Moore Than Forever (14 page)

“I will miss you,” Gavin smiled at his older grandson, “it’s been great having you here and I owe you my life.” Zac’s quick reaction on the golf course to his grandfather’s collapse significantly impacted the outcome.

Giving him a squeeze on the shoulder, Schooner was proud of his son. How to channel more of the “good Zac” was the big question at hand. Nathaniel seemed to have a very positive impact and Schooner wondered how he might be able to leverage that.

“There’s something I want you to have,” Gavin reached into his pants’ pocket. Seeing the glint, both Schooner and Zac realized the importance of the moment.

In Gavin’s hand was an eighteen karat gold money clip. Centered on the front was a one carat investment grade diamond, catching the light in the room and sending out rainbow prisms of color. On the back of the money clip was a deep engraved letter ‘M’ in a Victorian script. The money clip had been given to Gavin by his grandfather, James Moore.

Looking to his father for approval to accept the gift, Zac waited for Schooner’s nod indicating that he was ok with it skipping a generation.

“Thank you, Grandpa. Wow.”

“Now don’t go and pawn it or anything,” Gavin clearly knew his grandson, “that stays in the family and gets passed down.”

“I’m not going to pawn it,” Zac looked from his grandfather to his father, only to be met by a look from Schooner telling him pawning the money clip would ensure certain death.

“Zac, I know this has been a tough year for you, everything in your life has changed,” Schooner began, “and we’ve had some really extreme moments, you and I.”

Zac nodded and Schooner went on.

“Your grandfather and I are still very concerned.”

“I’m ok, Dad. Getting back to Exeter was good for me. I was a fish out of water here and I did a lot of stupid things. I’m really sorry I’ve worried everybody.”

Gavin took over, “When you are in California, your grandmother and I really want you to stay with us. We’d like you to split your time between us and with your dad and Mia.”

As if a shill in the audience, Nathaniel started to fuss in Schooner’s arms, making it known he wanted to be held by his brother. Handing him off to Zac, Nathaniel planted a gooey kiss on his cheek.

“I’m going to miss you, Mini-Me,” Zac’s eyes were telling the truth.

A look passed between Gavin and Schooner. This one little boy had the power to heal so much, if they could only figure out how to harness this elixir and keep Zac on the right path.

Chapter Twenty-six

Schooner Moore could rock a suit like he was walking the runway at an Armani preview. As he strode confidently into his lawyer’s office, tall and sleek in a custom gray suit and a tie that set off his eyes, he was feeling as good as he looked. Today he and CJ would finally sign the divorce papers.

Aaron Bender’s P.A., Leslie, led Schooner down the hall into a conference room where everyone was already waiting for him. He didn’t apologize for making them wait.

“Let’s do this,” he reached inside his breast pocket for his favorite pen, a Montblanc rollerball, that today he was thinking of as his lucky pen.

CJ sat across the table looking cool and coiffed. Noting her hair was significantly thicker and longer than it had been just days before, Schooner wondered if this was part of her transformation to single womanhood - trying to look twenty-something and not forty-something. How unnecessary, he thought.

“May I have a few minutes alone with my husband,” CJ was staring Schooner down.

My husband?
Schooner’s immediate thought was,
“What the heck is she up to?”

When all the other parties left the room, she began, “I really hated seeing you with Mia.”

Schooner remained silent, not sure where she was going.

“I just don’t get it, Schooner. What are you doing with her? The two of you look ridiculous.”

Feeling the muscles in his brows tightening and knowing they were knitting together, he fought to keep his face a placid mask.
“Pretend you’re in front of a camera and the photographer just gave you the direction to look pensive with a faraway look in your eyes,”
he told himself, immediately feeling his muscles ease. Years of training in front of a camera often paid off.

With his silence, CJ continued, “Are you sure you really want to do this? Seriously, Schooner, she is so plain and I know people must look at the two of you and wonder what you are doing with her. You two are just so mismatched. It’s going to be very difficult for you to be judged by everyone.”

Years of bad patterns and knowing how to push buttons should have equated to Schooner’s anger surfacing and flaring. It should have. That was their pattern. But today, Mia was with him, inside his head. And she brought Seth along for the show. Hearing them, loud and clear, he wanted to laugh along with them at the absurdity of CJ’s words.

Sitting back and crossing his long legs, Schooner observed CJ for a moment before speaking, “You know, you are still very beautiful and I’m leaving you quite well off. We’re still young, CJ, and we both have the opportunity to enjoy relationships with people who love us and make us happy. I’m happy. I know nothing would please the kids more than seeing you happy, too.”

It was CJ’s turn for her brows to knit. Schooner had singlehandedly destroyed her poker face with his atypical response.

“What does she have that I don’t?” CJ could be like a terrier until she got what she wanted.

Sighing, “She has my heart and soul, CJ.”

“Why?” her pitch becoming shrill, “Please explain to me why?”

“Are you sure you want me to? I really don’t think you want me to do this.”

“Oh, that is where you are wrong.”

Remaining silent, it took him a moment to formulate the right words to finally make her understand what for a quarter-century she could not understand. Not wanting to be cruel, but at the same time wanting to be blunt enough for her to understand once and for all who he was, what he felt and what she had done to him - to them. To all of them.

