Silver Lining

Silver Lining

"No. It's your turn."

"Are you sure? I thought it was yours."

Mason Nash was five years old and too young to have anything like a crush on her, but she knew he saw her as a best friend or maybe an aunt, so she only smiled and told him he must be right, even though she knew he wasn't.

"Your dad should be getting home soon," she said as she took another turn in which she made an intentional mistake.

"Yeah, he works a lot," the five-year old boy said almost absentmindedly as he took advantage of the error.

"Yes, but you're really lucky to have a dad who loves you. You know that, right?" his babysitter said.

"Yes. And I'm really sorry you don't have a dad," the boy told her.

"Thank you. And I'm just as sorry you don't have a mom, Mason," she told him sincerely as she thought about how grown up he always sounded for a boy who was so young.

At 15, Brianna Grantham lived alone with her mother, Kellie, who owned and managed a triplex she and her husband bought as an investment and did her best to make ends meet from the rent stream it generated. As long as the monthly checks came in on time, and the repair bills stayed low, they did all right. They'd never be rich, but they did okay.

But whenever a tenant proved difficult in terms of paying on time, getting by became a challenge. In order to help out, Brianna started babysitting nearly two years ago. She used the money she earned to buy all of her own clothes and anything else she wanted like makeup or an MP3 player.

She also pitched in by doing well in school which meant one less thing for her mother to worry about. Doing so wasn't hard as Brianna was a smart kid for whom learning was easy, and she genuinely enjoyed going to class.

She also happened to pretty, but because she preferred staying home to hanging out with friends, her popularity had taken a hit just when it should have soared. For Brianna, that was a very small price to pay to help out her mother who also happened to be her best friend.

So while she could attend any party held by anyone at school, or date nearly any boy, she dated no one and preferred spending her time at home reading or listening to music or just hanging out with her mom.

While her friends were out late, sneaking around behind their parents' back, and doing things that still scared her, she was home or with Mason, the two things she enjoyed the most. If her friends wanted to party, they were welcome to it. But that wasn't the life Brianna wanted no matter what the social consequences might be.

She and her mom had always been best friends. But having lost her father to cancer three years earlier, she was even more aware of how important her mother was in her life, and that relationship meant everything to her. She also loved watching Mason Nash, who was as sweet a kid as she'd ever met. And because his dad paid her so well and needed her so often, she was able to sit for him exclusively, and spend time with her favorite five-year old while earning her own money. And she had to admit it was very pleasant being in such a nice home so much of the time.

Brianna already saw quite a bit of herself in Mason in the sense that, in spite of his tender years, he truly appreciated the close relationship he had with his only parent. And while Brianna would never say it out loud, she thought his father, Steve Nash, was about as handsome as any man she'd ever seen. Like her late father, Mason's dad also happened to be the perfect gentleman, and she felt completely safe around him.

He wasn't her father, but he was the only other man who'd ever made her feel that way, so between Mason, the extra money, and the security being in his home gave her, Brianna had been content to block off her calendar for the Nash family, such as it was, exclusively for the last year or so.

Steve Nash was the reluctant owner of a car dealership in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the reason why was the result of another untimely death of a father. Steve's had passed away of a heart attack no one saw coming nearly two years ago. Steve had grown up around the dealership, and until he left for college, he'd worked there since turning 14.

Initially, his father had him help the janitorial crew with cleanup. When he turned 16, his father assigned him the task of detailing used cars. It wasn't that Steve needed a job to earn money as his father was quite well off. It was more his dad's deep-seated belief that every child needed to learn the value of work, and just as important, that money didn't grown on trees.

After graduating from high school and during summer breaks from college, Steve sold used cars, and made enough to provide him with spending money for the entire next school year. Ironically, his father had insisted his son not work during college so he could focus on his education, and Steve had never taken that opportunity for granted. As a result, he'd finished with a grade point average just a shade over 3.7 with a bachelor's degree in business.

