Page 11 of Byte

Somehow, we managed to make it back out to my truck without running into anyone. The clubhouse was never empty, especially on the weekends.

“That was weird, right?” Gabby asked as soon as I pulled out onto the road.

“Shhh! Don’t say anything else. I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Really? You believe in jinxes?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not overly superstitious, but I don’t see any reason to push my luck when I don’t have to.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much how I am, too. Do I really think spilling salt will bring me bad luck? No. But tossing a pinch over my left shoulder is super easy, so why not do it?”

“Oh, that reminds me. We should probably pick up something for dinner on the way home,” I suggested.

“That works for me.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere’s fine.”

“Oh, no. You’re the picky eater, not me.”

“I’m not a picky eater,” she insisted.

“Maybe not now, but you used to be. You wouldn’t even eat macaroni and cheese. All kids eat mac and cheese.”

“I still won’t eat it if it came out of a box. I don’t care what anybody says. Cheese is not supposed to be that color. No thanks,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“It’s hard to forget almost getting your ass kicked over macaroni and cheese,” I grumbled.

“Say what now?”

I sighed. “You’d been living with Keegan for a few months when this happened. One weekend, I walked into the kitchen at the clubhouse to get something to eat and found your sister staring into the pantry with tears running down her face. I put my hand on her shoulder and asked if she was okay. She started sobbing, so I hugged her. She was steadily soaking my shirt and telling me all about how she was afraid you were going to starve because you wouldn’t eat anything, not even macaroni and cheese, and she didn’t know what to do. I leaned back to tell her everything would be okay, and that’s when Shaker walked in.”

Gabby threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, I can only imagine,” she said and lowered her voice to imitate Shaker. “Get your hands off my wifey.”

I grinned. “Yeah, that’s exactly what he said. Then Keegan threw the box of macaroni at him and told him to stop being an asshole. That’s when I grabbed a box of Little Debbie’s and bolted.”

“Did that happen often?” Gabby asked quietly.

“What? Shaker wanting to kick my ass?”

“No, Keegan crying about me,” she clarified.

“Oh,” I said, suddenly realizing I may have inadvertently upset her. “No, I don’t think so. It had more to do with her own insecurities than you. She went from being a single woman working toward a business goal to a married woman with a newly adopted five-year-old in a matter of months. Back then, James was the only other kid around, and he was still a babycompared to you. So, she felt like she didn’t know what she was doing and didn’t have anyone in the same boat to talk to. I do remember your grandmother coming for an extended visit after the mac attack day, and I’m sure the reason was to help her get things figured out.”

“I never knew any of that.”

“Good. You weren’t supposed to. And if anyone brings it up, you still don’t know,” I added.

“Oh, come on. I was looking forward to giving Shaky Jakey shit about his mac attack,” she teased.

“Shaky Jakey,” I laughed. “I haven’t heard that in years.”

“It’s an oldie but a goodie.”

“All right, food. What are we getting?” I asked.

“Pizza?” she suggested.

---