Page 67 of The Fast Lane
“Hey, don’t sound so surprised.”
Abe had struggled in school as a kid, squeaking by with a lot of extra credit and teachers who couldn’t flunk a kid who kept showing up even when it was clearly hard. The weird thing was that he liked learning. I remember he once took apart an old radio to figure out how it worked, for fun. He’d loved watching documentaries with Mack and could discuss everything he’d learned. But put a book in front of him and he couldn’t focus.
“I went to this tutoring center to get help with my writing. My tutor there thought I might have dyslexia. Turns out I do.” He frowned into his coffee mug. “That’s why school was always so damn hard no matter how much I tried.”
“Mom and Dad didn’t know?”
“I didn’t even know. I thought everyone saw the words the way I did but I was too dumb to make sense of them. I always felt like I was a disappointment to them.”
“They love you, Abe,” I said quickly. “I-I don’t know everything that went on with Dad, but I know he loves you and Mom, she cries on your birthday every year. She tries to pretend she doesn’t, but we all know.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So, you want to tell me why you’re here?”
I smiled weakly. “Would you believe we took a wrong turn?”
“No.”
“Cal asked me to come.”
“I figured.” He grabbed both our coffee cups, stood, and took them to the sink. There, he rested his hands on the edge of the counter, his shoulders tense, and stared out the small window.
“Could you? Would you come?”
“I’m good here, happy,” he said, his voice low. “I don’t know if I want to stir everything up again.”
I rose and moved to him. I wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into him. “It’s been eleven years. It’s time, don’t you think? I mean, the choice is yours. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do but there’s Hallie to think about now.”
A long silence hung between us, and I resisted the urge to fill it. Ultimately, it was Abe’s decision, and I wouldn’t force it. Abe’s life was his and he could spend it as he pleased. Sometimes, I wish I had the guts to do the same for myself—live my life by my rules. Right now, I was in a weird limbo, always worried about making my parents worried. I made concessions for them, lived that quiet life because that made them less anxious.
“Hallie would have to come with us,” Abe said, interrupting my thoughts. “I can’t leave her here, even if I had someone I trusted to take care of her. I’m not sure she’d understand another person leaving her, even if it’s only for a few days.”
“I agree,” I said quickly. “Bring her.”
“It could go very badly.”
“Or it could be the thing that brings us together.”
He nodded. “I’ll think about it. That’s the best I can do.”
“Good. Yes. Do that.” I hugged him tight.
“No promises.”
“Absolutely.” I drew back and saluted him. A maybe was not a no. I could work with that. “No promises. Got it.”
Sighing, he leaned back against the counter. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
He nodded his head toward the living room, where Theo and Mack now sported matching sparkly jewelry with their tiaras. “Is something going on between you and Theo?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I don’t know. You two seem pretty chummy.”
“I mean, we’re friends.” Who kissed. And apparently flirted.
“Is that it?”