Page 57 of A Second Chance

“You think I should?”

“You’re supposed to be the smart one here,” Avery fiddled with the key in the door.

“If that’s the case, we’re all doomed.”

Avery hung her bag on the hook behind the door. Gwen stepped in and deposited her purse and jacket on the same two hooks she always used. Somehow, after a nomadic upbringing, she’d become a creature of habit.

“But you like this one. You’ve seemed really happy since he started coming around,” she said, with concern in her eyes. “And he’s crazy about you.”

Gwen’s heart squeezed. She should try to talk to him. They should be grown-ups. It wasn’t that bad of an argument. “I guess,” she said.

Avery stared at her as they crossed the room. “Why do I feel like I’m missing something here?”

“No,” she replied. “I have no clue why he won’t tell me this after some other things we’ve talked out. About his injuries and stuff.”

Avery opened the fridge and pulled out a drink. “All right,” she didn’t sound convinced.

Did she dare open up about her most humiliating moment? How would Avery react? Would she still approve of Jason if she knew what happened between them? If it were over with him, did it even matter? Gwen paced the kitchen, turning to the window looking out over the backyard. A strange man in her backyard caught her eye, gray hair, sagging flesh, and exposed danglers. Gwen cried out and covered her eyes, whirling around away from the genitals.

“Call Nick, there’s a naked man in the yard.”

“What?” Avery pushed past her and looked out. She gasped and turned around. “Oh my god. I just saw Mom’s bare boobs.”

“Wait… Mom?”

“I think that was Mr. Park and they were doing Thai Chi,” Avery said.

“Lu’s dad?” Gwen asked. “Our mom is naked in the backyard with Mr. Park? Are you sure?”

“How many Korean families live here?”

“Fair point.”

They stared at each other and Gwen could only assume her face made the same horrified expression Avery mirrored back.

“I was not prepared for old dude balls,” Gwen said.

“Try seeing what your boobs will look like in thirty years. That’s a rude awakening,” Avery replied, then smiled which caused a giggle to rise in Gwen. Avery laughed and laughter burst through Gwen, relaxing her a fraction.

“I’m going upstairs,” Avery said. “I do not want to be here when they come in.” They looked at each other for a beat and each shivered.

Gwen closed her bedroom door and hoped that man was not at the kitchen table in the morning. She wasn’t sure she could look him in the eye without laughing. She couldn’t remember the last time her mom had brought a man home. And he must be one heck of a charmer. But how did Natalie meet Lu’s dad?

***

No matter the rumors around town, his phone still rang. This morning, he stood staring into the electric panel of the milking barn at Kepler Farms. When switched on the milking machines were tripping the breaker, and shutting down the power to the barn.

“The total horsepower of the equipment you’re running is greater than the electrical load capacity,” he said. “It’s overloading the circuits. Have you added any new equipment in the last few months?”

“I made some upgrades,” Mr. Kepler said, scratching his head.

“Did the electrician do a load survey, first?”

From the side-eye Kepler gave him, they didn’t use an electrician. He shook his head. “We’ve been running it for a month with no problem.”

“Did you run something extra this morning, for the first time since the upgrade? A pump or a heater or two?”

He scowled. “I’ll ask Eddie. He started it all up this morning. Serves me right, that boy isn’t ready to start the milking.”

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