Chapter 13

Things couldn't have gone much better, those first few weeks Josie and I were together in the Twin Cities. I had been afraid my having lined up those two part-time jobs would irritate her, because they tended to eat up what little time I had that wasn't spent with learning to pitch.

But Josie didn't react that way at all. Instead, she promptly found herself a very nice gig on a local radio talk show. The show was produced by another female ex-jock and sports nut, Angie Erickson. Angie specialized in football and hockey, and left it to Josie, her on-air sidekick, to handle baseball. For three hours every afternoon, the two of them entertained fans on the local 10,000 watt all-sports station.

Josie's three hours a day, five days a week, paid her far better than my double-duty as salesman and desk clerk, and it probably made her feel a little better about sacrificing her winter on the Freddie Project.

The days were long, but winter was coming and the nights were getting longer all the time. Josie and I saw each other at least three nights a week, and her parents gradually stopped raising their eyebrows.

That's about the time that life got extra-complicated, on two different fronts. I don't know if you've noticed, but that sort of thing happens a lot. God doesn't seem to like it when we get too comfortable.

First thing that happened, Josie tells me that she's gotten a call from this guy, Preston Sutherland. He's an old friend, she says. He's this guy she used to date, back when she lived here full time.

Preston Sutherland, yet! He sounded like maybe an actor on a daytime soap opera.

"He's a lawyer," Josie said. "He's a junior associate at Nordstrom and Victorsen, downtown."

"A lawyer?"

"Yes. We were... together back at U. Minn. -- as undergrads."

"And now he's your age, and already a lawyer?"

"He's a couple years older than I am," Josie said. "He was a senior when I was just a sophomore at the U."

"So you got this call from him?"

"Yeah. He wants to get together, have dinner or something."

"You used to be with this guy? I mean, you dated him, right?"

"Yes. Right. When I was in college, and after, when I was working in St. Paul with the Saints."

"I'm jealous already!" I said. I made it sound like I was just joking.

I wasn't, though.

Josie laughed. "You haven't got anything to be jealous about. I haven't even seen Preston for -- I don't know -- two years, anyway."

"Two years isn't very long."

"We haven't been, y'know, an item for even longer than that. We broke up long ago -- before I even left town."

"But you were an item, right? At one time?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Hey, I never told you I was a virgin when we got together, did I?" She made it sound like she was just joking.

She wasn't, though. I had irritated her already.

"So. What will you do? About his calling you?"

"I already did it. I told him I was seeing someone."

"Good."

"But I'm still going to be seeing him," she said. "Because my mother invited him over for dinner."

Now, that pissed me off. Josie's mother knew damned well that her daughter was seeing me. Where did she get off, inviting old boyfriends home to dinner to renew auld acquaintances?

"I didn't think your mother was that concerned about your dating me," I said.

"It's not like that," Josie protested. "I mean, my whole family has known Preston for... well, for years. He and my dad still play golf together! My dad has Preston's law firm on retainer. It's just a family thing, Freddie."

"So how did it happen, that you two broke up?"

"He dumped me, actually," Josie said. She tried to make the statement flat and neutral, but I thought she came off sounding a little wistful. "I mean, on the surface we made this mutual decision to call it all off, but it was really Preston's doing, when you get right down to it."

"Just like that?... One of those 'I think we ought to start seeing other people' things?"

"It was more than that," she said. "We were engaged. We were going to be married in the spring."

"Jesus Christ!... How come you never said anything to me about that?"

Josie, clearly, was becoming uncomfortable. "It's ancient history," she said. "Why would I assume you wanted to hear about my old boyfriends? Maybe you and I will talk to each other about old flames someday, but we haven't so far, have we? I mean, I don't know anything about any of your old girlfriends."

"Yeah, but I never had one where I cancelled wedding plans! I mean, that's a major bust-up, you're talking about."

"Well, it isn't a secret or anything. C'mon, Freddie. Be reasonable. When would it have come up in a conversation? How long have we been together? Not that long! And with lots of breaks, in between times... Shoot, every time we get together, first thing we do is start taking off our clothes!"

"Well, jeez, Josie. Your mother is inviting your old fiancé over to dinner, knowing full well that you and I are... are whatever it is we are. I really... I really hate that, Babe. I mean, she's really trying to undercut me, here!"

"Freddie, honestly! You're overreacting. Preston and I have known each other since we were kids. We went to the same high school! The same college. He's a friend of the family. What do you expect me to do -- refuse to see him?"

"You said he dumped you. Didn't your folks think that was kind of a fucked-up way for him to treat their daughter?"

"It was an amicable break-up. I said he dumped me, but that's maybe too strong. We just... called it off. I said he dumped me, because it was mostly his idea, that we call it off."

"So how do you feel about it? This dinner with... Preston. Jesus, he sounds like a country club guy. Is he? Big-shot parents? Silver spoons and shit?"

"He comes from a good family, yes. But he's not stuffy or anything. He can't help it if his parents named him Preston! Don't be so unfair about this, Freddie. Just because somebody's family's got a little money, it doesn't make them war criminals or something!"

"You think he wants to -- you know -- get back together? You think he wants to reconsider?"

"Freddie. I told you, my mother is the one who invited him to dinner, not me."

"But first he called you, right? He didn't call your mother, talk about old times."

"He called the house. He wanted to talk to me, yes. But he got her first. That first time he called, I wasn't even there. I was at work. She invited him to dinner. Thursday. A week from this Thursday."

"But you've talked to him since then, right?"

"Yes. He called later, and that's when I talked to him."

"That cocksucker!... He wants to get back together with you."

"Freddie, I don't know that! He didn't say anything like that. He just called about, you know, about us seeing each other again. I think he was going to ask me out to dinner or something. And I've already told him that I'm seeing someone."

"And, by then, your mother had already invited him home to dinner."

"Yes. That's right."

"Do you think she'd... you know... invite me, too? For dinner? That night?"

"Gosh, Freddie. I don't know. It would be kind of awkward, wouldn't it? You and Preston, there? At the same time? Wouldn't it be better if I just, you know, saw him with my folks, and just let it all fade away, afterward? I mean, I don't know that he's trying to get something started with me again. Probably he isn't. For all I know, he's got a new fiancé already."

"Right. That's why he called you to ask you out for dinner. He wants to introduce the two of you."

"Well, anyway, whatever reason he had for calling me, you don't need to worry about it. If he says anything about anything like that -- about our getting back together, I'll tell him that it's just not going to happen. There's really no reason for you to show up and go nose-to-nose with him. It's not a competition. It's not arm-wrestling."

"You don't have any leftover feelings for this guy?"

"Freddie. What do you want me to say? I don't want to get back with Preston Sutherland, OK? Leftover feelings? Sure. I maybe have some scars from those times -- from our break-up. You want me to pretend otherwise? But I don't want to get back with him. Now, that's all I'm going to say about it. I didn't come back to Minneapolis to see Preston Sutherland. I came back so I could be close to you! If you'd been in -- in Amarillo, Texas for the winter, I'd have gone there, instead! It just so happens you ended up in my hometown and that's where we are -- the two of us. The three of us.