“Thank you, but we’re not … I can’t … It’s your money, not mine.”
“I—”
“Have you talked to your family lately?” I interrupt.
His mouth tilts. I took the redirect right out of his playbook. “Somewhat.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been trying to call my parents once a week. Everett and I usually text about sports or the news or something.” His hands burrow into his pockets. “It’s hard to get through a conversation with my father.”
The first time Levi ever mentioned his dad, his jaw was clenched tightly. He’s still tense talking about him, but noticeably less so.
“It’s always ‘What connections have you made at that school? What is IHOP? What is your strategy behind that alliance?’”
He’s saying it in a funny way, but no laugh comes to me. Not only is his relationship with his dad strained, but Levi’s life is foreign now. He seemed like an alien for a reason. How much of an adjustment must this be for him? He probably grew up with a yacht at the dock and tuxes hanging in his closet.
“My mother didn’t … Let’s say she had mixed motives for marrying him. They barely speak anymore. He knows why she sticks around and just coexists with her because it’s in his best interest.”
I want to ask what that means, but I hold my tongue.
“He and I still have a lot of … a lot to work through, but I hate that for him. At least he won’t leave, so there’s still hope.”
There’s still hope. I forget how spoiled I am, how unusual it is for my parents to be so committed for so long. I don’t know how to comfort him. I wish I could give him a hug. “I’m really sorry, Levi.”
“When you said your parents were gross—or disgusting, right?” He hesitates. “I didn’t know a couple could still be like that after twenty years.”
“Like Walker Hayes and Laney.”
He half laughs. “Stan much?”
“Maybe a little.”
“How do they pull it off? Your parents.”
I’ve been watching them my whole life. It’s a lot of data to squish into a sentence or two. “For one, they talk about marriage differently than other people do.”
“They don’t trash talk the other?”
“Just the opposite. But I mean that they say the purpose of marriage is to honor God. That it’s to make them better, not to make them happy.”
“But they’re the happiest couple around? That sounds like Jesus, doesn’t it? He’s always saying upside down things.”
You are, huh?
“And?” he asks. “You said ‘for one.’”
“Oh. Well, they talk every night. Not just chat but talk-talk. And they play. Seems like people forget how to play when they grow up.”
“Play?”
“Like sneak attacks. And chase. And flirting. Play.”
He nods, in his own thoughts, then shifts gears. “Have your brothers been up to more antics?”
“Always. Mav told me today that they stumbled upon a life-sized velociraptor on Facebook Marketplace. He and Grey are going to borrow a buddy’s truck to strategically place it outside their friends’ bedroom windows. One house each night for as long as they can get away with it.”
He bends forward in a hearty laugh. “We need to get them to Flooders.”
