Webb widened his eyes significantly.Like you had a better idea?
“Ohhhhh, of course! Good Lord, Lukey, why didn’t you say so?” she chided. “And here I am, rattling on like a ninny?—”
“Not at all,” Webb assured her. “You sound like a mother who loves her son very much. And it’s pretty clear he loves you, too.”
Over Webb’s shoulder, I saw my mom beam. “You were right about him, Luke!” she croaked. “Webb Sunday is really the sweetest man?—”
Aaaaand that was the moment when I melted right into a puddle of embarrassment, right there on the floor of the trailer. The End.
“I don’t know if I saidthat, precisely,” I protested… utterly unconvincingly, since that had been exactly what I’d said.
My mom ignored me. “Webb, honey, tell me—are you single?”
Would you look at that? Turned out I wasn’t dead, because the universe had more mortification in store for me.Yay.
“Uh. Yes? I have a son, Aiden, who’s in Luke’s class?—”
“Oh, that’s right! The one with the drawings who’s such a brilliant scientist. Did he ever lose his other front tooth? I know he was worried about it.”
Webb gave me a look I didn’t know how to interpret. “Yeah,” he said softly. “A couple weeks back.”
“Good, good.” She lowered her voice. “Aiden’s Luke’s favorite student, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Oookay.” I snatched the phone back. “That’s enough of that. You know I don’t have favorites,” I said reprovingly. Not officially anyway.
She grinned, unrepentant, and a wave of homesickness crashed over me. Gosh, it was good to see her grin. And with so much color in her cheeks.
“You’re looking really good. Aunt Sue taking good care of you?”
“Of course. You look wonderful, too, sweetheart. Maybe a little tired, though. Are you drinking enough?”
“Oh, plenty,” I assured her, and Webb snorted. I knew without a doubt he was thinking of Rusty Spikes.
“Lukey, you’re such a handsome boy, honey. With those freckles and those pretty eyes?—”
“God,stop.” My cheeks were on fire, and I could tell by her mischievous smile that she knew exactly what she was doing.
She tucked her tongue into her cheek, and her eyes danced. “Tell him, Webb! Doesn’t he have the prettiest eyes?”
“Well, actually?—”
“Don’t you dare answer,” I told him quickly. “Gotta go, Mom. I’ll call you again soon.”
She sighed. “Send me pictures of the sheep, or I’m gonna come up there and see them for myself. Love you, Lukey.”
I assured her that I loved her, too, before we hung up… though I couldn’t rememberwhyat that moment.
“Wow.” I cleared my throat and set the phone on the counter. “That was intensely mortifying.”
“It’s sweet,” Webb corrected. “My mom died when I was seven, but I like to think she’d’ve been like yours. You love her a lot.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “Yeah.” My throat went tight. “I do.”
“And she’s… sick?”
“Her lungs, yeah. It was touch and go there for a minute. She’s doing better now, but I still worry.” I shrugged.
Webb nodded. He didn’t ask me why I’d lied about my situation up here. He didn’t assure me that she’d be fine or remind me to think positively. He just watched me silently. Patiently.
