The Ones That Got Away Read online

  “I want to bet all of it on Detroit to win the World Series.”

  “What the hell?” Randy threw up his hands and shook his head. “I’ll check with Frankie.”

  That night, Scott called Melanie’s dad and asked him to check with his bookie to see how big of a bet he was willing to take on.

  “What do you plan on betting on?” Bob asked.

  “I want to make a bet before the season starts on the World Series.”

  “Really?” Bob let the word hang out there a long time. Scott wasn’t sure if Melanie’s dad was surprised or if he thought Scott was crazy. “I’ll check with him tomorrow and let you know.”

  “And Bob, could you do me one other favor?

  “What do you need?”

  “Could you not tell Melanie?” Scott asked.

  Bob laughed. “You know, keeping things from the one you love isn’t the best way to build a relationship.”

  “No, I suppose not.” Scott felt guilty but couldn’t explain himself to Bob.

  “Of course, I never, ever tell my wife when I bet on a game and we’ve been married for almost thirty years. So, it’s not the worst thing you can do either.” Bob let out a big laugh.

  The next day, Scott heard back from both Randy and Bob. Randy said that his guy would take on a bet up to $10,000. Bob’s bookie would only go up to $5,000. That meant Scott had $2,500 left and no place to bet it.

  “Why don’t you just hang on to it?” Randy asked. “That way, you’ll still have a little nest egg in case things don’t go as planned.”

  Randy’s advice sounded nice, but Scott wasn’t worried. He wanted to bet every penny he could get his hands on.

  “Do you know any other bookies?”

  “You’re not listening to me, are you?” Randy asked. When he could see that Scott wasn’t going to back down, he said, “Okay, I’ll check around.”

  Over the next few days, Scott placed a $5,000 bet with Bob’s bookie, a $10,000 bet with Randy’s, and a $2,500 bet with a guy Randy found, although Scott never heard exactly how Randy dug up the guy. All tolled he bet $17,500 on Detroit to win the World Series, getting 16-to-1 odds from each of the bookies.

  Now, it was just a matter of waiting.

  Chapter 15

  August 1984

  Detroit went on a tear, winning thirty-five of their first forty games. The odds on them winning the World Series went down the better they played. On May 1, the odds fell to seven-to-one. On June 1, they were down to three-to-one.

  The school year ended uneventfully for Scott. He earned average grades, but by the end of the semester, was having trouble forcing himself to study. He couldn’t stand the thought of practicing law again. He planned to quit as soon as his big bet came through. What he would do after that was still up in the air.

  Scott spent the summer working at Randy’s bar. Hanging out with Randy and the rest of the people at the bar was fun. Melanie hated the idea of her soon-to-be-lawyer boyfriend tending bar. She felt it was beneath him. Plus, she didn’t like the idea of him working late while she sat home alone. The truth was, Scott needed the money. He had bet every cent he had, and he still had bills to pay.

  “I thought you had money in the bank.” Melanie said.

  “I had to make a tuition payment,” Scott lied.

  “I make enough money for both of us,” Melanie said. “Why don’t you let me pay the bills for the summer?”

  Scott didn’t like that idea. Part of it may have been stubborn male pride, but more than that, he didn’t want to be at Melanie’s mercy. He wanted to have his own money and pay his own bills. The thought made him feel guilty.

  At the beginning of August, Melanie came to Scott with a proposal. She had two weeks of vacation she would lose if she didn’t use it, so she suggested they spend two weeks in Michigan at her uncle’s cottage.

  “I don’t think I can,” Scott said. “I have to work.”

  “You’re going to quit your job when school starts anyway,” Melanie said. “Why don’t you just quit a couple weeks early?”

  Scott told Melanie that the bartending job was just for the summer, but recently, he had been thinking he might keep it even after classes started. Of course, he wouldn’t have to keep it very long. Come October, the World Series money would be in his pocket. So, quitting the job a little early wasn’t a big deal. What was a big deal was that Scott didn’t have the money to go on vacation.

  “I can’t afford it, Mel.”

