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“Ha, I doubt it, boss.”
“Well, I don’t want to say I saw this coming, but I saw this coming.”
“Yeah, yeah, Mr. Matchmaker. I’m sure you did.”
“I just knew something was there. Glad to see my intuition is still spot-on.”
“Hm, did you predict that we’d been together before?”
Don’s eyes widen.
I hold back my laugh.Got Mr. Matchmaker now.
He raises his fist and shakes it in the air while cheering. “I knew it! Wow, I’m even better than I thought.”
“No, you didn’t,” I say, but I laugh because he probably did.
“Good luck to you. Remember, life’s battles can be fought together. Because what doesn’t tear you two apart will only make you stronger. And fuck what everyone else thinks. It’s your relationship, not theirs.”
Don lost his wife several years ago. Cancer took her out pretty quickly, and he still talks about her like she’s here. Keeps pictures of her on his desk. He’s never remarried and says he never will. There’s a huge heart inside that guy. It’s something I admire. So I listen to his advice and take it in.
Don’s face drops, and he visibly sighs. But then he looks at me and smiles. “Get on out of here. There are cars to fix and people to see. Don’t forget about me, kid.”
“I won’t. See you around.” I give him a nod and take one last look around the garage. The garage that started it all.
It feels like a second home to me, and my stomach tightens at the thought of no longer working here, getting lost under hoods while forgetting all the shit in my head.
But I’ll find it in California.
Or maybe I’ll just open my own place.
* * *
I pace in front of the living room doorway and try to come up with the best way to tell my dad the news.
A part of me doesn’t want to leave him here, but his brother, my uncle, offered to keep an eye on him.
“You need to go live your life. Your dad will be fine. He’s doing well with his sobriety. In fact, he promised to attend AA meetings with me. It hasn’t happened yet, but maybe this will be the push he needs,” Uncle Tom says over a cup of coffee in my kitchen.
“That would help him. I know he struggles a lot.”
“Your mother’s death has been hard on him.”
“It was hard on all of us.”
“I know, Ty. I know. But she would be so proud of you and Levi. Don’t forget that.”
Now, if only my dad could be so understanding.
I stand in the doorway and watch him for a moment before I walk in. He doesn’t notice me, lost in whatever show he’s watching.
I can already tell by the look on his face this will not go well.
He looks absolutely miserable.
Either he’ll be mad I’m leaving or he won’t care. Whatever happens, I just gotta deal with it.
“Hey, Dad,” I say as I walk in. I sit on the couch, closest to his recliner.