He'd gone to work as a junior manager for a casino in Las Vegas less than a month after graduation, and was doing quite well himself when he received the tragic news.

He'd never had any real interest in taking over the dealership, but with the sudden, unexpected loss of his father, his only choices were to run it or sell it. His first inclination had been to get rid of it as fast as he could, but when he went home for his father's funeral, it became clear that wasn't an option.

There were just too many very real people who depended on the jobs they had at Nash Automotive, and were he to sell it, there was no guarantee the new owner would keep them on. So after a week of soul-searching, he came to the realization that it was time to return to the city where he was born and raised and take over the family business.

As difficult as his father's passing had been, it paled in comparison to an ever deeper loss he'd suffered a year prior. Steve had never known his own mother who'd passed away when he was two years old and had been raised by his hard-working father who'd never remarried. The reasons why had gone with him to his grave, as that was one question he'd refused to answer, and Steve had long ago given up asking why.

In a tragic twist of irony, Steve's own wife, Sharon, had also died when their son, Mason, was just two. Having just turned five, Mason now had only one or two dim memories of the amazing, beautiful woman who'd given him life and who'd loved him more than life itself. His father had recently resigned himself to the fact that his beloved wife would forever be a stranger to their only child, known to him only through videos and photos.

Sharon had been Steve's college sweetheart, and they'd married just two days after graduating. She'd happily followed him to Las Vegas, where just ten months later, Mason Michael Nash was born. The married couple was overjoyed with happiness and with the birth of their first child, and that event had given both of them a feeling of completeness. But that sense of security came crashing down the night a drunk driver claimed Sharon's life as she was coming home from visiting her parents in Reno one cold February night.

The dealership demanded a lot of his time, and whatever he had left over went to his son. But work served a very important purpose in Steve's life by providing him a way of sublimating the pain and hurt of having lost his father and his wife into something productive. And thanks to Brianna, he never had to worry about his son.

Steve had recently celebrated his 28th birthday surrounded by his family from the dealership that organized a big surprise party at his house while he was at work that day. Brianna was holding Mason's hand when he walked in around 7pm, and they were the first to shout, "Surprise!" as everyone else joined in the celebration.

It was that kind of love and respect that had brought him back to Albuquerque and also kept him there, and Steve did his best to give it back to the loyal employees who worked so hard to make the business a success. During the last two years, the business had been doing extremely well, so Steve made it a point to tell his 'family' as often as he had the opportunity to do so, that this was a family affair. He made a point of telling them both collectively and individually that it was they who made any modest success he enjoyed possible, and at the end of each year, he paid out as generous a bonus as he could afford to each and every one of them.

It was nearly nine o'clock when he finally pulled in that evening, and his first thought that wasn't business-related that day was how he hoped his son would still be awake. He didn't have school the following morning, so it was possible Mason would still be up.

When he opened the door in the garage that led into the house and heard his son call out, "My dad's home!" he smiled.

When his boy ran through the kitchen, found his dad, and jumped into his arms and hugged him, all of the day's worries faded away.

"Hey, buddy!" he said as he held his son.

"Hi, Dad! I missed you!" his little boy told him as he clung to his father's neck.

"I missed you, too. Did you have a good day at school?"

"I'm in Kindergarten, Dad," his five-year old reminded him just as Brianna walked in.

"Hi, Mr. Nash," she said, a sweet smile on her face.

"Hi, Brianna. How was Mason for you?"

"Perfect. As always."

"Do you need a ride home?"

"No thank you. My mom is coming to get me. I just texted her when I heard you come in. I appreciate you asking, though."

He set his son down then told her she was welcome.

"How's your mom doing?" Steve asked as Mason grabbed his hand. He rarely asked and felt guilty for not doing so more often.

"She's okay," Brianna told him unconvincingly.

He knew her mother, of course, but in all the time Brianna had babysat for him, he'd only talked to her mom two or three times, and then only for a minute or two on each occasion. He knew she was a single mom and a very serious runner. Steve had seen her out on the road many, many times early the morning over the last two years, and although he wasn't a runner himself, he loved to swim and did so as often as he could, and that helped him appreciate her love of fitness.

