Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela (10 page)

indicated, asking, ―One of your many conquests?‖

With a saucy wink, Adam answered, ―Oh, yeah. Guy can suck

like a Hoover in heat.‖

Trying not to seem ungrateful for the suggestion, Nick laughed

slightly and said, ―No, I‘m good. Or… we were.‖

―Okay, then. So your itch is fully scratched, and now our

perpetually awful baseball team is about to beat the Reds. What more

could you ask for?‖

Expelling a sigh, Nick answered, ―Confirmation that I‘m getting

through to Norah?‖

Adam pointed to Nick‘s beer, saying, ―How ‘bout confirming that

you‘ll have that finished before that next one gets here?‖ Nick gave his

head a bemused shake but did drain his mug while Adam continued,

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

55

―I‘m sure you‘re doin‘ the right thing—whatever it is. And even if it

ain‘t, geez, you give
enough
to that place. Don‘t be worryin‘ about it on

your day off. I see guys at the gym yakkin‘ on their cells to work while

they‘re tryin‘ to do the Stairmaster or somethin‘, and it ain‘t healthy.

Ya know?‖

―Yeah, I see what you‘re sayin‘, but I‘m not tryin‘ to close a

merger or make a million dollars; I‘m dealin‘ with a person. I know

Trudy says I‘m coddling Norah, but I can‘t help but think—‖

―Whatever it is, it can wait ‘til tomorrow.‖ Adam accepted their

beers from the bartender, adroitly flipping him a twenty and saying,

―Keep ‘em coming.‖ Then he pointed at the TV, saying to Nick, ―Do

yourself a favor. Worry about Dickerson coming up with one on and no

outs and forget about ACC for one fucking afternoon. Deal?‖

Knowing it was useless to argue with Adam in this instance, Nick

nodded and resolutely fastened his attention back onto the game.

Besides, whatever the impulse of the moment, he had never intended to

pour out his doubts and misgivings about Norah to his friend. After all,

it wasn‘t Adam‘s job to be that kind of sounding board.

AT CLASS that Thursday, Nick began to think Trudy and Adam were

right. Norah seemed, if anything, cheerful to the point of effervescence.

She even volunteered to drive Tish and Cheryl back to ACC again.

Nick tried to hide his eagerness as he asked, ―You sure?‖

Norah shrugged. ―Yeah, why not? It‘s a lot closer to my place

than yours, right?‖

―Thanks.‖ Nick wasn‘t sorry to forgo the drive that tacked forty

minutes onto the end of a long day.

Tish jumped into the front seat, saying, ―I‘m gonna be getting my

own car soon‘s I get that job at The Carlton. Then I won‘t need the

‗Nick and Norah‘ taxi service.‖

―Hey,‖ Cheryl interjected as she took her place in the back, ―
Nick

and Norah
—just like in them old-time movies.‖

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Felicia Watson

A grinning Norah slid into the driver‘s seat. ―Except she wasn‘t

blonde,‖ she said while fluffing her hair in a pose of mock glamour.

―And he sure wasn‘t gay,‖ countered Nick, thumping the car‘s

roof in a farewell gesture. When he swung back to the shop‘s entrance,

intending to firm up plans for working on the car that Sunday, he saw

Logan already standing there, still holding a ratchet wrench, with a

guarded frown marring his handsome face.

