Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Ben chuckled and shouldered both the bag and the cooler, and he grabbed the umbrella too. “Hey. This is Trace.”
I cranked up my politeness, and at the sight of Angie smiling and then—yeah, okay, we were hugging. I had nothing to worry about.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Trace.”
Relief hit me, and I let out a breath. “Great to meet you too.”
“I guess now’s a good time to tell you something about Angie,” Ben said. “She’s a Cubs fan.”
I widened my eyes at him and inched back from Angie. “You tell me that now? After everything—after what you said— You fucking asshole! I’ve been worried we wouldn’t have anything in common!”
Ben got jokingly defensive. “Why would I intentionally bring up something like that? She’s the black sheep of the family.”
Angie cracked up and smacked Ben’s arm. “Yeah, that sounds plausible. Black sheep for having grown up on the North Side. Freakin’ dumbass.” She linked her arm with mine and ushered me away. “Lemme tell you something about my cousin, Trace…”
“Don’t go any deeper than that, Alvin,” I reminded him and threw a towel around my shoulders.
“I won’t!” he promised. He was only six or so feet out, but it got deep so fast, and he couldn’t swim very well.
Trace gestured and swam out a bit, silently letting me know he’d keep an eye on the boy. I nodded in thanks.
Alvin wasn’t exactly reckless in the water; he literally just walked around in waist-deep water and tried to see if he could find fish and signs of life along the bottom, but it meant he was easily distracted. He didn’t always notice his surroundings.
I tried to bring him up here at least twice every summer, and if that didn’t work, we’d hit up one of the city beaches early in the morning or later toward the evening.
Angie passed me and draped her towel over a rock. “That was a quick dip.”
“To cool down. I’m not done. I just want some coffee.” I wasn’t gonna let her insinuate the water was too cold. I fucking loved swimming. But I’d worked all night, and I was beat.
I returned to Ma and sat down on the blanket, making sure I could see Alvin.
Ma was one step ahead. She poured me a mug and handed me a cookie.
“Fuck yeah. Thanks.”
“I’m the one who owes you thanks, son,” she said, adjusting the umbrella a bit.
“Huh?”
“Both you and Trace,” she added.
Ah. She was talking about Trace’s plans for the future. Which…fine, I dared to call them my plans now too. Trace proved that every single day. He wanted this as much as I did.
“You didn’t think I’d stick you in a home, did you?” I furrowed my brow.
She chuckled softly and stirred creamer into her own coffee. “Well, no, but I can’t tell you how many of my girlfriends feel like a burden around their families. Did I tell you about Margaret’s sons? They made a schedule to determine who got stuck visiting her.”
She’d told me more than once.
“The younger generation tends to forget we can still be useful,” she said.
She wasn’t wrong there. Not that we wanted her around because of her cooking and whatever. She’d raised me up. She’d taken care of Alvin. She’d been there for me for far longer than any parent should.
I took a swig of my coffee. “You got Trace hooked on your cooking, so the expectations are high for the day you move in.”
She smiled. “I do like that boy very much. He’s so good for you too.” She nodded at the water. “And for Alvin.”
I followed her gaze and saw the two together. I sat a little straighter in reflex. Alvin was out farther, the water reaching his chest, but he was holding both Trace’s hands, and they shared matching grins.
Ma was right, and I already knew that from before. Slowly getting Alvin’s room ready had proved that more than once. Trace was bolder. Careful but bolder.
He drew out the more…teenage aspects in Alvin. It was easy for me to treat my son like a kid, partly because I was a tad overprotective, partly because I’d spent years missing him when I couldn’t be there every day. So whenever I got my opportunity, I coddled him.
I went out and bought baking soda for him. Trace was the one who said, “Okay, let’s go, bud!”
We’d discovered that Alvin could handle going to our two nearest convenience stores without problems. They were just a few blocks away. Then, once there, he’d hit a wall and screwed his eyes shut. The first time, Trace hadn’t batted an eye. He’d called an Uber to take them home. Three blocks. Now, we timed it so I could pick them up after work.
I was probably always going to hate myself on some level for holding Alvin back. Not necessarily with my fussing, but with my inability to be there for him as much as he needed. If I’d just had a steady job the whole time, we would’ve had more stability. More security. And I would’ve been able to push him the way he needed to be pushed.