He didn't know her age, but he thought she was probably around 37 or so, and that made him admire her dedication to working out even more. He'd also seen the little triplex she owned as it was directly across the street from the house she and her daughter lived in.

Their home was only about two miles from the Nash's, and while it wasn't in a 'bad' part of town, the difference in the neighborhoods between where he lived compared to where she and Brianna lived, was fairly stark. The word 'sketchy' came to mind whenever he took Brianna home.

The only other thing he knew about Brianna's mom was that she was a very attractive woman for her age, and that she had a runner's body to go with a very pretty face. Other than that, Kellie Grantham was a mystery to him.

"Yeah?" he asked, hoping to get her to open up if things weren't all that okay.

Brianna smiled, but Steve knew something was wrong, even when she said, "Uh-huh."

"Okay. Well, I really appreciate you watching my little buddy."

Steve told her that, or something close to it, every time she cared for his son, and she, in turn, always told him it was her pleasure.

"So uh, am I ever gonna have to find myself another sitter for my son?" he asked with a smile.

"I don't think so," she replied, the concern in her voice coming through. "Why? Should I be worried?"

Steve immediately smiled when he realized she misunderstood why he was asking. He put her concerns to rest when he said, "No, no. Not at all. I was just thinking that at some point you're going to, you know, start...dating and all that, so..."

"Oh. No. I...I don't think so," Brianna said before he could finish talking. "At least not anytime soon, anyway."

Her lack of interest in boys surprised Steve, and he wondered how many other girls her age, who were as pretty as she was, had no interest in them, either. It was none of his business, but it was still hard for him to understand.

What wasn't hard to understand was where her good looks came from, as Brianna looked a whole lot like her mother. Both of them had naturally blonde hair, bright, blue eyes, and while Brianna wore hers to the middle of her back, her mom kept hers about shoulder length or in a ponytail under a ball cap whenever she ran. Both of them were slim, but neither of them looked unhealthy. In fact, just the opposite was true as both of them had a kind of radiance about them that gave the impression the were the epitome of good health.

"All right. Well, that's my gain and their loss," Steve told her with a smile. "Please tell your mom I said 'hello', okay?"

"I will, Mr. Nash, and goodnight Mason," she said when the lights from her mom's car flashed into the house as she pulled into the driveway.

"Goodnight, Brianna!" Mason said as he reached up for his hug.

She bent down, hugged him, then said, "I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

"Okay! See you then!" he said as she again told his father goodbye.

Once he knew that Brianna was safely in her mom's car, he turned to his son and asked, "You ready for a bedtime story?" feeling horrible that he'd just gotten home.

"Uh-huh! And Dad? Can we read two stories tonight?" he asked as though nothing at all was wrong. And the fact that he was used to his father being so late so often ate at Steve Nash all the more.

The school kept Mason from the time Kindergarten let out until three o'clock when the rest of the students were finished for the day. Because the high school was only two blocks away from the elementary school and just two more to the Nash's home, Brianna, who was a freshman, walked him home when the weather was nice or called her mom for a ride on those rare days when it rained.

"Sure. Two it is!" he told Mason before asking him to go brush his teeth then change into his pajamas.

Too tired to think about something he'd thought about many times recently, Steve read two stories to his son then went to bed himself around ten and was out cold in minutes. But when he woke up the next morning—alone yet again—he laid there for awhile and allowed himself to briefly feel sorry for himself while wishing he had someone he loved laying next to him.

Were to wallow in self pity, few people would blame him. After all, he'd never known his mother, and he'd had to deal with the loss of two of the other three people he'd loved the most within a 14-month period of time. But that wasn't what he did. Steve accepted life as it came, and did his best to look ahead while rarely ever looking back.

But lately, his growing sense of loneliness was eating away at him, and he knew it was time to get serious about looking for that special someone to fill it.

