“I’ll be back before you know it.”
She hums.“I’m excited to have you visit soon.Even if you are a little...buzzy.”
“Busy, Mom,” I correct, tossing the blanket off.I swing my legs over the side of the bed.“I better go and get moving.I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Alright, love you.”
“Love you too.”
I hang up and wander across the hallway to the kitchen.Dad’s already at the table, eating eggs and a toasted bagel, reading something on his phone.
“Morning,” I say.
“Morning,” he mutters without looking up.
Ah.We’re back to that version of him.How disappointing.I thought we had made progress…
“Is your mother telling you to go back to the city?”he grumbles.
I blink, caught off guard.He must have heard our conversation.“What?No.She’s happy I’m here.”
“Yeah, but she knows you’re leaving.Just like she did.”
We were just starting to find our way back to each other, like when I was younger, and now he’s throwing it in my face again.It’s like everything we’ve done means nothing.
I pull a chair out and sit.“Listen.I’m here for almost a year.She’s my mother.I know you two had your issues, but I’m not her.She’s not here.I check in with her because I want to.”
He grunts.His jaw tightens, and I swear I see a flicker of something that looks like hurt in his eyes.
“You know what I think?”
He looks up, suspicious.
“You should ask out Nancy from the thrift shop.”
He nearly chokes on his coffee.“What?”
“You heard me.She’s sweet.She’s funny.And she clearly likes you.”
He scowls, but I catch a flush covering his nose.Got him.He can grumble all he wants, but I saw the way he looked at her, and now he knows I saw it too.“You’re meddling.”
“Maybe.”I don’t want to push any more, so I move to a safer subject.“So, should we tackle another room today?”
He chews slowly, then mutters, “We’ve got the shed.”
“Perfect.”I smile.“Let me finish breakfast and change.Then we’ll get to it.”
He nods, still grumpy, but less so than before.And somehow, that lifts something inside me.
I fix a quick bowl of cereal, pour myself a cup of coffee, and eat at the table while he finishes his bagel.
Time passes quickly as we clean out the shed.We head into town, and I make him stop by Nancy’s “just for a quick hello,” while I pick up lunch for us from The Cozy Point.
On the way back to the truck, he whistles.Actually whistles.
I grin.My plan is working.I’m going to keep it up.And when this house is finished, I’m inviting Nancy over for dinner.I’ll get Dad back out there, off my mom, and more importantly, off my back.
By the time I leave, maybe he won’t be so miserable anymore.