  Melanie smiled. “I’ll pay for the vacation. My uncle isn’t charging us to use the cottage, and I’ll pay for our meals and travel expenses. Whatever comes up, I’ll pay.”

  Scott knew there was no way to get out of this. He wasn’t even sure why he’d want to. It just felt like Melanie had done a lot of behind-the-scenes work to trap him into going on the vacation. It felt sneaky.

  “You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t you?” he asked.

  “I wanted to surprise you,” she said.

  Scott didn’t like being surprised. He didn’t like someone else making plans for him. Even so, it was hard to be angry. She had tried to do something nice for him. For them.

  Melanie’s uncle’s cottage sat on the Lake Michigan beachfront right next to Holland State Park in Holland, Michigan. The cottage was quaint, with two bedrooms, a bath, a living room and a kitchen. There was a big screened-in porch that looked out over the wide, sandy beach and Lake Michigan beyond.

  They spent their days lounging on the beach. At night, they went into town for dinner. They especially liked a place called The Hatch. It had a comfortable, understated ambience, and the food was terrific. At the end of each evening, they’d make love.

  They weren’t even married yet, but their sex life, which had been so good in college, had slowed. Melanie would often come home tired or drunk, and increasingly, she was in a bad mood. Of course, Scott wasn’t helping the situation. Since he had started working at the bar, he stayed away until late in the evening or early in the morning. When he got home, Melanie was often asleep. But being away from home seemed to change the dynamic. It eliminated the excuses, and the flame that had smoldered in St. Louis burned bright at the cottage.

  Melanie seemed to need the intimacy. During the day, she’d go out of her way to touch Scott, to hold his hand or kiss his neck. At night, she once again became the sexual being she had been in college, aggressive and needy. Scott loved this Melanie. He missed her and wanted her back full-time.

  *

  They had been exploring Holland when they came across a business near the Coast Guard Station that rented kayaks on Lake Macatawa, a smaller lake connected by a canal to Lake Michigan.

  “We should give this a try,” Scott said.

  “I’m game if you are.”

  Inside, they found an older guy with a gray beard and long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Hi folks. I’m Greg, the owner. How can I help you?”

  “We’d like to rent a couple of kayaks.” Scott looked around the tiny room. It was filled with kayak paddles and life jackets.

  “For twenty-five bucks you get a kayak for four hours, along with a paddle and a PFD.”

  Scott looked at Melanie then back at Greg. “PFD?” Scott asked.

  “Personal flotation device.”

  Scott looked confused.

  “Life jacket,” Greg said.

  Scott nodded. “We’ve never kayaked before. How hard is it?”

  “Not hard at all. The kayaks are very stable. You have to really try in order to get them to tip over.”

  “Let’s do it,” Melanie said.

  That was one of the things Scott loved about Melanie. She was fearless and always up to trying something new.

  Greg took them behind the building to the lake and pointed out their kayaks. They were sitting on the shore, the front of the kayak in the water. Greg helped Melanie into her kayak, handed her the paddle, and pushed the kayak fully out into the lake. He did the same with Scott.

  Scot
t paddled, first on the right, then on the left. His kayak moved forward, and he paddled a few more strokes. Melanie followed suit, and soon they were moving out into the lake.

  “This is easier than I thought,” Melanie said.

  “Yeah, I thought they’d be more tippy.”

  “Me too, but they’re really pretty stable.” Melanie rocked the kayak back and forth using just her hips.

  “Don’t get too fancy there,” Scott said. “You’ll end up in the lake.”

  They paddled east, away from Lake Michigan into the heart of Lake Macatawa, along the northern shore. Homes dotted the north shore, and most had docks that jutted out into the lake. Scott and Melanie stayed close to the docks as they paddled. The lake opened to their left, and they followed the shoreline north until they hit the Bayshore Yacht Club. The large boats at the marina dwarfed their kayaks, and they had to be careful to stay out of the way of boats leaving the marina docks.

  “My arms are starting to get tired,” Melanie said.

  “Maybe we should head back.”

