I found Jamie outside - saw her sittin' out there in the dark when I went to check the back door. "You still here?" I asked, setting a Corona in front of her as I sat down across the table.
"Yeah…" she muttered. "It's not like I could've gone home without facing the third degree, so I figured I'd be safe out here…didn't think I'd see either one of you two after your grand entrance."
"Is this supposed to be a peace offering or something?" she continued after a few moments, fighting to push the lime into her bottle.
"Depends…" I replied, trying not to laugh at her. "Is it working?"
"Not really," she answered, rolling her eyes. I could tell she didn't really want to talk to me.
"She feels bad, you know," I tried to explain.
"Yeah, sure," Jamie scoffed.
"She wouldn't even come downstairs…she's scared she'll have to talk to you, and she doesn't apologize real well," I continued, even though I could tell Jamie wasn't buying it.
"Look…" she said, standing up and starting to walk away, "tell V he can get my number from Mia if he wants to talk or whatever."
"Wait," I replied, grabbing at her arm to keep her from leaving. "You can stay here, if there'd be shit for you at home."
I could see her considering her options, before she sat back down at the table.
"I didn't know, that first time," I started, looking down at the table. "I didn't know that we were gonna end up like this, that she was gonna be my entire fuckin' world. My dad knew, I think…but he wasn't around any more to actually see it."
I almost thought she'd get up and walk away again, but she didn't…just licked the lime juice off her fingers and looked at me.
"She was…" I said, thinking back to that day with Sly, "she was pissed off, but she was beautiful. I hadn't seen her for two years…didn't even recognize this girl standin' in front of me at first."
"Wait—" Jamie interrupted, "Where'd you go for so long?"
I just looked at her, a little surprised. I thought everyone knew. "I did a couple in Lompoc," I explained, before continuing. "I fought it at first, you know. With Letty. Tried my hardest, but I couldn't stay away from her. I know it probably don't make sense…lookin' at us from the outside."
"C'mon…" Jamie laughed, "the way you two looked at the races tonight? And then inside? Makes all the sense in the world."
With that, she stood up from the table, nearly knocking over her beer. "You love each other."