The Cruiserweight (44 page)

“Oh, no, buster, you are not involving me in
your little scheme.”

“Come on, just one date to see how it works
out. I’m not expecting him to propose to her.”

“Really, Brett, you’re behaving like a meddling
old woman.”

“You have a better idea?”

“Yes, it’s called Patrick being old enough to
make decisions about his own life. He’ll know when he’s ready to
settle down with someone. I don’t remember him sticking his nose in
your
love life.”

“Rest assured he did long before I met you, or
should I say he gave me a daily reminder of my lack of
one?”

“Still, leave the poor man alone. Besides, it’s
his mother’s job to find a nice girl for him, not
yours.”

Karen picked up Autumn from her high chair and
handed the baby to Brett. “Could you do me a favor and change her
while I start the dishes?”

He scooped Autumn into his arms. “Come on,
Little Bit, time to pee on Daddy again,” he said in a joking tone.
“In the meantime, maybe
you
can listen to my ideas on how to
find someone nice for Papi Pat…”

Karen shook her head and began taking dishes to
the kitchen.
Some men just never listen, and they have the
stones to talk about women sticking their noses where they don’t
belong?

*****

“Watch this, kiddo,” Brett said to Autumn. He
was on his laptop, composing an email. “Mommy may not like me doing
something like this, but I have a feeling she and Papi Pat will
thank me later.”

Autumn giggled, having no idea what her father
was saying. She laughed anyway, in case it was something
funny.

He pressed
send
once he‘d finished the
email to Patrick‘s webmistress. “There. I think some young lady’s
night will be made once she opens her inbox.” Brett rose from his
desk. “Okay, out to your playpen before Mama sends the search party
for us.”

*****

“Hi, Phoebe,” Karen said when she answered the
phone. “Anything good happening at home?”

“You mean how I almost ended up on my ass
taking out the trash before I went to work this morning? Just
wonderful. Maybe I should consider a move to Florida.”

“The joy of winter in Pittsburgh. How’s
everyone at the paper?”

“Outside of missing you, things are moving
along well. Autumn and Brett good?”

“As always.”

“Sounds like married life’s agreeing with you.
So much for you dying an old maid like you always
thought.”

“It’s only been a short time. Check back with
me in twenty years when Autumn’s in college and Brett and I are
sick of each other. While on the subject, he has this wild idea of
playing matchmaker.”

“Oh, no. Who’s the unfortunate
victim?”

“Patrick. No matter how many times I’ve told
Brett that Pat’s an adult who can make his own choices, Brett still
insists on fixing him up with someone.”

“Sounds like he has good intentions. What’s the
problem?”

Karen let out a groan. “Don’t tell me you’re
fine with the whole idea.”

“Brett’s just being a good friend. You know,
that man may shock you and find a decent girl for Pat. No offense
to Pat, but the girls I’ve seen him with over the last few years
look rather…well…
skeevy.”

“Maybe they’re his type. To each their
own.”

“Which is okay if he’s twenty or so, but he’s
almost thirty-one. Pat needs someone a little classier, more
grounded.”

“Now I’ll agree with you on that
point.”

“Preferably someone who isn’t a gold digger or
fame monger.”

“Don’t worry, Brett already has someone in
mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if he cooked up his sneaky plan after
the baby was changed.”

“Oh? Who?”

“He has the wild idea of the girl who does
Patrick’s website.”

“Isn’t she around twenty-one?”

“Yes.”

“Still, that’s only ten years, and for her, a
dream come true.”

“Oh, Phoebe, ever the romantic, aren’t
you?”

“I am, and even more so since Eddie and I were
engaged.”

“By the way, how’s your wedding
planning?”

“So far, moving along at a smooth pace. I don’t
know how you handled all the chaos for your wedding.”

“You have the advantage of more time to plan
ahead, plus no child to figure in the picture.”

“True.”

“I should go,” Karen said. “I sent Brett to
change Autumn a bit ago, and Lord knows what else he’s doing with
that baby. I can say from experience that it doesn’t take long to
change a diaper.”

CHAPTER 87

"Daddy," Autumn said when she pulled to a
standing position on Brett’s chair.

"Hey, Little Bit, " he said, smiling. "Karen,
when did she start doing this stuff?”

"About a week ago," Karen replied, looking up
from her laptop. She was typing her latest column. "As much time as
she and I spend together, her first word was ‘Daddy’. Go
figure.”

A smirk crossed Brett‘s face. "She’s my Little
Bit.”

Saturday afternoon was peaceful as Autumn
explored under the watchful eyes of her parents. An old wrestling
show was on TV, but Brett’s attention was focused on watching his
daughter, who was very active at fifteen months.

She let go of Brett’s chair, falling back onto
her bottom. Autumn looked up at her father with wide blue eyes.
“Uh, oh.”

“Come on, Little Bit,” he encouraged her. “Show
Daddy what a big girl you are and try it again.”

“Daddy,” Autumn said with a grin and attempted
to pull herself to an upright position again.

“Won’t be long before she walks,” Karen said,
“then we’ll really have our hands full.”

“I like her at this age; she’s starting to get
cute. At least now Little Bit’s able to do more than just eat,
sleep, shit, and yell.”

“She’ll still do all the above for a while. One
good thing is around this time next year, she may be ready for
potty training.”

The phone rang, and Karen glanced at the Caller
ID. “Better answer it,” she told Brett. “It’s for you
anyway.”

“I hope to hell that isn’t Creative fitting me
in Monday’s TV taping at almost the last minute.”

“No, it isn’t work. It’s Pat.”

