Page 115 of Rook

Tessa - 28 years

“Hey, Ma,” Hawk’s voice filled the store as his face filled my phone screen.

He had sunburn on the sensitive skin under his eyes and what looked like a bruise on his jaw.

My adventurous, outdoorsy kid. All grown up. But just as prone to accidents as he’d been as a boy.

He looked so much like his father, even if he’d inherited my eyes. Even that strawberry hair that had been his as a boy had darkened to his father’s darker reddish-brown. He kept it a lot longer than Rook ever had. It gave him a roguish look that no doubt helped him attract all those girls who were constantly showing up next to him on his social media accounts. Not one of them seemed important enough to ever tell us about.

And, hey, so long as he was happy, we were happy with whatever relationship situation he had going on.

He was that, too.

Happy.

Even-tempered.

No signs of mania or depression.

And age-wise, he was past the point of most people’s onset of bipolar disorder.

It seemed like all those experts we’d worriedly consulted once were right.

“Hey, bud. What are you up to?” I asked.

To that, he gave me a big smile.

“I’m coming home.”

“What?” I gasped, heart swelling.

He did come home whenever his journeys brought him in the general vicinity. And, of course, on Christmas, as well as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

“Whoa,” Hawk said, wincing, making me realize I may have just squealed. A little.

“Sorry! When?”

“Well, tonight. If my flight takes off on time. Any idea what Uncle Detroit is making for dinner?”

“Well, now he’s making all your favorites,” I said, getting a laugh out of my kid. “What’s the occasion?”

To that, he took a slow, deep breath that had my spine tingling, worried he’d broken a leg in three places or something.

“I’m prospecting.”

“Wait… what?”

While most of his cousins had been talking since childhood about wanting to be part of the club someday, Hawk had never said anything of the like.

“Feels like the right time,” Hawk said, shrugging off my shock.

“But… since when?”

“Since I’ve been thinking about it.”

“When’s the last time you even rode a bike?”

“Been a bit. But I hear it’s… you know… like riding a bike.”

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