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“Don’t feel bad. Everybody asks.”
But she did feel bad, he could tell. Nick was eager to answer Hayley’s questions, just so cerebral palsy could seem less like some foreign country to her. But he was willing to bet Hayley’s heart was big enough for her to equate not knowing about his hand controls with not caring about him enough.
“You know one thing you’ve never done?” he asked her.
Hayley glanced at him cautiously. “What?”
“You’ve never told me I should put snow tires on the walker.”
She waited for the punchline. “In August?”
“It’ll snow,” he said, “and somebody’ll always say, ‘You need snow tires on that thing!’ There’s something funny about comparing it to a car, I guess.”
She frowned, puzzled. “It’s not a great joke.”
“I know,” he said. “If they really wanted to show me they understood, they’d notice when life was a little too much, like at Vivez when Bill was staring at my walker like it was a spaceship. They would reach under the table and grab my hand, and I would know everything was okay.” He looked over at her. “But only one person has ever done that.”
Hayley’s smile started in her eyes, and Nick knew they were dancing.
30
If the cars lining the street hadn’t tipped her off, Hayley could’ve spotted the balloons tied to the house’s mailbox. Nick pulled into the vacant driveway.
“Preferred parking,” he said.
He had his hand on the door handle when Hayley caught him by the elbow.
“I know you think this is a good idea,” she said, “but Rose doesn’t know me.”
“You won’t have to put on a show for anybody,” he assured her. “If you’re not glad we’ve come after five minutes, I’ll drive you out of here as quickly as possible.”
He was getting really good at making her smile.
“Safely,” she said.
“I promise I’ll stop at every third red light.”
“Then lead on, rock star.”
Hayley smiled at the sight of children enthusiastically splashing in an inflatable pool as she walked arm in arm with Nick intothe Becketts’ backyard. Gavin waved and jogged toward them with a lawn chair.
“Hey, big man.” He shook Nick’s hand and gave Hayley a hug. “Welcome to the party.”
“Thanks!” Hayley watched Nick lower himself into the chair. “Kind of far away from the crowd, aren’t we?”
“Just thinking ahead.” Nick winked at her before he yelled. “Hey, Rosie Bear!”
A little blond girl radiated pure delight as she scrambled to get out of the pool and run toward them. Watching this little bundle of energy in the hot-pink swim suit was enough to make Hayley melt inside, but it was Nick’s face, and the joy in his eyes, that brought a lump to her throat.
“Uncle Nick!” the little girl squealed. “Uncle Nick!”
“Rosie Bear!” Nick hauled her into his lap as she flung her arms around his neck. “Are you having a fantabulous birthday?”
“Yep!”
“I brought somebody super cool to meet you.” Nick perched her on his knee. “Rosie, this is Hayley. Hayley, this is Rose.”
“We’re best friends,” Rose explained.
