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Thankfully, I hadn’t seen her in years, and it made it easier to move on.
I made it to the shop in record time and threw myself into work. My father had left me the shop when he retired four years ago. It had been in the family for three generations now. My grandfather was a mechanic, my father was a mechanic, and so was I.
I could have had the opportunity to leave Riverroad and find myself a nice cushy job in New York working in finance, but I didn’t want to. I had gone to college to please my mother but working in corporate for some big, stuck-up company was not in my blood. I preferred a simpler way of life, and Riverroad offered me that. My parents were here, Ethan was here, and all I had ever known was here.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I put the wrench down and cleaned the oil from my hands. Looking at the screen, I saw that it was my mother.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hey, sweet boy. How are you?”
I smiled. “I’m fine, Mom. How are you?”
“I’m okay. I’m leaving Ethan’s. I gave him a few casseroles that should last him a good week.”
“That’s good. So, you’re heading home now?”
“Mm-hmm.” There was a tone in her voice that I didn’t quite understand. “So, Ethan and I got to talking, and he told me that Jade was coming back.”
There it was. She had been trying to steer us towards this conversation.
“Yep, she should be landing early tomorrow morning. She’ll be staying with Ethan.”
“She will be at the funeral.”
“I mean she would have to be. It is her mother she is burying.”
“I know, I know.” I could hear the nervousness in her voice. “Are you sure you are going to be okay seeing her? You know, after all of these years.”
“I will be, Mom,” I snapped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lash out. I’m just under an immense amount of pressure and talking about Jade isn’t helping anything.”
She sighed into the receiver. “I know and I’m sorry. Don’t worry, my boy, she will be in and out before you know it and then life will resume as normal.”
I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see it.
“I got to go. I need to finish up this car so Victor can come and pick it up before the end of the day.”
“Okay, I will leave you to it, Gray. I love you.”
“I love you, too. See you later.” Then I ended the call.
Tomorrow, she would be here. She would be back in Riverroad after all these years, and I didn’t know what to do. I still had so much emotion inside me, and none of it was good.
I just prayed I could get through the funeral without having to speak with her.
