Page 113 of Every Broken Promise
“Saying he makes me happy makes me feel like an idiot,” she whispered, perfectly describing my current situation.
“Love makes a fool out of all of us,” I joked, because we had to be able to find the bright side in things, right?
Love wasn’t linear. There was no right or wrong way to do it. Loving someone was acknowledging the fact that you were vulnerable but you would trust that person not to hurt you.
Tyler had hurt me, that was true, but he only had pieces of me. We held our friendship pact so tight we were cut by the jagged pieces we left behind.
THIRTY-NINE
There wasa time when I thought the jagged pain that burned every time I took a deep breath would be a singular staple into the rest of my life. I had lost hope that the missing part of me would ever return.
In the last few weeks, I have been sleeping better than I had in years. There wasn’t a sense of dread that I couldn’t seem to shake off.
Adam and EZ talked animatedly over the blueprints we got from our contractor. Every day the new additions to our shop became more real. I couldn’t wait for construction to break. As shallow as it sounded, it was a testament that I had not stayed home in vain.
Astrid left for college, and I wanted to make something of myself so that when she came back, I wouldn’t feel like she left and I didn’t do anything with my life.
“You know what we could do? Themes depending on the season. That way, families could make it fun for their kiddos.”
Both EZ and I looked at Adam and were impressed by his idea.
“Thinking about kids?” EZ teased him.
“Thinking about money,” he replied, raising both hands and moving his thumb against his fingers.
“You have to admit that’s not a bad idea,” I said. “It gives people something to do with their kids, and their car gets cleaned. Especially in the colder months.”
“We should settle on six spaces,” EZ said, turning back to the blueprints. “People can finish drying their car there, and we can have double-sided vacuums.”
The last one was a last-minute addition after brainstorming and determining what could benefit the community. If we were already investing in breaking ground on a car wash, it was logical and convenient to add a vacuum station.
You could feel the excitement in the room.
“If this goes well, we will need to hire more people,” I stated.
The auto shop had always been an extension of our home. Being the youngest one, I was the one who least remembered our mother. I might not have spent much time with her, but I still felt her absence. Her death marked me, I had to get used to what came next in a life where I missed a mother I never knew.
I don’t remember much what life used to be while I had her, but I did know that life after Mom meant coming with Dad to the shop and having pizza in the garage while he worked on cars. Life after Mom meant Mrs. Hart coming over with food so we had a nice home-cooked meal.
“Dad will not take it well if we mention retirement,” Adam joked even though we all knew he was right.
“I think his back will appreciate it if we give him less work. No one is firing him, but it would be nice to have a set schedule to go out and whatnot,” I added.
“Who are you going out with?” Adam wagged his eyebrows at me. “Did Astrid finally forgive you?”
EZ cut me off before I could speak. I wanted someone to know about the new developments Astrid and I have taken. Surely, that means that things were on the right track, right?
“Astrid’s article was good. It made the reader want to go out and try Lupe’s bakery for themselves. I even found myself wanting to go there,” EZ joked.
EZ never joked.
“Did you have something sweet, big bro?” Adam joked. “Did your body go into shock?”
Ezekiel flipped Adam off.
Before Adam could spout some shit, his phone chimed with an annoying alarm sound.
“What the fuck is that?” EZ asked.