Oh, not this shit again.
He was mentally preparing a tirade about

Logan getting over himself about ―the gay thing‖ when their eyes met

and Nick was stopped dead—again—by the blue-fire ache he found

there. ―Somethin‘ wrong?‖ When the only answer was Logan‘s sudden

interest in the wrench he was toying with, Nick grimly offered, ―If you

can‘t make it on Sunday—‖

Logan looked up sharply. ―No, I‘ll be here.‖ He reseated his

baseball cap more firmly before adding, ―Anyways, I was thinkin‘

‘bout this Kennywood trip of yours—‖

―How did you know about that?‖

―That Sister Ciera—she told me. She arranged for my girls to go

on it.‖

―Oh.‖ Until that moment, Nick hadn‘t realized that the last-

minute additions belonged to Logan. ―I didn‘t know…. I guess I forgot

you even had kids.‖

―Yep—Krista and Meghan.‖

As he scratched at his stubbled chin in puzzlement, Nick said,

―Ciera left me a note, said the kids were twelve and ten.‖

―Uh huh, that‘s right.‖

Nick tried to remember a birth date from the quick look he‘d had

at Logan‘s file
Could’a swore we were born the same year.
―Aren‘t you

kinda young to have kids that old?‖

Logan tucked the wrench into his back pocket while saying, ―Me

and Linda was both twenty when our first was born.‖

―Huh, that‘s the same age I finally picked a major,‖ Nick

muttered while his thoughts flew to his cousins in Kittanning and

Freeport, most of whom had also married soon after high school. For

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

57

the first time ever, he wondered whether—gay or not—only his escape

to a college in Pittsburgh had ―protected‖ him from a similar fate.

Figuring the time wasn‘t opportune for that kind of introspection, Nick

decided to bring the original subject back around. ―You were saying,

about the Kennywood trip?‖

―Yeah, so I was thinking,‖ Logan said while pulling a ten-dollar

bill out of his pocket. He kept his eyes on the money as he extended it

towards Nick, continuing, ―You could get ‘em an ice cream cone or

somethin‘.‖ He finally looked up from under his lashes, finishing, ―Tell

‘em it‘s from their dad.‖

At that moment, Nick felt a chunk of the ice wall he‘d doggedly

erected against this man melt away—and no stern self-reminders had

the power to halt the thaw. He reluctantly waved the money off, saying,

―They won‘t need it. We give all the kids food vouchers,‖ adding with

a laugh, ―Plenty enough to make sure one or two of ‘em throws up on

the way home.‖

Clearly crestfallen, Logan tucked the money away, mumbling,

―Uh. Okay.‖

Pressed by a sudden need to offer consolation, Nick blurted,

―Why don‘t you come with us? Tracy, one of the other chaperones,

dropped out yesterday, and twenty kids‘s a lot for me an‘ Ciera to

handle alone.‖

―I don‘t think I could….‖ Logan‘s gaze was fixed on a spot over

Nick‘s shoulder.

The man‘s obvious discomfort jogged Nick‘s memory as to his

situation; he immediately surmised that Logan was restricted to

supervised visitation. ―It‘s not like you‘d be alone with ‘em. I mean, I

could clear it with Trudy, see what she says.‖

The faintest smile lifted the corner of Logan‘s mouth. ―Ya think?‖

―Sure.‖ Nick‘s own smile turned mischievous. ―But you an‘

Ciera‘re getting stuck with the ‗Kiddieland crowd‘.‖

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Felicia Watson

TRUDY not only approved of the idea, she steamrolled over any

objections of the visitation mediator. So it was that on Saturday

morning, Logan found himself nervously studying the gaudy carousel

horse perched in the middle of a fountain at Kennywood‘s entrance.

Nick had told him that the group would be taking one of the city buses

to the park; Logan had driven there and wasn‘t sure where the bus

shelter was, but he figured he‘d spot them easily from his current

vantage point.

However, when the group finally arrived, it was his younger

daughter who spotted
him
. She started shrieking ―Daddy!‖ from fifty

feet away and was dragging Sister Ciera, who was only slightly taller

than Meghan, by the hand towards him, with Krista close behind.

Logan reveled in his daughters‘ hugs and smiles and drew solace from

their company that had previously been dimmed by Marie‘s frowning

presence.

Logan looked up from Meghan to find another smiling face

directed his way—Nick Zales‘s. He tried to ignore the surge of blood in

his veins by gruffly introducing him to the girls. ―Hey, girls, this is Mr.

Zales.‖ He put one hand on each girl‘s shoulder as he continued, ―Nick,

these are my daughters, Krista and Meghan.‖

After exchanging a quiet hello with the girls, Nick turned to

Logan. ―Good to see you here. I‘m glad it all worked out for you.‖

―Yeah, me too.‖ Only after Nick was pulled away by two other

ebullient kids did Logan think that he should have thanked the man for

championing his participation in the outing. For a second, Logan felt a

flush of shame at his apparent show of ingratitude but shrugged it off,

figuring he‘d catch up with Nick sometime during the day.

