Maybe we can hook up and look over these files? It’d be great to get some fresh eyes on this but even better if those eyes have studied all things Miceli.”
“You got it. I’m out next week, though. Taking the wife to Vegas to renew our wedding vows at some tacky chapel. Not my thing but she’s got her heart set on it.”
“Well, good luck,” Crawford said, chuckling.
He walked inside and slammed the front door, not giving any thought to disturbing Bea. She opened her apartment door and took in his disheveled appearance, the bags under his eyes, and the stubble growing on his cheeks. “Get in here,” she said, and took his arm.
He went into her apartment and fell onto her couch, exhausted. Bea went into the kitchen and came back with a chocolate pudding pie, two spoons, and two cold bottles of beer. She put the pie on the coffee table and handed him a spoon and a beer. “Have some pie.”
The last thing he wanted was pie and a conversation with Bea, but for some reason, he found himself digging into a mound of whipped cream and chocolate pudding and spooning it into his mouth. He washed his first bite down with a swallow of beer and nearly gagged. “I don’t think chocolate pudding pie needs a beer chaser,” he said.
Bea didn’t agree and drained half of her beer in one swallow. “Give it time; it’s an acquired taste.” She took another hunk of pie. “You look like hell. What’s going on?”
Where do I begin? he thought. He was so tired and spent that he found himself pouring his entire life out to Bea. He ended with his visit to Christine’s. “She asked me to dinner. I didn’t think she was going to ask my permission to remarry.”
Bea’s eyes were big behind her bifocals. “She’s getting remarried?”
Crawford leaned back on the couch and took another swig of his beer. “Seems that way.”
“So, that’s good, right?” Bea asked. She toddled off into the kitchen and returned with two more beers, one of which she handed to Bobby. “This is a six-pack conversation, if ever I heard one.”
He drained his first beer and started on the second one. “You know she came by the day after Fred’s wedding and told me to forget about the annulment,” he said.
Bea’s sharp intake of breath told him that she didn’t know. And how would she? He hadn’t told her.
“I thought that was about us. I thought that was about her doing the right thing.” He looked at Bea. “What it really was about was her getting remarried.”
Bea drank her beer in silence. She leaned over and scooped up another piece of pie, deep in thought. “Does it really matter?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“Does it really matter why she’s moving on? Does it matter to you?”
That was something he hadn’t considered. He thought for a moment. “Does it?” he asked, not sure.
Bea stared at him. “No, it doesn’t.” She clinked her bottle against his. “Congratulations.” She took in his crestfallen face. “You can’t tell me that you’re upset about this.”
“I’m not,” he said, not too convincingly. “I just thought…”
“You just thought what? That she was letting you go out of some unselfish desire to see you happy? Who are you kidding, Bobby?” Bea finished off the pie and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Listen, Bobby. It really doesn’t matter why it’s over now instead of before. It’s over. You can move on. That’s all that matters.” She tipped her second beer to her lips. “Bobby, let’s remember one thing: you liked that girl, loved her like a sister, but you were never really in love with her.”
Crawford looked at his aunt.
“You took that girl out of a dreadful situation. That father of hers was no good, and neither were the brothers. You saved her.” She finished off her beer. “And that was a good thing to do, Bobby. But you can’t tell me that you were ever in love with her.”
He hung his head. She was right.
“So, get moving. Start living the life you were meant to live.”
Chapter 26
I didn’t realize how much I had missed Max until she came to my office after returning home from what seemed like the longest honeymoon on record.
I was surprised when she came straight to my office the day after she arrived home, late on a Friday afternoon. Her beautiful tan was highlighted by a crisp white shirt, open at the neck, and a flowered skirt under