“I’ll drive,” Wilder offers.
And he does.
Right up the road to a cute little diner.
We all get out and find a cozy booth in the back.
Wilder lays a hand on my thigh as we look over the menu.
I’m not waiting for the next storm.
It’s a nice feeling.
“What are you going to get?” Wilder asks me.
“Pancakes,” I answer.
“What about you?”
“Same,” Wilder replies as he sets our menus aside.
Maybe it should feel odd to have a normal conversation in a normal diner on a normal summer road trip.
But it doesn’t.
“I’m getting the ham and cheese omelet,” Cash volunteers. “Since no one asked me.”
“He’s so sensitive,” Wilder whispers in my ear.
“I heard that,” Cash snaps. “I am not sensitive.”
“Testy?” Wilder offers.
I laugh. “He has his moments.”
“I am perfectly fine,” Cash lies as the waitress appears.
Tomorrow, we’ll pull into the driveway and all the problems we’ve been avoiding for a week will take center stage.
But for now, we’re just three amigos sitting in a diner.
Not fixed.
Not finished.
But still here.
And somehow, that feels like healing.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Room Renovator
Wilder
I’m tired. My muscles ache. Maybe it’s not even my body. Maybe it’s something deeper. Like my soul.
Even if I never liked Margot, I didn’t want her to die. I just… didn’t want to have a relationship with her.
