but please don’t put me through that. I know I’m being selfish, but I’m not sure I’d live through it.”

She leans back and runs her fingers down my cheek. “If I could have my dreams come true, I’d never fight again and I would stay right here. With you.”

She takes my face in her hands, stares into my eyes, and earnestly implores, “Whatever happens when my father shows up, please, just remember that.”

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