Ty Comes Back

Note to the reader. This is the third part of the story about Gus and Emma. In part one, Emma meets Gus as she is throwing away the detritus her ex has left in her condo. In part two, Emma leaves Gus at the Canadian border while she goes to her sister’s engagement party. Both stories are from Emma’s point of view. In part three, we hear from Gus.

Gus double-checked his backpack. As he tucked extra napkins around the bottle of red wine, he smiled at the thought of sharing it with Emma on their adventure later today. As he slid his Nalgene bottle into the outside pocket, a vision of his passport sitting next to it on the counter flashed in his mind. The Canadian border crossing fiasco made for a funny story now, weeks later. At the time, he wasn’t sure Emma would forgive him. But she had, and they’d been seeing each other steadily since then.

He loved the fact she was smart, ready for any adventure, and was “low-maintenance” as his friend Jeff would say. She was beautiful both with and without make-up, hair brushed or pulled back in a ponytail. Her giggles were infectious. She made light of every problem. Sure, Jeff thought she still had some growing up to do, but Gus liked the way their hands fit together and the way her body responded to his kisses. He was falling for her; he knew it. Does she feel the same way?

He hoisted the backpack onto his shoulders, picked up his cell phone, and headed out to his truck. As he drove over to Emma’s condo on the Sugarbush mountain, he flipped radio stations until a Springsteen song stopped him. The wind tousled his hair. He adjusted his sunglasses. It was a glorious day, perfect for a fall hike. 

He pulled into her parking lot, jumped out of the cab, and sauntered up to her door. Rapping on the door a few times, he waited. He turned to look at the parking lot. Her car was there. He knocked again, a little louder. Nothing. He checked his phone; he was on time, a few minutes late even. Music seeped through the door. She probably didn’t hear me. He twisted the knob. It was unlocked, so he pushed open the door. “Hello?”

The music was something he hadn’t heard Emma play before; it sounded like Emo or Metal, heavy bass notes and lots of intelligible, loud lyrics. “Hello?” he said louder as he walked down the narrow entry hall. He stopped at the doorway to the living room. The place was a wreck: five beer bottles on the coffee table next to an open bag of chips, clothes on the couch and floor, the TV blaring as well as the music. “Emma?” Gus called loudly as he walked toward her bedroom. 

Halfway down the hallway, the door to the bathroom opened right into him and pushed him against the hallway wall. A man wearing a towel around his waist walked out, his long hair dripping onto his bare chest, “Hey. Sorry. Didn’t see you.” 

Gus stared at the toweled man as he regained his balance. “Who are you?”

“Ty, my man. And you?” the man replied.

“Gus.” The guy who is supposed to be picking up my girlfriend.

“Dude,” the man said as he angled past Gus and padded into the kitchen. “Want some juice?” Ty opened the refrigerator, took out a carton of orange juice and drank from the container, then jiggled the carton at Gus. “Want any?”

Gus’ mouth dropped open. Light dawned. This was the ex. The cheating ex with all the giant pencils that Gus now owned. I definitely need to throw those pencils away. Gus held up his hands to stop the juice offer. “Do you know where Emma is?”

“Yep. She went to get milk. None left for the coffee.”  

Coffee? He was here for coffee? 

“So, you know Emma?” Ty asked, hopping up onto the kitchen counter and placed the juice container next to him. 

“Yes. We’re dating,” Gus hoped the towel stayed shut.

Ty’s eyebrows raised for a moment. “That’s cool, I guess.”

I guess? The men looked at each other for a minute. Gus wasn’t sure where to take this conversation with his girlfriend’s ex, but he was curious. 

“So, are you here for long?” Gus asked.

“Who knows? I just got back from a long trip out west. Great surfing in some spots on the Cali coast, you know.”

Gus did not know, but he nodded.

Ty continued on, talking about wave breaks and the value of heavy-weight neoprene wetsuits, gesturing with his hands, clearly enjoying his topic. Gus’ mind wandered. How muscular Ty looked. How tan. Gus looked down at his lean body. He was in good shape, but he’d always had a runner’s body, not a buff one. He stood up taller. Better for hiking, he convinced himself, which is what he and Emma were supposed to be doing right now. Where was she? He didn’t want to wait for her, trapped in the condo with tan Ty.

“Sounds like you had a great summer,” Gus mustered. “Tell Emma I stopped by when she gets home.” 

Ty jumped off the counter and held his arm out for a fist bump, which Gus managed. “Will do. See you around.” Ty headed back toward the bathroom.

Gus walked back down the hall and pulled the front door shut behind him. He leaned on it for a moment. Am I pissed? Worried? Stung? What was Ty really doing back here? 

As he walked back to his truck, a horn honked a few times and Emma pulled up in a black pickup truck. “Gus?” she yelled out the window. “Sorry I’m late. Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready.”

She parked and jumped out of the cab, holding a quart of milk in her hand. “Hi honey! Sorry, I’m late.” She waggled the milk carton at him. “I was out of milk. Did you just get here?”

Gus crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against his truck. “I’ve been here for a little while,” he said. “I met Ty.”

Emma’s mouth twisted in a small grimace. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry,” she said. “I should have texted to warn you. He showed up last night and asked to stay over,” she said, and shrugged. “I couldn’t turn him out at night. He didn’t have anywhere to go.”

“So you just let him back in? After all the things you said you hated about him?” Gus asked.

Emma looked at the ground, then back at Gus. “Look. He drank most of my beer and then slept on the couch. It’s nothing.”

“And you are driving his truck?” Gus had to admit he was feeling childishly macho about the whole thing. 