  They followed the shore back the way they had come. The day turned hot, and both Scott and Melanie sweated as they paddled their kayaks. When they got back to Greg’s, Scott beached his kayak and got out, laying his paddle on shore. He then grabbed the front of Melanie’s kayak and pulled her up onto the sand.

  “How was it?” Greg asked as he walked out the back of his store.

  “That might have been the most fun I’ve ever had.” Melanie smiled, her face lit up by the sun. “With my clothes on,” she added.

  Everyone laughed. Scott looked at her and remembered why he had fallen in love with her in the first place. Despite her occasional mood swings and outbursts, Melanie was one of the most open, genuine people he had ever known. “We need to do this again.”

  “Absolutely,” she said.

  *

  The cottage was dark except for the light given off by the candles Melanie lit when they got back from dinner. They were on the couch in the living room and Melanie was leaning against Scott.

  “We should probably try some other restaurants,” Melanie said. “But The Hatch is so good, I want to eat every meal there.”

  Scott agreed and cleared his throat. “I have an idea.”

  “I’m all ears,” Melanie said.

  “I see how you’ve been working. How, when you come home at night, you’re tired and frustrated. I was thinking, I could make a bunch of money and you could stay home from work.”

  Melanie channeled Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind. “You’d do that for little ol’ me?”

  Scott bristled. His proposal hadn’t come out as eloquently as he had hoped, and Melanie wasn’t taking it seriously. Although, could he really blame her? She knew nothing about the World Series bet, and there was no way he could tell her. “Of course, I would.” He tried to play off his idea as just a pipe dream, but he desperately wanted to make it a reality. Only a couple more months.

  “That’s sweet,” she said.

  “I’m going to get another beer. Do you want one?”

  She said she did, and Scott went into the kitchen to fetch the beers. When he came back, Melanie was in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a smile. She kissed Scott on the lips, then slid her hands down to unbutton his pants. “You were willing to do me a favor, so I want to do one for you.” She pulled his pants down and he stepped out of them.

  The beers were cold in his hands, but he didn’t want to interrupt Melanie. He’d worry about the beers later.

  Chapter 16

  October 1984

  Back in St. Louis, Melanie returned to her job and her job returned to the center of her life. Scott was anxious, impatient to win the bet he had placed on the Detroit Tigers so he could get Melanie out of her job and start moving forward with his life. Two months after the trip, at the start of the World Series, the passion that had flamed up between them in Michigan was all but gone.

  Randy was excited when the Tigers made the playoffs. He hadn’t had any faith in Scott’s bet during the regular season, but when the Tigers made the playoffs and beat the Kansas City Royals to win the American League pennant, he started believing.

  Even though he knew it was going to happen, Scott was heartsick when the San Diego Padres defeated his beloved Cubs to win the National League pennant. He suffered through it once before, but it was difficult to watch the heartbreaking way it happened again. Randy had become a Cardinals fan since moving to St. Louis, but he reverted to his old allegiance to the Padres when the playoffs started. He loved that his hometown team had beaten Scott’s Cubs, but he was split on who to cheer for in the World Series. His heart was with the Padres, but his head, knowing there was a lot of money on the line, was for the Tigers.

  Scott joined Randy at The Surf Club to watch Game One of the World Series. He invited Melanie, but she didn’t want to go. The Tigers won behind a great pitching performance from Jack Morris and a two-run homerun from Larry Herndon. Randy’s head won out over his heart, and he was ecstatic about the Tiger’s victory. He wanted to party late into the night, but Scott had class the next morning and begged off. Plus, it was only the first game and the Tigers needed to win three more before he was in the money.

  When he got home, Melanie was waiting, and she wasn’t happy. She barely spoke to him.

  “Why are you upset?” he asked. “I asked you to come with me.”

  “We’re supposed to be together,’ she said. “You’re not supposed to leave me so you can go out drinking with your friends.”

  “You didn’t want to go. Am I supposed to sit at home because you don’t want to go out?”

