Page 120 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

He took the keys out of her hand and put them in the ignition and turned it. It took a few tries but started up with a puff of black smoke and he shut it off.

“That’s going to stink everything up,” he said. “I’ll see if I can find someone to look it over.”

“Bring it to Carter Bond. He could work on it, I’m sure.”

“I’d rather do that and not take it off the island if I didn’t have to. I won’t wait either,” he said.

“Good,” she said. “It’s funny that you won’t wait for something like work on a truck but won’t open envelopes.”

“It’s not the same,” he said.

They got out of the truck and moved around the storage unit looking at different pieces. Some Van took a note off of and read and put it back. There were so many interesting things and stories and they’d been here for over an hour already. It’d take a lot more time than that to go through everything.

“Do you want me to go get some lunch?” she asked. “We could be in here for a bit.”

“We can go together,” he said. “Maybe pick up a few sandwiches.”

“We can sit in the back of the truck to eat them,” she said. “Just like your grandparents did.”

“Very cute.”

“I wasn’t trying to be cute,” she said. “I was being sentimental. I know you think everything I do is a joke, but it’s not. Now if I said we can get naked and down and dirty back there, that would be a joke. Because, you know, it’s dirty back there.”

“Okay, why don’t you go get us some sandwiches,” he said. “I’m going to move some things out of the way to be able to get the truck to the end. Maybe we can take it out for a ride. We won’t go far.”

“Really?” she asked, almost jumping up and down.

“Sure. If I can get it started again. There are even plates on this damn thing. It’s probably still registered too.”

“Your lawyer would know that. You didn’t see any paperwork on it?”

“Do you know how much paperwork I’ve got?” he asked. “I don’t even know. I either overlooked it or your father has it. I wouldn’t put it past the possibility your dad has it since he knew about this locker.”

“You’re probably right. I had no idea my father could be so secretive. I wonder if my mother knew that.”

She got out of the truck and left to get them lunch and came back twenty minutes later.

The truck was pulled out of the unit and it was running.

“So far so good,” he said. “It’s got a full tank of gas. Why don’t we just take it a few miles and park? I’m afraid to shut it off somewhere though to eat in case we can’t get it started again.”

She hopped into the cab with him and put her seatbelt on. “This could be dangerous. No airbags or anything.”

“No power steering. Power anything. Good thing it’s not hot out because we’d have to crank the windows down ourselves and I’m not sure you could do it.”

She flexed her arm. “I’m strong. I’ve put up with you for months.”

He smiled at her. A real smile that reached his eyes. “You have. Which is why I gave in to taking this for a ride. And when we come back, we can return it inside but keep it on the end and have lunch in the back if you want.”

“Thank you, Van,” she said. “Good to know I’m rubbing off on you.”

“You’re rubbing off on me more than you’ll ever know.”

She turned her head to look at him as they pulled out of the parking lot. “Van, you’ve come so far. Do you know that?”

“I don’t need an atta boy,” he said.

“I’m not giving you one. I’m telling you that you’ve been through so much. And though I think you’re slower than molasses on a winter day, you still have come a long way. I’m not sure how I would have felt if I were in your shoes.”

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