quatervois (n.) - a crossroads; a critical decision or turning point in ones life
Samantha and Nash spent the next month and a half preparing to move to Seattle permanently. With both of their soccer salaries, more Nash's, they were able to get a nice townhouse just outside of the city. Bandit and Hera were being transported across the country in the weeks to come so they could continue to care for them with the permission from Mr. Carmichael to keep them at his ranch. Although they could pay him the fee for boarding, they decided they would both rather make it out there a few days a week to continue to help him out. They also got a lot of wedding planning done, getting final reservations and save the dates out, their big day being during a break in both of their seasons in mid-June. Both of their families had been invited, as well as their teammates and any other friends they thought of inviting, including their high school teammates they were still close with. She did not have a lot of family to invite, and she had one left, for she was still debating on whether or not her father would be invited.
"I'll see you in Seattle?" Nash asked her, and she nodded.
"I'll see you in Seattle." She confirmed, giving him a kiss before he got out of the car. "I love you, have a safe flight, I'll see you tonight."
"Call me before you're on your flight, let me know how lunch goes." He told her, and she nodded.
"I will. Bye babe." She responded, and he got out of the passenger seat of the rental to head inside. Once he was in the airport, she pulled away from the curb to make the thirty minute drive to Ann Arbor to meet her father at the restaurant they used to spend every Wednesday evening for dinner before they moved. It was a local diner that had some of the best food she had ever had, even after being in Seattle and California for the last five years. She arrived around one in the afternoon, which was when she said she would be meeting him, and sure enough, he was already waiting for her inside at their normal table. He waved at her to get her attention, and she walked over, sitting across from him.
"Hey Sam." He greeted, smiling at her.
"Hey dad, sorry I'm a little late, I had to drop Nash off at the airport." She responded, and he shook his head.
"That's alright, you gotta do what you gotta do." He said as their waitress came over.
"What a sight for sore eyes, how are you two?" She asked them, and Samantha recognized her from their years of coming to the diner.
"We're doing well Agnes, how about yourself?" Her father answered as she filled both of their coffee mugs.
"I'm still here so I'm not doing too bad. Let's see, still want your usuals? I think I remember." Agnes said.
'"That would be great." Samantha responded, her father agreeing.
"Alrighty, I'll get those in right away. Say, I haven't seen you folks in quite a few years, what happened? I thought y'all fell off the face of the earth." She asked before she left.
"I got a job opportunity up in the Thumb, so we moved up there. Jason's living in Lansing with his wife Nicole and their son CJ. Sam headed off to college in California and is now playing with OL Reign in Tacoma, Washington." Clarke answered her briefly, and she smiled at them.
"I'm glad to see you guys back though, don't be strangers." Agnes said, squeezing his shoulder before going to put their order in. Samantha sipped at her coffee, looking around before looking at her father in front of her.
"So, how is Seattle?" He asked her, trying to break the ice.
"It's good, I'm starting with the Reign now, we won the championship last season. I actually just played in my first camp with the US Women's National Team." She responded as she set her coffee back down.
"That's amazing. I read somewhere in the paper that two homegrown soccer stars were picked to represent the USA for their opening games of their season. Is it a World Cup year?" He asked her, and she nodded.
"No, it's an Olympic year, but I'm still hoping to get picked for the final squad, but it was my first round in camp, so I don't know. I did get to start a game and finish another, so I guess that's a good sign." She sighed, leaning back against the chair.
"I got to watch that game, you guys kicked Canada's ass." He chuckled. "You played phenomenally, that penalty kick was uncalled for."
"Right?" She agreed, taking another sip of her coffee. "I don't know if you've heard, but Nash and I are getting married."
"I did hear, I'm very happy for you both. Can I see the ring?" He asked her, and she nodded, holding her left hand out to him. "Gorgeous. He did a nice job."
"Yeah he did." She responded with a smile. "He treats me really good, dad."
"I wouldn't question it. I'm glad he does." He chuckled. "God, my little girl's getting married."
"I'm not your little girl anymore." She commented.
"You'll always be my little girl, whether we're close or not, whether you're twenty or ninety and I'm six feet under." He countered, and she sighed.
"Have you been able to find a job yet? I know you've been with Aunt Kim and Uncle George for a couple months now." She asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, I was able to land a job at an insurance company as a sales representative." He told her with a smile, proud that he was able to get back to work so quickly.
"Good for you, I'm glad you got back on your feet." She said sincerely, sipping more of her coffee.
"So you've just been playing soccer the last five years?" He questioned, changing the subject once again.
"I got my bachelor's for teaching English so I've been tutoring during the summer, and once we move permanently I have a job lined up for the 2024 and 2025 school year since soccer is during the summer. Kills any chance of playing overseas, but I'll be doing something else I love and use something I worked really hard for." She told him as Agnes came out with their lunches, and the familiar plate of veal parmesan was set down in front of her, and she grinned.
"This smells amazing." Clarke said.
