“You thinking about your dad?”
Micky nods.
“Tell me about him.” I find myself saying.
With a shaky breath, Mikayla gives me a sweet smile and then reaches for my hand with her other. I squeeze her fingers as she rests my hand in her lap.
“He was the best. My dad was the guy who went to all my games—who studied with me. Even when he was sick, he helped me study for all my classes,” she says softly.
I chance a glance at her as she leans her head against her seat and closes her eyes. A small smile kisses her lips.
“When I was little, we went to the beach for summer vacation in Oregon. He rented one of those tandem bikes for me and him. I remember my brother Jack being so embarrassed because Dad and Irode it every day, everywhere! Jack is three years older than me, so he was way too cool to ride on it.” She gifts me with a smile.
I chuckle, knowing exactly how Jack felt.
“When I was thirteen, my dad got one of those bikes with a kid seat in the back for Pat to sit on. I refused to ride with him when he used it. I couldn’t beseenwith my dad for the entire summer because he refused to go anywhere without Pat.”
“You’re a lot older than him, huh?” she asks, turning her head toward me.
She looks so sweet, and her earlier sadness seems to have passed.
“I’m the oldest. He’s the baby of the family,” I explain. “How many siblings do you have?” I ask, looking at her out of the corner of my eye for a quick moment.
The rain is coming down harder, and I notice red taillights stopped up ahead. I find I’m not in the least bit upset to be stuck in traffic.
“It’s just me and Jack.”
“But you aren’t close?” I ask, pressing for more information. I want to know her.
She chuckles sadly, then sighs. “It’s complicated.” Mikayla smiles at me but continues, “We kind of grew apart when Dad got sick. He would take Mom’s side a lot. Jack wasn’t home to see what was going onwith her. But I guess she would call him a lot.”
Mikayla frowns when her phone buzzes. I look over and seeMomflash on the screen. She ignores the call and closes her eyes, which makes me frown.
“Have you spoken to her?”
“No” is all she says.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No. Why don’t you tell me about your siblings?” She turns toward me and really looks at me, her head tilted to the side.
I know what she’s doing. But since I know I will have more time with her, I let it pass… for now.
“Well, Hugh was born right after me, then Lance, Tiffany and Patrick.”
“Was it fun having so many siblings?”
I smile. “It was.” I nod, and we ride in silence, just listening to the music in the car.
“Break Mine” by Brothers Osborne plays softly over the speakers.
Then I feel her hand squeezing mine, and I realize I never let her hand go and she never pulled hers away.
I place her hand on my knee and run my thumb over her soft knuckles.
“This is me.” I pull into my drive and shut off the car.
“Oh,” Mikayla sits up. “You can take me to a hotel.” Her eyes dart over to me. She looks at me with surprise in her eyes.
