Page 47 of Antagonist

George stares at me. “Your face is all red.”

“Um…I…”

“Your dad had to move something really heavy,” Harrison says, fortunately saving me from having to make up an excuse because my sexed-up brain isn’t in the right gear.

“Oh, okay,” he says. “Mommy is on the phone. I already talked to her, but she wants to talk to you.”

I breathe in and take the phone from George. “Thank you, buddy.”

“I’ll grab Megan, and we’ll go,” Harrison says.

“Wait.”

He stops. “We’re good, Fletcher. It’s okay. Take your call.”

He follows George inside.

Are we really good? Has anything really changed between us?

Why does it feel like for every step forward with Harrison, we take two steps back?

I stare at the phone, wanting to throw it at the wall, before putting it to my ear.

“Fran. What’s up?”

14

HARRISON

“Hey,baby girl. Did you have fun this weekend?” Stella asks when I drop Megan off.

“I did. Arlo taught me how I can paint my stripes straight, and I touched a snake.”

Stella looks at me, and I shake my head.

“I so did, Daddy,” Megan says, crossing her small arms in front of her. “It was after you and Gigi's dad left. Gigi said I could touch Rosie. She doesn’t bite because she’s not hungry.”

Stella raises a brow. “Okay, sweetie. Why don’t you take your stuff to your room and pick something to wear for dinner?”

While Megan goes upstairs, Stella makes a big, flourished gesture for me to come inside.

Her place always feels like a real home. There are photos of Megan everywhere and some of the three of us together. There’s even a small photo of our wedding day.

“How do you do it, Stel?”

“Do what?”

“Move on like you’ve always been in the same place.”

She laughs. “That makes no sense.”

“Look around. It’s like you’ve been here all your life.”

She holds my hand and pulls me over to the couch. “It’s just cleverly placed old crap and me having little time to clean. You’re not the only one that misses Boston, you know?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Boston was my city. I wasn’t born there, but it was where I found you, where I started my career, where we had Megan…I have a lot of really good memories in that city.”