Twenty minutes later, the group was inside the park, with Ciera

herding the younger children and Nick efficiently barking orders at the

older crew. The plan was for Nick to take all the teenagers on the roller

coasters and other teeth-jarring attractions while Logan and Sister Ciera

did the tamer rides with the younger crowd. At two p.m. the whole

group would meet for a late lunch at the Parkside Café before splitting

off again.

Logan wondered how Nick was going to handle nine rowdy

teenagers but fast observed that they took his directions seriously; even

Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela

59

the boys quieted down to a low rumble while Nick laid out the day‘s

plans. Logan noticed Krista looking wistfully at the older group that

was milling around at Nick‘s right. He leaned over, saying, ―If you

wanta go with them, it‘s all right by me.‖

Krista shook her head decisively, saying, ―No, I‘ll help you and

Sister Ciera with the little kids.‖ Logan was glad that he‘d have both

his daughters with him for the morning but was equally glad her sister

hadn‘t heard that label. Especially since one of the older boys, Jesse,

was teasing
his
younger sister, Darcy, about going on ―the baby rides.‖

The little firebrand stuck her tongue out at her sibling, defiantly

saying, ―We‘re goin‘ on the
Phantom’s Revenge
, too!‖

―Yeah, the sucky one,‖ Jesse taunted back.

Suddenly Nick appeared at Jesse‘s side, slinging a friendly arm

around his shoulder. ―Sounds like you don‘t wanta go see the Pirates

with me next month, after all.‖

Sheepishly, Jesse asked, ―Is your friend gettin‘ us those great

seats again?‖

Another boy piped up, ―Hey Nick, I‘ll take his ticket!‖

Nick threw a glance over his shoulder, saying, ―I already said you

could come, Ben.‖

―Yeah, but I could scalp his ticket.‖

Shaking his head with evident amusement, Nick retorted, ―It‘s the

Pirates
, I don‘t think you‘re gonna make much money.‖ He turned

back to Jesse, saying, ―But I‘m sure we could find
someone
who wants

Jesse‘s ticket. Maybe Darcy….‖

Jesse gave the matter exactly three seconds of thought before

turning to his sister and mumbling an apology of doubtful sincerity. But

it satisfied Darcy, and the two groups parted peaceably.

Two hours later, Logan and Sister Ciera were lounging on a

bench while their charges stood in line at the famous Potato Patch,

waiting for a serving of the legendary fries. Logan looked at the

vouchers all the kids were clutching and wondered how the center

could afford to splurge like this. ―All of this must cost a lotta money,

huh?‖

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Felicia Watson

―Oh, yes, but so worth it. Nick raises money for months—

organizing a car wash and dozens of raffles. Plus he always gets the

park to donate most of the admission fee.‖ A smile lit her dark eyes and

olive-skinned face as she commented, ―All in all, Nick is a

commendable young man.‖

Pondering the qualifier, Logan cleared his throat and murmured,

―Ya mean even though… even with him bein‘… gay?‖

It took Ciera a second to parse the last word, as low as it had been

uttered, but finally comprehension dawned, and she trilled, ―Oh, there

is that,
too
.‖ Rolling her eyes slightly, she said, ―No, I was thinking

more…. Well, let‘s just say Nick and I don‘t always see eye-to-eye on

matters of rehabilitation.‖

That word currently had only unhappy associations for Logan, so

he was glad when Ciera veered into tales of trips from years past and

talked nonstop as the kids wended their way up to the French fry

counter.

There was no opportunity for Logan to speak to Nick at lunch,

since his daughters insisted their dad sit with them and a couple of their

new friends. Nick seemed fully occupied with monitoring the kids

anyway, stepping in to prevent what seemed to be an impending food

fight between Jesse and one of the older boys.

At the end of the day, Logan walked his daughters to the bus stop