Emma used her free hand to grasp his. “Ty is the past, I promise.” She smiled and kissed Gus’ cheek. “Let me put the milk in the house, get my stuff and let’s go on our hike like we planned.”

She ran into the house and was back in minutes with her hiking boots and a light jacket. Gus decided he was going to make the most of the beautiful day and push Ty out of his head. She’s an adult woman, with her own life. I won’t ask any details. But the questions chased each other inside his head, and he certainly couldn’t unsee Ty in a towel. 

The foliage in orange and yellow, punctuated with red, was stunning. The blue sky smiled in the narrow gap above them as they hiked the shady start of the trail up Mount Abraham. Gus kept his word to himself and pushed all thoughts of Ty out of his head. He reached for Emma’s hand, and she grasped it and squeezed it. 

“I haven’t hiked this trail all season,” she said.

“It’s one of my favorites,” Gus said. “Huge payoff view at the top. And if we are lucky, the glider planes will be out today and fly right over us.”

“Have you ever done that? A glider ride?” Emma asked.

“My dad used to take us up when we were little,” he said. “It was alternatively scary and exhilarating. He always said you had to trust the invisible parts to hold you up.”

“Invisible parts. I like that,” Emma said.

They walked and talked, falling into an easy rhythm. At the top of the mountain, on the rocky exposure, they pointed out Lake Placid in the distance on the Champlain side and Von Trapp farm on the Valley side. Gus opened his backpack and took out a lunch spread of chicken salad sandwiches, cheese, crackers, and oranges. Emma opened the wine bottle and poured. They clinked plastic glasses, and she leaned in to kiss him under the azure sky. 

As they enjoyed the sun and views, she leaned her head in his lap and his fingers wound through her hair. The sun and wine relaxed Gus. Emma is here. With me. But he wanted to be sure. “Is there an ‘us’?” he asked.

Emma’s eyes popped open and looked up at him. She smiled. “I hope so. I kind of like ‘us’.”

Gus nodded, warmth spreading into his eyes, and he leaned down to kiss her. 

As the sun arced down toward the far mountains, they packed up, and trekked down. 

“Thanks for an amazing day,” Emma said as they reached her condo parking lot. “Come on in and let’s finish the wine.”

Gus drew her into his chest. The vanilla scent of her shampoo tickled his nose. He kissed her deeply. 

The magic of the day shattered as they walked toward the front door, and Gus could feel the bass of the music in his chest. Emma opened the door and raced into the living room. Two women sprawled on the chairs, one guy was opening a bag of chips in the kitchen, another man was scrolling on his phone in the armchair while smoking a joint.

“Hey, you guys are back,” Ty said. He grabbed two beers out of the cooler and handed one to Emma and one to Gus. “Join the party.”

“Ty, what the fuck are you doing?” Emma said in a low voice. 

“Party time!” Ty said and pulled Emma against his chest. She yelped as he danced and spun her around the room.

A blond woman jumped up off the sofa and grabbed Gus’ hand. “Let’s dance, too, cutie.”

Gus untangled himself from the woman. He stood in the doorway, blinking. The cold metal from the beer Ty pushed into his hand registered with his brain. The fumes from the pot made him cough. 

Emma pushed Ty away and maneuvered her way back to Gus in the doorway.

He stared at her. “What’s going on Emma?”

She gestured to the people in the room. “These are some of Ty’s friends. I guess he invited them over. He does that.”

“Aren’t you mad? He’s having a party in your living room,” Gus said. “If you’re not mad, I’m mad for you.”

A burst of laughter from the sofa pulled their attention as Ty and one of the woman started arm wrestling on the coffee table. 

“Mad?” she said. “This was my life for almost three years. I never knew when people were coming or when a party was starting.” She looked back at Gus. “It’s complicated. I know how stupid that sounds.”

Gus placed his hands on her shoulders. “Remember how you were purging Ty at the dump just a few weeks ago? All the stuff you said about him? The way you said he treated you?”

“I can’t just kick them all out,” Emma said.

“Yes. Yes, you can,” Gus said. “It’s your house.”

The woman used both arms to push Ty’s hand to the table. “Way to go, Jessie!” the phone-scrolling man said. 

Emma sighed and looked back at the group. The beer, the smoke, the ashes dropping onto her carpet. She stood up straighter. “You’re right. I can.”

She marched over to Ty and Gus could see her gesturing, and Ty’s smile wavering. She’s doing it. I’m proud of her. Several minutes passed with indistinct words floating back to him over the music. Finally, Ty pushed himself off the couch and walked back with her toward Gus in the hallway doorframe.

“Dude, Emma says you want us to leave?”

Gus took a steadying breath and turned to Emma. “Emma, this is your decision, not mine.”

Ty turned his gaze to Emma. “Come on, Ems, I promise, just for tonight. Look, everyone’s here already.”

Emma closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them to look at Gus. “Sorry,” she whispered.

I should have known better. I should have somehow seen this coming. Gus shook his head, pivoted back to the hallway, and took two steps forward.

Emma’s hand grasped his shoulder to spin him back around. “Don’t leave,” she said. “Stay with me, with us. It’s a good group, you’ll see.” Her eyes were pleading. 

“This is unbelievable, Emma. If you can’t see that, I can.”

“I don’t know what to do,” she said.

“You have to choose,” Gus said. He peeled her hand off his arm, walked back down the hall, and slammed the front door. He got into his truck. The blood pounded in his head. He smashed his palm into the steering wheel and then turned the ignition and reversed the truck, squealing the tires as he pulled forward. One glance in the rearview mirror showed him Emma running out of the condo and into the parking lot behind him. She appeared to be shouting and waving her arms for him to stop. 

He didn’t stop.