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I felt someone standing behind me while we talked to Flynn’s family.
“You need to get that check in the bank, pronto,” Skippy whispered. “Remember where we are.”
I pushed at him, laughing. “Get lost.” When he wouldn’t leave, I introduced him to Flynn’s family. “My boss.”
“But not for long, correct?” his dad asked.
“Ixnay, Baba,” Flynn said, chuckling. “Private news.”
“Afwan,” Mr. Safadi mumbled, winking at me. I already knew that meantsorryand grinned at him, raising my eyebrows.
Skippy pushed his way into the group and talked to Mrs. Safadi, her daughter, and Flynn while Mr. Safadi sidled up to me.
“You don’t like Christmas.” When I protested, he put his hand on my arm. “I understand, my dear. When I was a young man, my brother was killed at the end of the civil war in Lebanon during the War of Liberation. I was already in the United States. I’ll never forget what it was like for us in the US. It was in eighty-nine. We had a huge Lebanese population already. I had already opened my first Christmas store on the east side when we got the news of his murder in late October.”
We held hands as he told the story. Flynn and the others had stopped their conversation and were listening. “I didn’t want to go on, to open for Christmas that year. Flynn’s mother, Amina, forced me to look at what I had already built, and that I couldn’t let it go. I learned to work through my grief. Every year after that, I planned a new store location in honor of my brother.”
All I could do was nod. Flynn took my hand from his father’s hand. He kissed his father and started the goodbyes.
To his father, I mouthed, “Thank you.” I was too emotional to speak.
“Take the night off,” Skippy yelled.
“I’m already off,” I replied. I looked at Flynn. “Are we still having a sleepover?”
“Yes.”
He led me to his car. I wanted the numbness to leave my body so I could enjoy the time with Flynn.
“I feel like I’m in shock,” I said. “This is not the way I wanted us to start our time together.”
“We don’t have to do a thing,” he replied. “I’m taking the rest of the day off. We’ll just chill. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful. You can talk to me about the operating room.”
“Ha! One of those. All work and no play.”
“I’m excited about going. It’s like a beacon ahead of me. I don’t even care that I might be running away.”
“Bella, you’re not running away. You might run toward something life-changing. Look, I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to be your father here.”
“You could never be George in a million years,” I said, scoffing.
“Stop. George is a great guy. You know what he said to me? He said, ‘You’re like the dream son-in-law.’”
I gawked at him. “What the hell!”
Flynn roared with laughter. “Bella, I had said, ‘I’m in love with your daughter.’ His response was completely appropriate.”
“Be careful. George is rarely appropriate,” I said.
“Just that you can give a negative view to anything if you look hard enough. Everything you’ve done in the past month has been positive. You saved me! We met. You made peace with your parents. You took the state boards and passed. You decided to accompany me on the trip. I’m in love with you!”
I felt a little skittish but didn’t want to laugh. He was making me sound like such a catch! If he only knew how foreign all of that sounded to me. I didn’t expect him to grab me for a hug, and I yelped when he reached across the center console. I had upset him.
“I love you so much,” he murmured. “What can I do to make you see how wonderful you are?”
I hugged him back. “Flynn, I don’t think that’s your job. Just stay by me while I move forward. You’re going to tire of being my cheering section.”
