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“Why didn’t you tell me!” Mom added.
Oh wow, this was all of a sudden getting out of hand. I’d only wanted them to connect with each other, not mother me. “It’s not that bad—”
“And then see what that as—skater did? Keep watching.” Jonah was really getting into this autopsy of what had been a very simple hit.
Mom’s lips thinned as she watched it all again. “That’s it. I’m talking to Coach Sennett about keeping you out for a while,” Mom announced.
Oh hell no.
“I lied,” I said in desperation.
They stared at me again, but this time, it was all confusion.
“Lied about what?” Mom frowned; Jonah raised an eyebrow.
“My back is fine. I’m fine; it’s all good. But the only thing you have in common is me, and it was a conversation-starter because you’re sitting here all awkward, and I didn’t want it to be awkward. Mom, you need to talk to Jonah, and try to get to know him because he’ll be around for a long time, and, Jonah, please say something about something… I mean anything would be good.”
Jonah bit his lip, and he and Mom exchanged glances. Was he going to make a dramatic speech about how he was sorry about hanging around with Felix, and how things were changing, and he was changing and…
But no.
“I have more photos of Tyler. Do you want to see them?”
This was not where I had seen things going, but when he pointed out that all my mom needed to do was scroll in the folder she was looking at, then boy did she scroll. I helped myself to more chocolate dessert, and scraped my plate until it was completely clean, and in that time, Jonah had moved around to sit next to my mom, the two of them huddled over the phone.
“I can send you a copy of anything you want,” Jonah said. “Also, I did some in black and white, do you want those?”
“I want them all,” Mom announced, and glanced over at me. “Jonah is gifted at capturing images of you,” she said, and I nodded. Something passed between us, an unspoken discussion about Jonah that ended with her offering me a cautious smile. Then, the smile turned devious. “Jonah, do you want to see some photos I have?” she asked, and I about died on the spot.
“Not the baby photos, Mom,” I said quickly.
But she’d already left the table and headed for the study, Jonah in her wake. I left them to it, clearing the table, smiling whenever I heard laughter from what used to be my dad’s domain, generally after Mom commented on something I was doing, or wearing, or eating, in all my toddler photos. When Dad had left just after my ninth birthday, the two of us had stripped that room of everything, right back to the sheetrock, and we’d painted the whole room in shades of pink and purple. There were still handprints from where we’d had a paint fight, never removed because each mark meant something. Now, there were beanbags in there, and buckets of photos and games, and it was ours. What used to be the evil center of the house had become a safe space.
I loaded the dishwasher, then ambled down the hall, catching my name, and stopping outside where they couldn’t see me. I didn’t want to interrupt any kind of bonding that might be happening.
“… I know,” my mom finished, although other than my name, I hadn’t caught much of what she said.
“It’s all on me,” I heard Jonah say. “If I’d been stronger, or more determined, hadn’t been so stupidly scared for no reason… I let Tyler down, even though I wanted to be a friend, and I wish I could go back and for it all to be different.”
“Oh, Jonah,” Mom said and then, it went quiet for a while. “I wish you could go back as well. He’s seen enough in his life, which makes it so hard for me to…” She stopped talking. “Just promise me you’ll be good for him.”
“Always,” Jonah replied.
I tiptoed back to the kitchen, then called out to ask if anyone wanted a drink. The two of them came out of the study, and I acted as if I hadn’t heard Jonah pouring his heart out to my mom. By the time Jonah’s dad arrived to pick him up, Jonah and Mom had bonded over photos and talked about memories, and somehow things had shifted.
I couldn’t be happier when Jonah’s dad was chatting out on the porch for half an hour, despite turning down an invitation to come in by saying he wouldn’t stay long. Seemed he had a lot to say about everything, and my mom wasn’t shy on debating the merits of caffeine over decaf.
They both thought that decaf was the work of the devil.
At least, that is the part I heard—the rest was lost in the fact that Jonah and I found a quiet corner and spent the entire time kissing.
I could get used to this.
Our first officialdate was my choice, and I knew Jonah was regretting his suggestion that I decided where to go. Even taller in skates, he hadn’t let go of the side of the rink yet, despite me offering a hand.
“I’m taller and bigger, and I will pull you down,” he kept saying every time he ignored my outstretched hand.
“Just one lap, and then pizza,” I said for the tenth time, grinning at him and darting closer to steal kisses. The rink was quiet tonight, closed to the public, two-thirds cordoned off for figure skaters, and the other third emptying after a toddler group had finished. All of the toddlers had trainers in the shape of teddies, and I could see Jonah eyeing one as if it might be a lifesaver. We’d only been allowed here because I knew the owner, who knew my mom, and we had exactly one hour to enjoy the empty space.
