Page 41 of Years in the Making

“Oh, I definitely thought you were hot and I absolutely wanted to feel these lips.” His thumb continues to trace. “But it was the glasses that made me think ‘her.’” Okay, commence melting. “It’s the same voice that makes me look at Mr. Bates and think ‘asshole.’” The spell breaks when we both start to laugh. It feels like all the tension that had been building releases at once, and I feel a sense of relief as we slip back into each other’s easy presence.

Around eleven, Teddy reluctantly pulls himself from my embrace. He has to be at work for seven and still has to drive home. I tell him he should have brought more clothes, and he reminds me that he hadn’t even planned to stay over one night, let alone two. I’d prefer he never go at this point. Tying him up and forcing him to remain seems a bit extreme though, and I suppose, very illegal.

At the door, I manage to stretch our goodbye out so by the time I hear the car door close it’s eleven thirty. I fall asleep to the sounds of a hushed argument featuring Mr. Bates and his nemesis and my lips still tingling from Teddy’s kisses.

In the morning there’s a single text from Teddy.

Enviro Guy

xxxxx

I can’t help running my fingers over my lips, remembering our goodbye last night. It’s one of those moments I’m glad I’m alone for because I don’t need my family asking why I’m floating around the house like Sleeping Beauty after the dance in the woods with the prince. I want to reply with language that would be inappropriate for this early in a relationship. This is very much the honeymoon stage, and I have to rein myself in a bit.

Xxxxxxx

Thank you again for taking care of me. It was the best sick experience I’ve ever had.

I spend the next several hours waiting for a reply that never comes.

SIXTEEN

TEDDY

The team is giving me shit for staying up late watching some British soap opera when my boss pulls up behind the truck. I glare back at them as they continue to recount just how many times I yawned before we break for lunch. Dale certainly doesn’t need to know how tired I am as I’m sure he’d have something to say about me feeding tree parts into the wood chipper. I need the shifts because I need the paycheck.

As Dale comes into view, the teasing stops abruptly.

He points to me and gestures for me to step onto the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?” I ask when I reach him and he can hear me without yelling above the chainsaw above us.

“It’s your mom. You’ve gotta come with me.”

“What about her?” He looks at the ground instead of me and I know but I still need to hear it. “Dale, what about my mom?”

He looks up again and over at the team lead before his eyes finally meet mine. “She’s gone.”

The chainsaw is suddenly too loud. My coworkers yelling at one another filling up every millisecond of silence when itstops. Then a buzzing. Not the saw or an insect, just a static buzzing that I can feel in my eyes and throughout my body.

“Teddy?” I barely register my name being called until I feel Dale’s hand land on my arm.

I give my head a shake, and the sounds around me die down as I focus my attention on my boss again.

He said she was gone. A tiny voice in my head asks where she’s gone. She can’t drive, she doesn’t go on walks by herself. She can’t just be gone without help. “My dad?”

“He’s at the hospital. Your brother called and asked me to come get you.”

“And take me to the hospital?”

“To the house.”

Right, she’s gone. Why would I need to go to the hospital?

“Right.” I’m suddenly unsure of what to do next. “So I’ll just…” I look around and realize that other than my bag, there is nothing for me to grab. So I just gesture to his truck and then follow. The expressions of my coworkers seem frozen in a state of pity as we drive by. Hands raise in unenthusiastic waves which I return. It all kind of seems automatic, like my body is doing what it should be doing, without me having to think about it.

The drive home is quiet. Dad’s car is gone, but Will’s is here. The only time I ever see Will’s car here is when he’s on Mom duty.

“Don’t worry about work, okay?” I hear Dale say.

I nod and slip out of the truck without so much as a thanks for the lift as my legs carry me towards the front door. The door opens as I’m reaching for the handle, and Will is there, already pulling me in for a hug. This is weird, we don’t hug. My brother isnota hugger; he’d sooner punch me in the stomach as a form of greeting than hug me. My arms wrap loosely around him as he holds me like a vice. Zoe is on the couch just staring offinto the distance, and I want to push Will off so I can go see what’s wrong.She’s gone, you idiot, I remind myself.

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