Page 48 of Alonzo

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

He looks around at my place as he walks into the living room. It’s not much, but it’s mine. I know people think our family is weird because all of us but Emma live here on the same street as our parents, but I bought this cottage from my parents for market value six years ago when the deep-sea fishing started to really take off. And it’s paid for now. Why wouldn’t I want to live on the same street as my family?

But even though the outside of the cottage gets lots of attention—we all use the same landscapers, the exterior paint colors are all very Key West, and so on—the inside is…

“Wow. This place is super boring, Alonzo.”

Yeah. Boring.

“You don’t even have pictures on the walls.”

“That plaster is almost brand new. Why would I make holes in it?”

“Your furniture doesn’t match.”

“I’m eclectic.”

“Not a single freaking knick-knack. Not even a ship in a bottle?”

“Minimalism is in.”

“If you say so.”

He flops down into a chair I stole from my parents when they redecorated a few years ago. “OK. So tell me. What’s going on with this girl?”

There is really no good way to tell this story. And certain parts he can’t know about—he might be my brother-in-law, but Luke is my real brother and even he doesn’t know what’s really going on behind the scenes with me, Tony, and Dad.

But the Boston family has their own family secrets. So I tell what I can. Starting with, “I can’t tell you why I needed to do this, so don’t ask. But the problem is I’ve been lying to her about who I am and what I really do.”

He nods and rolls his hand at me, like I should keep going.

So I do. I tell him all about how I met Tara Tanner and fed her this lie that I’m a low-level accountant. How we hit it off virtually. How this casual thing turned into serious fun. How much I like her and want more. And my fatal mistake last night when I showed my hand.

“She hung up on you?”

“She did one of those someone’s-at-my-door things.”

“Got it. Yeah. She ditched you. And you called her back last night?”

“No. This morning. I didn’t want to be needy.”

“Hmm. Understandable. There’s a fine line between needy and persistent. And persistent is almost always better. Call her right now. See if she picks up.”

I deflate a little. Because if I call her, and she doesn’t pick up, then I have to face reality. She’s mad, or she’s disappointed, or she’s just over it.

“Go on. Get it over with. At least we’ll know and we can start to make a plan.”

I grab my phone from the side table next to me and press her contact. “Ringing. And… voicemail.”

“Hang up. You never want to leave a voicemail without thoroughly planning it ahead of time.”

I end the call and tilt my head back to stare at the ceiling. “Why? Why did I fuck things up?”

“Because you’re ready for the next step, dude. This is the natural progression in a ‘like’ relationship.”

“But I don’t just ‘like’ her.” I look Jesse in the eyes. “I fucking love her. She’s all pencil skirts and crisp white shirts, Jesse. Her hair is pulled up onto her head all tight. She’s like this severe, sexy version of a librarian. I just… dig it. And I’m never, not in a million years, gonna find another girl like her out there in the sea. There is no second-best Tara Tanner. She’s the real deal. The genuine article. I need to make this work. I need her to call me back so I can explain.” I pause. “Well, I can’t explain everything. There are things about me she can’t ever know. But I can explain some of it.”

Jesse goes quiet for a moment. “OK. Listen. And you have to trust me on this, OK? Because when I took Emma up to the Bossy that day and showed her the real me, she got way more than she bargained for.”