Chapter 47: The Dating Game

Thanksgiving is the official kickoff of 'The Holiday Season.' Not a big event around our house. The holidays are officially family times. Mom was an only child. We had always assumed that Dad was too, and knowing that he had once had a twin sister didn't really change the present. The last of our grandparents had died over five years before, so we pretty much were the family. We made the best of it. The Davises were out of town for the weekend. Tom's parents had invited them to Denver. The only good part of this was discovering that distance did not seem to make a difference when it came to bridging. We spent time every night catching up on the latest events. They were having fun catching up with aunts, uncles, and cousins they hadn't seen in years. And then there was the whole "Mark broke his leg skiing today" thing. Yeah, the holidays were officially off and running.

The hotel's settlement offer was good and my parents accepted it. The offer of the mutually binding gag order was something they weren't taking a chance of losing. Allison and I were not privy to all the details and we really didn't care. All that mattered to us was that no one would be asking questions. School was going smoothly, the cross country team was running well but we just didn't have the talent as a team to compete at a higher level. We had our stars of course. Both of the Osbornes were going to regionals, and Angie was again the favorite for going all the way to state. Rebecca was working hard on the latest developments in the case. Everything seemed to be running along smoothly. I should have known better. Wednesday during practice the bubble popped.

We were just getting in from a seven mile trek through the local foothills and Angie was talking to Coach Shelby. She was dressed in slacks and a light sweater. When you're running you don't notice the cold, but suddenly I felt a chill and had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

<<Relax, she's probably just here to pick up Tim>> I told myself as I settled in to start stretching. I looked for Tim but he was a short ways off working by himself. Not a good sign. I tried to ignore it and continued stretching but somehow I knew what was coming.

"You're doing that wrong." A familiar voice said.

I shook my head as I sat up. "Well, maybe if I had a partner."

She chuckled as she squatted behind me to help hold me in my next stretch. As I relaxed back, she began to massage my shoulders. "Jimmy? I..." she started, but faded off.

I took a deep breath, "Angela?" I said.

"God," she laughed, "now I know how guys must feel."

"Feel about what? Something on your mind, Angie?"

"Jimmy, would you go out with me?"

"Would I what?" I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Angela Osborn was asking me out?

She dropped down and hugged me from behind, "I said, would you go out with me?"

I glanced over and saw Tim looking at us. He nodded once and turned back to the guy he had been talking to.

"Angie..." I started, but she cut me off.

"I just wanted to thank you for all you've done, and there are some things I wanted to talk to you about and it just seemed like the easiest way to do it. Is that all right?" She sounded a little nervous.

I guess that was only fair, since I was a whole lot nervous. I turned and patted the ground next to me. She sat next to me and pulled her knees up to her chest. I reached out to take her hand in mine and asked, "What's going on, Angie? I mean, I'm flattered; you are probably the most beautiful girl I've ever met, but I know for a fact you're in love with someone else. Just as you know that I am in love with two other women. So what's this really about?"

She tried to pull her hand back but I didn't let her. "Yes, I am in love with someone else, and without you I never would have even met him. Without your sister I never would have... I just feel like I owe you this huge debt that I will never be able to repay, but I want to try. Every time I think about how close I came to spending the rest of my life without Tim? I just want to grab you and hug you and... and Allison too."

That got my attention. "Allison too?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I mean I know..." She started to pull away and stand up but I pulled her back down.

"Angela," I said. She wouldn't look at me. I gently took her chin, turned her face to me and said, "I would love to go out with you."