  She stared at him for a moment. “I’m going to bed.” She stormed off into the bedroom. A moment later, she returned to the living room and threw a pillow at him. “You can sleep out here tonight.” She stomped off back into the bedroom and slammed the door.

  As he lay on the couch, Scott couldn’t help but think about his last night with Kathy. It was still early in their relationship, but so far, he hadn’t made things any better with Melanie than he had with Kathy.

  The next morning, Scott got up early, made coffee, and took a cup into Melanie while she was getting ready for work.

  “I’m sorry, Mel,” he said. “I didn’t know it was so important to you to have me home with you last night. If you want, I’ll stay home with you tonight.”

  “Won’t Randy be upset?”

  He knew Melanie well enough to know she didn’t care if Randy was upset or not. Even so, he played along. “He’ll get over it,” Scott said. “He’ll just have to understand.”

  She leaned over to kiss him. “Maybe I’ll even make it worth your while.” She giggled.

  That night, they drank wine and watched the Tigers lose to the Padres. To make matters worse, Melanie fell asleep on the couch and didn’t make it worth Scott’s while.

  On Friday, Scott and Melanie joined Randy and Carla to watch Game Three at The Surf Club. Melanie didn’t mind going to the bar if Carla was there. Neither had a particularly strong interest in sports, so they talked while Scott and Randy watched the game. After a big hit by the Tigers, Carla noticed Randy cheering.

  “Hey, why are you rooting for the Tigers?”

  Randy was caught by surprise. He looked at Scott, then back at Carla. “I don’t know. I like the Tigers.”

  “I thought you liked the Padres. For God’s sake, you’re from San Diego.”

  Scott’s shoulders stiffened.

  Randy shrugged but remained quiet. Carla shook her head and turned her attention back to Melanie.

  Randy looked at Scott and raised his eyebrows. Scott sighed. Melanie was eventually going to benefit from the World Series bet, but if she found out about it now, she’d be pissed.

  When Detroit won, both Scott and Randy tempered their excitement.

  For Game Four, Scott wanted to go back to The Surf Club, but Melanie said it had been too long since they had gone on a date—just the two of th
em. Scott had to admit that it had been too long. They hadn’t been on a date since Michigan. He also knew that, even if Detroit won, they’d still be one game short of winning the World Series.

  *

  Rossino’s was a unique pizza place in St. Louis’ Central West End. It was in the basement of a red brick building, and once inside, it was like traveling to Little Italy in New York. Red and white table clothes covered square tables, pipes ran along the low ceiling, and Frank Sinatra belted out “Summer Wind” over the speakers.

  Scott and Melanie were shown to a table, and the waiter asked for their drink order. Melanie ordered a water, Scott a beer.

  “Just water?” Scott asked.

  “I’ve been gaining weight,” Melanie said. “I’m going to cut back on the drinking.”

  Scott nodded. He was happy to see Melanie not drink so much but didn’t think it was a good idea to voice his feelings. If not drinking was her idea, maybe she’d stick to it.

  “I’ve been thinking about applying for a promotion at work,” she said.

  “You’ve only been there a little over a year. Isn’t it kind of early?”

  “That’s what I thought too, but Kevin says even if I don’t get the job, by applying, I’m showing that I’m interested.”

  The waiter interrupted and took their meal order. Melanie preferred just cheese, so they got a half cheese, half sausage and mushroom pie. The waiter thanked them, then walked away.

  “Have you decided what movie you want to see yet?” Scott asked.

  “I thought we were talking about my promotion.”

  “Now it’s your promotion,” Scott teased.

  Melanie smiled. “The promotion. Is that better?”

  “What do you think about what Kevin said?”

  Melanie pursed her lips. “I’m not sure. The higher ups could view it as me showing interest and initiative, or they could think I’m an idiot applying so early in my career.”

  Melanie continued to discuss the intricacies of office politics and how she didn’t want to rub anyone the wrong way. Scott occasionally nodded, but he tuned her out. These tedious stories from work were almost the only thing she ever wanted to talk about, and he learned that if he didn’t interrupt, she eventually talked herself out.