He'd had numerous girlfriends before Sharon, but she'd been the only woman he'd ever loved. And while that love was still there, and always would be, for the last several weeks he'd been so lonely he'd begun trying to imagine being with someone else.

At first, the thoughts had come and gone, but when they'd persisted, he remembered feeling guilty. It was as though just thinking about anyone else was a form of betrayal even though their marriage bond had been broken the moment his beloved wife had been taken from him.

Now, after doing his best to work through most of that, he was finally able to give some serious thought to the issue of dating. But because it had only been thought, the loneliness continued to haunt him, and for the last month or so, his desire to find someone to love both him and his son the way he loved him, was consuming him.

After maybe five minutes of self pity, Steve threw the covers off, got dressed, then went and made some coffee and waited for Mason to get up. He wanted to go swimming later that morning, and Mason enjoyed splashing around in the kiddie pool almost as much as his father love swimming laps until he was exhausted.

Of all the things Steve Nash enjoyed about hard, physical exercise, the best part was the way it allowed him to let go of whatever was troubling him. Like alcohol, the effect was only temporary, but the few hours of relief were a blessing to him, and unlike booze, there was no hangover to deal with once the high wore off.

Being able to do something with his son was a close second, and once they finished they almost always went out to get something to eat for lunch. This day was no exception, and an hour later, on the way home, Steve asked Mason a few questions, and at one point his son asked him one.

"Dad? Did you know Brianna's mom is scared of someone?"

"What? What do you mean by 'scared', buddy?" his father replied, suddenly very concerned.

"I don't know. Brianna just said there's a man who lives in their 'partments who makes her feel scared."

"Did she say why?"

"Uh-uh. She didn't want to talk about it, but it made me sad because I could tell Brianna was worried about her mom."

"I'm glad you told me, Mason."

"Can you fix it, Dad?" his son asked, knowing his father could do anything.

"I'm not sure. I'd kind of have to know exactly what's going on first. And even then her mom might not want my help."

"Why not?" Mason asked with childlike innocence.

"Well, some people don't like it when other people try and take care of their problems. They prefer to handle things themselves," his father tried to explain.

"Oh, okay."

And that was the end of it. For Mason, anyway.

His father, however, had a much harder time letting go of it, and he made a mental note to talk with Brianna on Monday to try and find out if this was something serious or possibly just a misunderstanding.

For now, he had the rest of the weekend to hang out with his #1 best buddy, and Steve planned to make the most of every minute of their time together.

As always, in spite of his best efforts to cram five days of neglect into two and forestall the inevitable, Monday morning rolled around much too soon. Steve's weekend officially ended when he dropped his son off at school, and that's when work-related issues once again took center stage in his life as he began running down the list of things he needed to do that day.

The first order of business was his weekly meeting with his general manager and the department managers where each one had the opportunity to update him on problems, concerns, and with any luck, some good news. Sales, maintenance, and administration were the three areas that either made or ruined a dealership, and Nash Automotive was fortunate to have good people running all three with a superb GM in charge of them.

It was nearly two o'clock before he even looked up, and after a brief, 20-minute break to grab a sandwich and a cup of coffee, he was back at it until seven when he forced himself to walk away. He hadn't forgotten about his desire to talk to Brianna, and while he could have easily put in another hour or two, he just drew a line and called it a day.

Even so, because the next day was a school day, it was almost Mason's bedtime when he got to the house. His son was still up, though, so after giving him a big hug, Steve asked Brianna if she could stay for a couple of extra minutes while Mason got ready for bed.

"Sure. That's fine," she said. "I haven't called my mom yet, so...no problem."

After their talk on Friday evening, she was a little paranoid about the possibility of being let go even though he'd assured her that wasn't going to happen.

"You go brush your teeth and get ready for bed while I talk to Brianna, okay, big guy?" he told his son.

"Okay, Dad!" came the happy reply as his son hopped and skipped his way to the bathroom.