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“It’s so good to see you two again! It’s criminal how rare these outings are despite us all living in the same town.”
I smiled, letting some of the tension ease out of me. Mom was always great at that, getting rid of any problems you may be dealing with. She didn’t even do anything but smile either.
Dad was next, his eyes warm as he hugged me too. He stood a good bit taller than Mom, his arm barely able to rest comfortably around her waist without one or both of them getting a muscle crick.
It’d been too long since we’d all been together, and I relaxed. “We’ll have to make sure to plan something more often,” I said, only to catch the slight stiffening to Will’s shoulders from the corner of my eye.
Biting back a sigh, I added on. “Will might not be able to make many of the outings though, just a head’s up. He works a lot of hours at the mechanic shop.”
He relaxed, and Dad finally turned to him with a raised brow.
“You like working with your hands?” He asked.
William hesitated, then straightened and nodded, offering a shake. “I do.” A few beats of awkward silence passed, and then he added on. “I’m glad to see you and the Mrs. are doing well.”
Dad leveled him with a probing stare, but Mom elbowed him lightly. “Honey.” Warning lingered in that one word and Dad huffed, easing up on the almost glare and taking the offered hand.
“Fine, fine. It's good to see you up and walking too, kid.”
Then he gestured to the table. “Let’s sit. We got a spot for a reason.”
Mom and Dad sat on one side of the booth and Will and I on the other, with Devin seated at the end in a chair. A waitress stopped by long enough to take our drink orders before running off, giving us privacy.
Once we were situated, Dad locked eyes on Will and jumped right into the ‘interrogation’ as he’d called it before.
“So a mechanic, that’s a good job. Are you planning on staying there or do you have other plans?”
That actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. To be fair, Dad was only just getting started, but work wasn’t an awful or sensitive topic.
Will relaxed a bit and shook his head. “I like my job. It pays well and has flexible hours when I need them. Any of the higher positions are on call all the time in case of potential issues, and while I wouldn’t mind the pay raise, not ever being truly off duty would drive me crazy.”
Dad nodded, the tiniest spark of approval warming his eyes. “Nothing wrong with wanting to stay home with your family. All of my free time was spent between these three.” He gestured to Devin, Mom, and I. “I’d have it no other way too.”
I glanced over the menu, occasionally watching the others to be sure Dad didn’t dig into any sensitive topics. Thankfully no one had brought up kids or marriage yet, and Will was acting like his usual self.
Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“I’m going to assume that you’re staying in town since you’re putting down roots?” Dad asked and Will nodded, though the motion was slightly hesitant.
“I don’t have any plans otherwise.”
That was apparently not the right thing to say because Dad hummed, intent gaze only on Will as he prodded. “Plans change at the drop of a hat. Their Ma and I used to think we’d never have kids, thanks to my health issues. Next thing I know, we have two damn fine ones.”
William’s smile turned plastic, and the tension from earlier came racing back. Devin stiffened, too, sensing the shift and automatically moving to play damage control before Dad could continue.
“Speaking of changing plans, Dad, do you still want to head out next month for that trip? It should only be a few days long, but we haven’t gone camping in a while.”
Dad finally paused his glaring at Will to look at Devin and nod. “I’m still fully planning on it.” Then he went right back to staring.
“You seem a bit tense there, kid. Everything alright?”
Don’t lie. For all that’s holy in the universe, give him a vague answer and don’t-.
Will’s smile turned forced, and he shook his head. “I’m fine.”
Devin closed his eyes at the same time my stomach dropped. We’d forgotten to mention how much Dad hated being lied to, and now we were going to pay for that.
Dad’s gaze lasered to William, his smile turning into a frown as he raised an unimpressed brow. “I’ve been around people double as long as you’ve been alive, brat. I know a lie when I see one. Try again.”
