Wickedly Ever After_ A Baba Yag - Deborah Blake Page 0,15
to Phil.
“Sure,” he said. “But if you’re worrying about what to feed the frog, it pretty much eats all the same things as any other non-bioengineered frog.”
“It’s not that, although thank you,” she said. “I don’t wish to be rude, but I was wondering why you would risk your career to steal a rare specimen for us. It seems like a huge favor to do for an old roommate.”
“Borrow,” Phil corrected absently. “And I guess Liam never told you how we met. He wasn’t just my roommate—he saved my life.”
Barbara raised one eyebrow and looked at her husband. “Really? He didn’t mention anything like that.”
“It wasn’t really a big deal,” Liam said.
“Like hell it wasn’t.” Phil stared at the ground for a minute, then raised his head to look Barbara in the eyes.
“I was young when I was in college; sixteen when I started undergrad, nineteen when I entered the master’s program. A genius IQ and little to no social skills don’t make for a great college experience, I can tell you. I had great grades, no friends, and a girl had just dated me for a week to win a bet with her pals and then dumped me in front of a bunch of drunken idiots, who laughed at me. When Liam first met me, I was standing on top of the largest building on campus, getting ready to jump off. He talked me out of it, convinced me to move in with him, then took me under his wing until we both graduated. Even introduced me to the woman who eventually became my wife.”
He shook his head. “Liam not only saved me that night, but every good thing that came afterward was because of him. I don’t know exactly what this is all about, but he told me that your future happiness together depends on having this frog. As far as I’m concerned, it’s little enough to ask.”
Liam’s ears burned a bright red in the dim light of the parking lot. “You’re exaggerating, Phil. I was just a friend when you needed one, that’s all.”
“You were and are a good man. That’s a rare thing.”
Barbara put her arm through Liam’s. “He’s right, you know.”
Little Babs had been listening quietly, as usual. “Liam saved me too. A bad lady had me and he and Barbara saved me and took me home with them. Now we are a family.” She looked up at Liam seriously. “You are a good man. You are Barbara’s good man and my good man. And Chudo-Yudo’s good man. You told me that when someone says a compliment to you, you are supposed to say thank you. Are you going to say thank you?”
Liam chuckled. “Sometimes you learn your lessons too well, kiddo.” He turned back to Phil. “Thank you for the compliment. And for the frog. You have no idea what this means to us.”
“Maybe you can tell me the story sometime,” Phil said hopefully. “I get the feeling it is even more interesting than Spider-Man.”
Liam and Barbara exchanged looks. “Maybe,” he said. “You never know.”
After another round of manly back thumping, Phil climbed into his car and drove away. Barbara buckled a droopy-eyed Babs into her seat and they set off for the campground where they’d rented a space for the night.
“I like him,” Barbara said finally, after they’d been driving in silence for a few minutes. “Did you really keep him from killing himself the night you met him?”
“Mmm, I suppose I did,” Liam said. “Although there was always the chance he wouldn’t have gone through with it. But he was standing on the edge with one sneaker in midair when I walked onto the roof looking for a quiet spot to think.”
“How did you talk him out of it?” she asked.
Liam laughed. “I told him that I was studying criminal justice, and asked him if he realized that suicide was against the law. Then I threatened to perform a citizen’s arrest. While he was trying to figure out if I was serious, I just walked up and pulled him away from the edge. It wasn’t a big deal.”
Barbara squeezed his hand. “He was right, you know. You are a good man. I look forward to spending many, many years listening to your ridiculous stories.”
He smiled at her, but worry still lurked at the corner of his eyes. “Two down and one to go, eh?”
“Yes,” said Barbara. “Too bad the one that’s left is the most impossible task of them all.”
***
The next morning