“Oh, cool!” Brett picked up the phone. “Hey,
holmes, what’s happening?”

“Hey, holmes, my ass. Dude, did I not tell you
to stay out of my love life?”

“Yeah, but you should know by now I’m never one
to listen.”

“I should come down there and fork you. Laura
told me she got an email from you about us going out the next time
I was in New York or any time she got to fly out here. Brett, what
the fuck?”

“She’s a great girl, man. Give her a chance.
Just because she isn’t a tattooed freak or doesn’t dress like a
hooker doesn’t make her less of a person. Come on, Pat, one time.
Please? You may thank me later. Hell, I’ll even pay for her flight
to see you.”

“Jesus, I can’t believe you’re talking me into
this Okay, one time, just to shut you up, if nothing else. Don’t
bother paying for the flight; I pay for my own dates.”

“Kickass. Keep me posted on your progress. I
want details!”

“I shouldn’t tell you shit.”

“I’ll buy you lunch and you can give me the
play-by-play.”

Patrick laughed. “You’re an asshole, but hard
to resist. Okay, I’m holding you to lunch the next time I’m in
Orlando.”

“Make it soon, partner,” Brett said. “Life’s
getting short.”

He hung up before Patrick could fit in a remark
from his litany of short jokes, and was met by a quizzical stare
from Karen. “What?” Brett asked.

“I can’t believe what I just heard. You set Pat
up on a date, didn’t you?”

“Indeed.”

“You never fail to amaze me sometimes.” She
shook her head.

“Yeah, I am kind of an amazing dude,
huh?”

“Well. Mr. Amazing, then you’ll notice your
daughter is trying to eat the TV remote.”

"Fuck! Little Bit, no! Give me that!” Brett
took the remote from Autumn and wiped away drool.

"Fuk," Autumn said, and smiled at her
father.

Karen shot him a death glare. "Did she say what
I think she said?”

"Autumn, that’s a bad word," Brett said, trying
to remain calm.

Autumn continued to smile at her father and
repeated her new word a couple of times.

“Sweetheart, stop. Not nice.”

“Fuk.”

“Autumn Skye,”
Karen
said in a stern voice, then glared at Brett. “Since
you
got us into this mess, you need to
figure a way to make her stop using the word.”

“I know.”

“No time like the present to get busy. Then no
more cursing in the house,
especially
in front of
Autumn.”

EPILOGUE

Brett held the TV Title for a record of 279
days before losing it to Zipper, who had a brief run as Florida
Champion before the creative staff decided he was ready for a
bigger story line.

Stephanie Cross decided Brett was a perfect fit
as a house show agent and trainer for the new cruiserweights who
signed with Orlando Wrestling, both a huge jump in salary and
prestige. It meant less TV time, but Brett no longer cared. His new
role took his passion for the wrestling business to an entire new
level, and he enjoyed working with the younger
cruiserweights.

Brett’s friends and colleagues from both past
and present wrestling days, led by Patrick, came together and threw
a surprise party to celebrate his new position. “Just consider it a
thanks for hooking me up with Laura,” Patrick told him. “We’re
getting married next April.”

“Is this your way of telling me I was
right?”

“Okay, you win. You were right.”

Brett hugged him. “I’m happy for you two,
man.”

“As am I for you. First a fine woman and
beautiful kid, now a big ass promotion. I’m proud of my little
buddy. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy, especially after all
the bullshit you’d been through the last few years.”

“Wasn’t an easy ride for you either, bro. Hear
you’re up for a movie part.”

“Yep, my first feature, can you dig that
shit?”

“Never doubted you’d go places once you cleaned
up your act, dude. Hey, talking about screen life, make sure you
turn on Wendy Bretherton’s show tomorrow.”

“Gee, Kerrigan, I didn’t know married life made
you a softy for daytime talk shows.”

“It’s not about me. Karen’s a guest. She’s
going to talk about her book.”

“Jesus, why didn’t you say something? On my DVR
list for sure.”

“Great. Now let’s get back to consuming the
booze you’re paying for.”

*****

Karen’s appearance on
The Wendy Bretherton
Show
was a success. She had spots on local radio programs in
both Orlando and Pittsburgh to promote her novel after its initial
release, but never considered a national level until Wendy’s
assistant contacted her.

“I plead guilty,” Eddie told her after the
show. “I sent an extra copy of your book to Wendy.”

“What on earth gave you such an
idea?”

“Pheebs and I discussed it.”

“So she’s a co-conspirator?”

“Sure. Fantastic job on the show. Did Brett see
you?”

“More than that. He’s burning DVD’s for my
press kit as we speak. Of course, he said Autumn kept touching the
TV screen and saying ‘Mommy’ the whole time.”

“She’s proud of her mama too. Have your latest
sales figures come in yet?”

“I’m not going to become a millionaire or
anything, but sales are good by my standards.”

“Sounds like you book’s appeal to it’s target
demographic audience of mostly sporty young men and maybe a few
women.”

“Quite a number of women and girls have shown
up at the few book signings I had,” Karen replied.

“Guess it goes to show females aren’t into
wrestling just to look at hot men.”

“No, but it doesn’t hurt, either. On a serious
note, I found today’s female fans are a lot more intelligent about
what happens in the ring. Enough about me and my book, though.
Where are you and Phoebe planning to go for your wedding
anniversary?”

“Bahamas.”

“Very exotic.”

“I’m surprising her with the tickets on her
birthday. Hey, did you and Brett ever have a honeymoon?”

“Never got around to planning one, and I doubt
it’ll happen any time soon. He’s been promoted to part of the
backstage team in addition to wrestling.”