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“I’m moving in with my wife. But I still wanna carpool. It saves gas,” he said with a shrug.
“Well, motorcycles get like forty miles to the gallon. You should get one, too.” I wagged my brows and snorted when Shelby’s eyes bulged out of her head.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she warned, glaring at me. “Don’t rope him into your midlife crisis.”
“Whoa? Who you callin’ old? If I’m in midlife already I’m gonna be pretty sad,” I joked.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Donna chimed in, her take on it not surprising anyone. “Between your father’s new skydiving obsession and you wanting to get a motorcycle, I feel like all of my boys are trying to kill me.”
My eyes met Aria’s across the table then, and though she hadn’t offered her opinion on the motorcycle thing, there was a slight crease in her brow when her mom looped me in as one of “her boys.” Or at least I thought it was in response to that. Because I sat here with an ache in my chest every time I looked at her soft lips, and I hated the reminder of the family thing as soon as Donna said it.
“What about me? I’m not trying to kill you,” Paul said. “I’m responsible.”
“You’re a parachute packing, air delivery Marine who is responsible for my husband taking up skydiving. You’re the worst of them all,” Donna said, punctuating her statement by sticking a bite of chicken in her mouth.
“True,” he conceded, then turned to me. “Well, I don’t know if Shelby’s going to let me get a bike, and it’s a bummer you don’t want to carpool with me anymore, but I guess I’m happy for you. That’ll be cool.”
Narrowing my eyes at him over the rim of my water glass, I took a sip and then put it down with a sigh. “See? That’s where you went wrong, my friend. If you didn’t have that ball and chain you wouldn’t have to worry about not being allowed to get a bike.”
Shelby knew I was teasing, but she scowled at me just the same. Then Paul put his arm around her and kissed her temple. “If I didn’t have this ball and chain, we wouldn’t even be talking about this because you’d still be my carpool buddy.”
Just as quickly as her peaceful expression appeared, Shelby frowned again and pushed him off her with a laugh. “I thought you were going to yell at him for calling me your ball and chain.”
“Why? I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He leaned down and kissed her then, causing the rest of us to groan and give them crap for being so mushy at the dinner table. Paul leaned back and laughed, waving us off. “All right, all right. Sorry.”
The rest of the meal was lighter, but I noticed Aria never piped in about the bike idea. Did she simply have no opinion? That must be the case, because Aria had never been the kind of girl to keep her opinions to herself. She spoke her mind. It was one of the things I loved about her.
When dinner wrapped up, Aria and I helped clear the table amidst jokes about more calamities. We brushed it off but considering what happened just before she’d run into me, we avoided each other’s gazes like we were in a competition to see who could do it better.
Paul and Shelby had taken off right after dinner. It seemed our days of carpooling were ending sooner than expected thanks to how much time they liked to spend alone. But just like I had when I was a kid, I stayed back, lingering without even realizing that was what I was doing. Old habits died hard, it seemed.
“Thanks, Will,” Donna said when I finished drying the last plate. “I always appreciate your help cleaning up.”
The corners of my mouth tugged up and I nodded. “You’re welcome.”
“When you were little, I thought it was sweet. I figured your mama was really bringing you up right. You were such a helper, always staying late and pitching in around here even after my own kids ran off to play.”
A knot formed in my stomach, but I gave her a small smile. “I just liked to help you.”
“You did. And eventually, I wondered why you never wanted to go home.”
I didn’t have a reply for her, the words were stuck behind a hard lump in my throat. Donna rarely talked about my parents, my situation, or anything in my past that didn’t include her and the good memories I had because of her. Why did she feel the need to bring this up tonight?
“Will, I need to apologize to you,” she said after a beat, putting down her dish towel and straightening her petite frame.
I blinked at her. “For what?”
“For not knowing what was going on over there until it was too late.”
Guilt washed over me, and I looked down. “Well, I could have told you. But instead, I tried really hard to keep it from you.”
“I’m no expert in these things, but I’m sure there’s a laundry list of reasons you didn’t want us to find out. But once we did, I swear it was like a million little things that should have clued me in slapped me right in the face, and I’ve always felt terrible that we couldn’t help you sooner.”
I met her eyes then, not wanting her to feel an ounce of guilt where it concerned me. “I owe you guys my life. You have nothing to feel terrible for. I don’t know where I’d be right now if it weren’t for you and Joe. And Paul. And… Aria. Probably dead. You guys are my family.”
Donna’s eyes were wet when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. I returned her hug, closing my eyes to keep them from making their own tears. There was no way I was going to cry right now. I hadn’t cried since I was a scared little kid, and I wasn’t going to start now.
After a moment, Donna pulled back and grabbed the tops of my shoulders. “Listen to me, Will. I want you to know I’m proud of you. I’m proud of the man you’ve become despite where you came from. And I’m glad you’re back in town for a while.”
