Page 25 of For the Record

Rachel: Oh, so you did listen?

Are you going to keep doing this?

Rachel: Doing what?

Talking.

Rachel: Planned on it…why? Is it bothering you?

Rachel: I’ll take your silence as a no. Good to know.

Rachel: If you could be any animal, what would you be?

What does that matter?

Rachel: Well, for the sake of us becoming friends, I feel like it’s important.

Rachel: I think I would be a deer, or maybe one of those capybaras. What about you?

Rachel: It’s been an hour. Are you on some kind of secret mission or something?

Nope. At the main air station, waiting on the rest of the guys to come back.

Rachel: Do you ever do secret missions?

Do you ever stop talking?

Rachel: Ohh, love the sass. I usually stop talking as soon as someone answers me.

Doesn’t seem like it.

Rachel: I think you would be a really good panther.

Rachel: Or a hippo.

I am not a hippo.

Rachel: Don’t be offended. They have three times the jaw strength of a lion.

Adam: Okay…

Rachel: And somehow they’re still freakishly cute. Just like you.

I don’t think anyone uses the word “cute” to describe me.

Rachel: I just did :)

Currently Playing: Happy Together by The Turtles

***

A wave—no, a mountain of relief—washed over me once we landed.

Being able to call Dad and physically hear his voice saying he was doing good, and also going into grave detail about how his grocery delivery person gave him low sodium chips instead of “the good stuff,” was an enormous weight off my chest. I smiled along with his recap of the day. He went on about how he worked out more today than usual so his back was sore all the way. Then he gave me details of how he was hoping to order a Philly sandwich for dinner.

The whole way through leaving the airport, through baggage claim, and to the car, I kept him in my earbuds, and Adam didn’t say a word. As soon as I mouthed, “he’s okay,” he simply nodded back with the hint of a reassuring smile. No rolling his eyes and saying “I told you so,” or “see? No need to worry.” Because Adam knew that wasn’t what I needed to hear.

Truth be told, I didn’t need to hear anything. I needed Adam’s physical reassurance and support, and he always provided it. Even as I tried to carry my own bags out to the Uber, he insisted I focus on the phone with Dad. By insisted, I mean he would grunt and push my hand away any time I reached for the handle on my luggage.