"It's been too long. Thank you Agnes." Samantha added with a smile, and their waitress grinned.
"Holler if you need anything, you two enjoy." She said as she topped off their coffees before heading to another table. They took a couple minutes to dig into their lunches, Samantha taking in the familiar taste of the extraordinary pasta dish in front of her.
"So we have soccer and teaching. There's gotta be other stuff you do with your free time, do you still write?" He asked her after a few bites of his burger.
"When I have time for it, yeah. I keep my journal with me at all times. But I do help out on Nash's farm when I'm home and work to keep my horse at a ranch out in Ellensburg." She answered him, and this threw him for a loop.
"Your... horse?" He questioned.
"Oh, yeah. After I tore my ACL and Nash and I had finally started dating, he taught me how to ride, and that summer I was doing rodeos with him and his dad." She continued with a chuckle, grabbing her phone to show him pictures of her rodeo accomplishments and her horses.
"Hold on, you tore your ACL? You're on the rodeo circuit?" He asked, struggling to grasp these ideas.
"I tore it in our championship game at states my senior year, all better now." She chuckled as she found the pictures. She showed him the first rodeo she ever won the summer before she left for UCLA, and then showed him some more recent pictures of her time at the Ellensburg Rodeo.
"Wow, look at you, Nash really made a cowgirl outta you." He chuckled.
"He sure did. The horse in the first pic is Bandit, and then the second pic is Major." She informed him, and he looked again.
"They're beautiful horses. So you're good at this rodeo thing?" He asked her, and she laughed.
"I sure like to think so, brings in some extra cash and it's fun." She answered as she took her phone back. "You'll have to come watch one time, once you're off of probation."
"I would really like that." He expressed with a smile. "My probation is up in a year, but with good behavior, following the rules, I could be done in six months, and that's the goal. It's court mandated, so it's on the judges terms how long I have to be in it."
"That's good dad." She said, finishing her pasta dish and looking at the time. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry, I have a flight to catch at four." She panicked, seeing it was already two-thirty and she still had a half hour drive back to the airport, and she had to deal with returning their rental car.
"Oh that's alright sweetheart, I know you've got to get back. Um, here, this is my new phone number. It would mean a lot to call." He said sheepishly, handing her a piece of ripped paper with his familiar handwriting. She took it and put it in her coat pocket.
"I'll text you when I land." She assured, holding onto the piece of paper in her pocket and finding the save the date invite in her pocket, and it tore at her.
"I'd appreciate it." He told her. "Have a safe flight, I'll be watching you on the big screen." He added with a smile.
"Oh, before I leave." She took a deep breath, going with her gut and pulling the invitation out of her pocket. "It's in June, I hope you can make it." She told him, and he took it, looking down at it then back up at her. They both knew this was a big jump for her, and tears came to his eyes.
"I'll be there." He told her firmly, and this time she brought herself into giving him a hug, even though she was not exactly ready for it. However, it was a comfortable feeling to be in the arms of her father, but she quickly pulled away and said goodbye. She was already running late as it was, and she knew for next five hours she was going to be running on fumes now.
--
She landed in Seattle around eight-thirty Michigan time, but that meant it was only five-thirty in the evening in the Pacific, and she was dragging. Nash picked her up from the airport in her truck, and she assumed he either got picked up by one of his new teammates or got an Uber to their new home. They had already closed on the house, so it was theirs to move into whenever, so that was what he had been up to all day. But, they finally had their first home together, they were playing for their sister teams, and they were both extremely excited to be able to finally be together after years of long distance.
She texted her father as promised that she had landed safely, and even though she was comfortable with where she was at with the relationship with her father, she was still glad to be across the country with the love of her life.
"So how was lunch?" He asked her, knowing that she had been debating giving him a date for the wedding.
"Actually, it wasn't horrible. He's working, so that's good. He more just asked me questions about what I've been up to the last five years, he's astonished at the fact that you taught me how to ride horses." She chuckled.
"Well now that I'm here in Seattle I'm gonna give you a run for your money at Ellensburg." He teased, and she rolled her eyes.
"I don't doubt it but I'd like to see you try Cowboy." She told him with an arch of her eyebrow, and he stole a glance at her, biting his lip. "But I did give him a save the date for the wedding. There's no way I'm asking him to give me away, but I still want him there." She informed him, knowing it was eating away at him. He squeezed her thigh, and she rest her hand over his.
"I am so proud of you, you know that?" Nash said, and she looked up at him again.
"For what?" She asked.
"For being who you are. If I were in your shoes, I don't know if I could go through all of this." He briefly explained, and she squeezed his hand.
"I love you and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." She told him, and he picked up her hand, kissing the back of it as they pulled into their driveway. This was the first time she had physically seen the house, and it was overwhelming. This was their home for as long as they were in Seattle, and she could not wait to get settled in. Once they were parked and out of her truck, they took some timer selfies to celebrate and commemorate their big move, and then it was time to help him start putting away the rest of his things before they broke in the bed.