Page 57 of Rules for Rule Breaking
“I can’t right now. I haven’t seen Uncle Eugene in ten years,” he said, tensing up. “Maybe this was a mistake. It was a mistake. We should go.”
“Calm down. He’s your family.”
“My family isn’t like yours. You don’t understand.”
Uncle Eugene’s mouth split into a wide smile when he noticed Bobby. He made his way over and slapped him on the back, much like Robert Sr. often did.
“I’m so happy you called me. You’re just like your father. Smart. Of course he would raise a boy smart enough to go to Princeton. But you’re handsome like me.”
Bobby smiled shyly. “Thank you, Uncle. I’m sorry to call you like this. I was going to call you anyway, even if something hadn’t happened to my car, I swear.”
“No worries. We’re family,” he said, locking Bobby into a firm handshake. Then he looked at Winter. “Your father ran away from his heritage and moved you to that town. I didn’t think he’d ever raise a son who’d date a nice Korean girl.”
Bobby’s face was hot. He didn’t want to slander his father in front of his little brother, but Robert Sr. hadn’t raised a son who was dating a Korean girl.
“Hello, Ajusshi. I’m Soon-hee,” she said, bowing her head slightly.
“It’s nice to meet you. How long have you two been together?” he asked.
“We’ve known each other practically our whole lives.”
“I’m really surprised how you turned out, Bobby. But I’m really proud of you. Now come, both of you. I want to show you the farmer’s market. I fixed her up a little after I bought the place back.”
Bobby found Winter’s eyes, and they exchanged a glance while Uncle Eugene was turned around. Winter shrugged, and they both followed behind Uncle Eugene.
Winter Park
27. WE WILL NOT ENTERTAIN DATING RUMORS
Uncle Eugene walked ahead of Winter and Bobby with his chest puffed out, proudly smiling at passersby. Winter supposed Bobby was the kind of son or nephew someone would be proud of. He was well-mannered, didn’t slouch, and looked like someone who’d read at least one academic paper in his life and understood it.
The three of them walked inVformation like birds flying home for the winter and ended up at an unassuming farmer’s market with black awnings whipping in the breeze and sun-bleached ads for fresh fruits and vegetables. Uncle Eugene saw Bobby admiring a table of rainbow-colored fruits separated into individual cardboard cartons. Winter laughed. She knew he was trying not to fanboy over how organized it was. Each fruit was waxed and glistening in the sun, with the stems all pointing toward the sky. Uncle Eugene grabbed a bright orange persimmon and gave it a shine on his pant leg before presenting it to Bobby, who smiled like a little boy and took it in both hands.
“I’ll be right back. Have a look around,” Uncle Eugene said before heading to the back of the store, where one of his employees was flagging him down.
Winter bit her lip and looked out the corner of her eye at Bobby. “So this is the farmer’s market. There are a lot more jars of assorted artisanal jams than I anticipated.”
Bobby busied himself with turning some jostled pears stem-side up.
“Why didn’t you correct Eugene when he called you my girlfriend?”
Winter froze. “I’ve never been anyone’s girlfriend. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.” Truthfully, she had always wondered what it would be like. So far it wasn’t so bad. She had been Bobby’s pretend girlfriend for only about twenty minutes, and they were already shopping for organic fruits.
“I take who I call my girlfriend very seriously.”
“You takeeverythingseriously,” Winter fired back, but then softened. “I’ll tell Eugene the truth.”
“It’s okay. Let’s not make things awkward for no reason.”
Winter pursed her lips. It wasn’t lost on her that Bobby didn’t correct Eugene either.
“I feel like I should apologize.”
Bobby lifted an eyebrow. “For getting jealous of Jack and wrecking my car?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Robert.”
“Whatever.” Winter could have sworn she saw Bobby smirk before he tossed his hair away from his eyes. “Peace offering?” he asked, handing her the persimmon.
