Free Admission by Travis Thrasher Page A

though we really only got the place fixed up in the last year.”
    “So what do you do again?” Bruce asked, needing some explanation for his surroundings.
    “Basically sales.”
    “He lives out of a suitcase,” Tracy said from the kitchen.
    “I get companies to invest their money with us. We offer 401(k) programs, stuff like that.”
    “Maybe you could look at my portfolio sometime,” Bruce said.
    This time Shane got the joke and laughed.
    “We never pictured ourselves in Jacksonville, to be honest,” he said. “But they have a branch down here, and the opportunity came a couple years ago.”
    “Yeah—hurricane season is always fun,” Tracy said, holding a bottle of Perrier in her hand as she sat beside Shane on the couch.
    “You see living here for a while?” I asked.
    “Eventually we hope to move. Maybe head back to the Midwest. Buy a place and settle down.”
    “This isn’t settling down?” Bruce asked.
    “No way. I mean it’s great, but we’re going to sell this place sometime and try out new things. I want to go to Colorado and get this guy to take me on a trek around the world.”
    “It’s going to cost you big.”
    “You’re living out your dream, huh? No responsibilities. Your own business.”
    I nodded, wondering why everybody who heard I owned my own business suddenly thought that I must be wealthy and successful. Anyone can own his own business. That’s why so many fail each year.
    And that’s why you had to take this trip down Memory Lane
.
    “It’s so great to see you guys,” Shane said for about the fifth time.
    We spent an hour catching up. Bruce spent a lot of that time drinking. He had no shame, and Shane obviously didn’t care. He talked about their recent trip to Europe, partially for work and partially for fun, and Tracy’s recent exhibit in a local art studio, and the dinner they were planning to make for us. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any more picture-perfect for the Marcus family, Shane made an announcement over our second glass of wine—Bruce’s fourth.
    “Well, Tracy would be toasting, but the doctor has said she can’t because she’s expecting. In about five months, boom. A little Shane.”
    “God help us,” Bruce said.
    “That’s incredible. Congratulations.”
    We toasted and talked about their news. I couldn’t tell Tracy was expecting—maybe it was the baggy shirt she had on. Shemust have a tiny waist to begin with. She was three years younger than Shane, and they’d met when he lived in downtown Chicago working for the same company. Theirs was a love story that really sounded like happily ever after.
    As we heard their story, I couldn’t help thinking of Alyssa. She’d been on my mind a lot since leaving her a couple days ago.
    Shane and I wandered into the kitchen. Shane, always to the point and always the intuitive one, asked me the question he had saved for just the two of us.
    “How was going back around school?”
    “It was fine.”
    “Really? That all?”
    I looked at him, and he knew I was hiding something.
    “Who’d you talk to?”
    “Kirby.”
    “And what’d he say?”
    “Nothing. He hasn’t seen Alec. Talked about college and the growth of Providence.”
    Shane nodded. “I get stuff from Kirby all the time.”
    “I had dinner with his family. He’s got three really cute kids.”
    “And what about you?” Shane asked, leaning against a kitchen counter.
    “What about me?”
    “No wife? No kids?”
    I shook my head. “I’ve dated on and off. A couple from my church in Colorado Springs tried to get me to do one of those online dating services. That turned out to be a disaster.”
    “We know a couple who met like that. They’ve been married a couple years.”
    I chuckled. “Some people manage to achieve the dream. Some aren’t so fortunate.”
    “Come on now. We both know things always look different on the surface. You peel the layers away and always find something else. Happily-ever-afters take a lot