“You and I, CJ, we were two sides of the same gold coin. By the time we were eighteen, we had our acts so tightly nailed down that there was nothing, or no one, that we couldn’t have. We were the quintessential, beautiful California kids and we both knew just how far our looks could take us and exactly how to manipulate our plastic, shallow environment to get even more. Think about it, we were both totally jaded by the time we stepped foot on that college campus for the first time and we were only eighteen. I knew you wanted me that first day. And the feeling was mutual. We both knew that we’d be that couple that everyone treated like a king and queen. That shit was important to us because that’s southern California. That’s what we grew up with, that’s what we knew,” pausing, he didn’t wait too long. “It was through my friendship with Mia, and Henry and Rosie, that I was shown something else, and it was basically a really different set of priorities. Different parameters of happiness. And CJ, for the first time in my life, I felt I could stop acting. And it was ok not to be big man on campus, ok not to be a cool asshole. Caring about the things that really touched me was ok, it wasn’t something I needed to hide because people might not like me. And not giving a shit what other people thought about it was not only ok, it was liberating.”

“You’re so full of shit, Schooner,” CJ was shaking her head. “All the years we were together you were the epitome of California cool asshole dick.”

He laughed, and the confusion on her face was evident. Where was his famed anger?

“Yeah, I totally was. CJ, I’ll be the first to admit, I operated very well in this environment. I’ve been manipulating it since I was a little boy. It’s a dark place for me and I unfortunately do excessively well in the darkness. It doesn’t mean I’m happy there, it just means I know how to make it work for me.”

Flinging her newly found tresses back, Schooner laughed at the absurdity of her new mane. Wasn’t there a doll when they were kids where you pressed a button in its stomach and its hair would grow? He remembered that commercial.

“We were never a team, CJ. We co-existed. We each did our own thing and showed up for one another on a scheduled appearance basis.”

“And you and Mia are a team?” she actually snickered.

Smiling, he nodded, “Yes, we are. And learning how to be, more so, every day.”

Again, another snicker, “Well, here’s a piece of advice for you, don’t bother to move your boat, you’ll be back here in a year. This is who you really are. This is where you belong. Your little Mia New York adventure is a role you’re playing that will soon tire and bore you. This is the real you, Schooner. I know the real you.”

With cool sapphire eyes boring into her, he shook his head, “You never knew me. You saw what you wanted me to be. What you wanted from me.”

“What I wanted from you? I remember a time when you wanted it,” her eyes hardened into slits.

“And you were all too happy to give it,” they were now descending rapidly into Schooner and CJ mode.

“And you were all too happy to take it.”

“Until I didn’t want it anymore,” he was done.

“You’re cruel.”

“You always knew what it was. You got what you wanted from me.”

“No, I never did. But I’m getting all I want and need from Beau.”

Smiling, Schooner shook his head at her pathetic attempt to evoke jealousy, “Tell him even leftovers aren’t free.”

“You bastard,” she screamed, scrambling to her feet as if she were going to round the table to slap him.

Slowly getting to his feet, she stopped in her tracks.

“He’s always loved me,” she hissed, a little girl trying to inflict hurt.

“Well then, you’re batting .500,” his demeanor remained calm, as he turned to the door and opened it. “We’re ready to sign now,” he advised the parties waiting in the hall.

Twenty minutes later, with papers signed, the process was officially underway. Once signed by a judge, he was free to finally marry Mia. Aaron had already secured a spot on the judge’s docket.

With his dad recuperating nicely at home, Zac soon heading back to Exeter, and the divorce papers finally signed by both him and CJ, Schooner was more than ready to head home to New York, get back to work and start focusing on making the Zambian rehabilitation project a reality for their trip overseas.

Getting in the car, he texted Mia.

Schooner: Done deal. On my way home, Baby Girl.

Mia: Love you.

Schooner: It’s smoochal.

On his drive back to his parent’s house, Schooner Moore did four things: he made two phone calls, first, to the marina in Ocean Beach on Fire Island, where he secured a boat slip for True Compass, then he called a local transport company he’d dealt with in Newport Beach and made arrangements for them to transport the boat. Driving into Costa Mesa, he stopped at South Coast Plaza, to pick up something he had ordered when they first arrived in California. The instructions had been to hold it until he was ready to pick it up. The last thing he did was stop into his favorite wine store and grab a chilled bottle of Cristal.

Getting back into the car, Schooner felt like the universe was finally starting to right itself and that his life in the light was drawing closer and closer.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Dee was the only one downstairs when Schooner returned to the house.

“Where is everyone?” he picked at the grapes on the fruit platter she was cutting up.

“Zac is at L9 working out, your father and Nathaniel are napping and Mia is showering.” She stopped cutting the fruit and put the knife down, “How did it go?”

“It went. It’s done,” he smiled. “CJ and I had a very bizarre private conversation. I really tried to keep it positive and not fall into the old traps. But she kept baiting me and it got a little nasty.” Picking up the bottle of Cristal, he walked over to the refrigerator and put it in.

“Are we celebrating?” Dee was trying not to smile.

Breaking into his irresistible All-American Boy smile, Schooner nodded, “Yes, we are.” Reaching into the pocket of his suit jacket, Schooner pulled out a Tiffany’s box.

Gasping, “You bought a ring?”

His smile continued to brighten his face, “I did.”

“Mia is going to be so surprised,” Dee enjoyed being complicit in Schooner’s surprise.

“I know,” his smiled took on a devilish lilt, “and Mia hates surprises.”

They both laughed.

“I know she has grandma’s ring, but I really wanted her to have something of her own, from me.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Dee was dying to see the ring in the box, “but you know, she adores my mother’s ring, it makes her feel a part of the family, in a bigger sense, and that is important to Mia.”

“Did she tell you that?” Schooner grabbed an apple slice off the tray.

“She did. She was really honored to be part of a family tradition.”

Tossing the pale blue Tiffany’s box in the air, “Hmm, maybe I should return this?” he joked.