Free Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

became
ill. And for whatever reason, he took Ava and Dale back down with
him. Bumpy arrived to click his tongue at them and leave them to
their suffering.
    Poor Maresol had cleaned up after them. Of
course, the entire escapade was her idea. And they had tried to be
tidy. Who knew that garden shower would come in handy? But, like
always, Maresol didn’t deserve the mess she’d gotten. He had to
remember to thank her in some special way.
    Seth leaned against the back of the infrared
sauna. He felt as if he’d been wrung like a wet towel. His pain was
less. Maybe. He hadn’t moved much. Ava was asleep against a corner.
Dale was staring off into space.
    “ I wanted to ask you,”
Seth’s voice was soft to keep from waking Ava. Her eyes opened to
look at him.
    “ After this?” Dale asked.
“I think you know everything there is to know about me.”
    Seth nodded. He felt Ava’s eyes scrutinizing
his face.
    “ You should ask him,” Ava
said. The heat and juice had worked their magic on Ava’s throat.
Her voice was now deep, clear and melodic.
    “ Seth?” Dale
asked.
    Embarrassed by Ava’s attention, Seth
shrugged and got up to get a bottle of cold water from the cooler.
He passed bottles to Ava and Dale before sitting down again. The
bell went off and they moved to the hot tub.
    “ You were going to ask me
something, Seth,” Dale said.
    Seth shrugged and closed his eyes as if he
was going to sleep.
    “ He wants to know why you
and I haven’t dated,” Ava said. “And why we aren’t thinking of
dating now. Isn’t that right?”
    Seth shrugged. Dale’s eyes flicked from Ava
to Seth and back to Ava.
    “ It’s a fair question,”
Ava said. “If that’s what the look means. My father asked Seth if
he thought I’d ‘get together’ with Dale now. And you
said…?”
    “ I don’t know,” Seth
said.
    Ava’s eyes became slits.
    “ What’s wrong with ‘I
don’t know,’” Seth said.
    “ You are a very
frustrating man,” Ava shook her head. She gestured toward Dale. “Go
ahead. Answer the old man’s question.”
    “ Old man?” Seth
asked.
    “ That’s what this is
about,” Ava said. “Seth is such an old guy. He’s old, used up,
wrinkled, and whatever. Why don’t I want a relationship with a
handsome guy who’s my age? I obviously care about Dale. What’s the
problem?
    Seth nodded as if she was making his
point.
    “ See!” Ava pointed at him.
“This is you being frustrating.”
    Seth smiled. She shook her head at him.
    “ Let me solve this,” Dale
said. “I think Amelie is an amazing woman. She’s beautiful, funny,
and a great friend. Don’t you think?”
    “ She’s wonderful,” Seth
said.
    “ Dale and I actually met
first,” Ava said.
    “ At a coffee shop,” Dale
said.
    “ He was working there,”
Ava said.
    “ To meet girls,” Dale
said. “Ava came in for a chai.”
    “ Soy Chai latte,” Ava
said.
    “ Decaf,” Dale said. “No
caffeine for this body. That’s what she said.”
    “ That was before the
police academy,” Ava laughed. “I was much healthier
then.”
    “ We talked,” Dale said.
“And right away, I felt this deep connection with her. You’ve
probably noticed that.”
    Seth nodded. Ava shook her head at him.
    “ Tell him what you
said.”
    “ I took her hands,” Dale
said. “And said something like, ‘I don’t know why, but you feel
like the sister I never had.’ And she said…”
    “ That’s fun,” Ava said.
“Because you feel like the brother I never had. But more than a
brother…”
    “ A close sibling,” Dale
said.
    “ Not quite a twin, but
really close,” Ava said.
    “ So we agreed to talk
after I got off work,” Dale said.
    “ He came over to my
house,” Ava said.
    “ I brought wine,” Dale
said. “No beer.”
    “ 3-2 beer. We weren’t
twenty-one yet,” Ava said. “I bought pizza.”
    “ We talked for hours,”
Dale said.
    “ Like four,” Ava
said.
    Ava gave Dale a soft smile.
    “ What happened?” Seth
asked.
    “