Page 6 of Game Changer

“You are such a baby.” I laugh.

He takes a swig before continuing, “Being the baby boy of this big old family has its perks.”

I answer while taping up the final case of dried goods, “Including getting away with way more than any of us ever dreamed of.”

I catch Dad flinching slightly, and I know he’s taking some sort of responsibility for sheltering me so much that the first guy I gave my heart to shattered it.

I point the tape gun at him. “That’s not your cross to carry; I made my own decisions.” I aim it at Mom next. “Not everyone falls in love like you two did and does whatever it takes to make it work.”

Dad gives Mom a wink. “Priority one.”

A blush creeps across her face.

AJ catches it and swiftly heads toward the door. “I’m outta here. It’s getting to?—”

“Love’s not contagious.” I laugh after him.

Dad calls to him, “You mind helping me pack up the SUV?”

“I can get them to the post office,” I tell them.

“Not like I have anything else to do until college starts back up,” AJ says as he heads back toward the towering twelve cases to be shipped to a candy store in South Florida. “I can follow you to the post office and unload.”

“Thank you, AJ.”

He tries not to react, but I see the dimple on his left cheek deepen.

AJ hit a major growth spurt during the pandemic, which happened to be when Mom and Dad moved from Binghamton to Blue Valley. While I was in my master’s program, he went from the husky boy who loved video games and a full belly, who pouted when Uncle Alex made him play sports, to the young man who woke up and decided he was going to play football, baseball, and basketball. Post-pandemic AJ had the girls of Blue Valley High swooning. Now he plays college football for Empire State U, a Division 2 school, and loves it. He also tends to teeter on the line, often leaning more toward cocky instead of confident, and I feel it’s my job to tease him relentlessly about making sure he doesn’t stop being the gentleman he was raised to be. He’s still sugary-sweet down deep, but it takes a little bit more digging to get to that spot when he stands a massive six-foot-four.

He smiles at me, all sweet. “I go back on Wednesday; you think?—”

“I’ll have everything ready for you by Tuesday.”

“You’re the best, Sydney, and I don’t care if the others know I think so.”

“Let’s keep that a secret. Best not break all their hearts.” I laugh.

“Love you, Aunt Molly,” he calls as he heads out the door, carrying four giant boxes full of freeze-dried goodness.

I stand still, watching them load all the boxes up.

Mom laughs “You going to be all right?”

“Forgive me if I’m a little emotional. That order paid off one of those three new machines.” I turn and look at her. “AndI gave them a discount.”

“That’s incredible!”

Trying not to get too excited, I shake my head. “I’ll ride this fad out as long as I can, but I want to focus on the other side of it, too—the natural side—and, of course, the bakery.”

“Your uncle Jake said you could market as one of those preppers, he offered to do promo videos.” Mom laughs from behind me.

“That’s not my brand. Not how I wanna live, or anyone else to live, for that matter.”

Mom saddles up beside me and grabs a sponge.

“You’ve helped plenty; I can do this.”

“You’ve been here twelve hours on your day off.” She nudges me with her hip. “You’re teaching and running this …” She pauses and laughs. “I can’t say little business anymore, because it’s grown exponentially. Take the help so you don’t burn out.”

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