He’s good with Addie when he meets her for the first time. He holds her carefully, and she doesn’t even cry the way sheusually does when strangers try to hold her. His hands support her head, and she grabs his finger, giving him a little smile that would melt anyone’s heart.
“Hi there, baby,” he says to her. “I’m your uncle Will.”
I watch from across the room, and I think, okay, maybe everything will be good this time. Maybe we were worried for nothing.
We weren’t worried for nothing.
By dinner, he’s had too many of Frank’s beers and something else, from the way his eyes look. His words get loose, and when he knocks over a full glass at dinner, he laughs. The table goes quiet one by one, as we all start to realize that this is not one of his good days.
Frank breaks the ice, asking his son if he’s alright. Will says he’s never been better and gets up for another beer.
When Jess is putting Addie down for a nap in her childhood bedroom, Frank takes Will out to the garage for a talk. I’m in the kitchen helping Joyce with dishes when I hear them. Frank’s steady voice and Will’s getting louder.
“I’ll go,” I say when Joyce starts toward the garage door.
I find them in an obvious disagreement, Frank with his arms crossed and Will with his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, ready for a fight. “Will,” I start, walking down the stairs to stand beside Frank. “Maybe it’s time to call it a night.”
“Stay out of this, Nolan,” he grumbles back. “Why do you always gotta ruin everything?”
That doesn’t feelgoodto hear, but I push on, telling myself he’s drunk. “Nobody’s trying to ruin anything. We think—”
“We.” He laughs that mean laugh. “It’s we now. That’s cute. Y’all are one big happy family.”
Frank scoffs, shaking his head at his son’s antics. “Will—”
“You love it, don’t you?” He takes a step closer to me, jabbing a finger at my chest. Frank puts a hand on his arm, but he shakes it off. “Coming in here, playing the good son. Must be nice, taking somebody else’s family.”
“Boy, that’s enough,” Frank says.
There’s something beneath the anger in his eyes, another emotion hidden there, but I don’t know what, and I don’t care right now. His words still hurt.
This is the only familyI have left.
“You think they actually care about you? You’re a replacement for me. Their real son left, so they need you to fill the spot.”
“What’s gotten into you—” Frank argues from my side, but I talk over him, my narrowed gaze locked on Will’s.
“You need to leave.”
“If anyone needs to leave,” he steps closer. “It’s you. This ismyhome.Myparents.”
Frank steps between us before I can say anything else, his hands on Will’s chest, pushing him back away from me. “That’s enough, son. I’m calling you a taxi. You can wait outside.”
Will doesn’t say goodbye when he leaves. Doesn’t say anything else. Just leaves the same mess behind that he always does.
Now
“I told you not to wear something stupid.”
“What’s wrong with this?” I look down at my sweater. Joyce got it for me a few weeks ago as an early Christmas gift. It’s maroon. Has Christmas trees on it arranged in neat rows. It’s festive, and I think it looks nice.
Will shakes his head, a look of disbelief on his face, before he steps forward, takes my face in both hands, and kisses me, right in the entryway.
When he pulls back, leaving us both slightly out of breath, he looks back down at my sweater with a scoff. “You’re just lucky you have a good ass.”
“I don’t know why you keep saying that. It’s not true.”
“For someone who’s supposed to be smart, you’re kind of an idiot, you know that?” He pulls the front door open, nodding his head toward the car parked in the driveway. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”
