Her baby was twenty-four now.How was that even possible?
What Austin needed most days was Chipotle. This was the Nectar of the Gods to Austin Tucker. J.J. drove over to Adrian, grabbed Austin’s favorite order, and then met him at school. He was in between classes at the community college, getting his construction management certification. Dean wanted at least one of the boys to have management classes. They had both worked for him since they were sixteen. D.J. got his training in carpentry, and Austin was always going to get the management training. But didn’t. Dean’s death was the push he needed to fulfill that promise to his dad. She was proud of him for doing it.
Austin met her on a bench outside the Streamer building, where they held most of the classes he needed. Austin hugged her and leaned down to peck her on the cheek. Seeing the boys made her realize with a little pang how much she’d missed them in the last few months.
She’d had no guilt, not for the entire time she was gone. She was barely handling herself then. But now, the guilt was growing. She hadn’t been the person they’d needed when Dean died.
Austin assessed her Chipotle bag. “Did you ask for the double wrap?”
“You know it.”
When Austin discovered he could ask for two tortillas to wrap a carnitas, he said his world was complete.
While D.J. was a carbon copy of his dad, Austin was finer built. His limbs were longer, but that said, he was still a foot taller than she was. Austin was just a little less burly than Dean and D.J. His hair was light, almost blonde, and his demeanor was quieter than his dad or his brother.
He struggled in those early school days, but he wound up on the Honor Roll in high school. J.J. was so proud. To her, the Honor Roll at Irish Hills High School was the same as getting into Harvard. She was a cliché back in the day, with a “My Son is on The Honor Roll” sticker on her back bumper. Anyone who didn’t like it could pound sand.
“This is so good.” He closed his eyes and enjoyed his food. He loved food as much as D.J. apparently loved beer.
“How are you doing? You seem good. The classes okay?”
“Yep.”
“You know your brother tells me you’re going to work with him more often.”
“Yeah, really? I don’t know about that.”
“You know classes are important. If you think that’s what you need to do, you shouldn’t jump into the business too much.”
“Well, I really am mostly done. Just one class now.”
This wasn’t the impression she’d got from D.J. He’d made it sound like Austin was nose-deep in work. And with his reading challenge, she’d let that go. Of course, Austin had to focus to get this done.
“Oh, that’s good then. Dad would be very—” she stopped. She tried to drop a dad would be proud, but it caught in her throat. Her eyes welled up.Where is this coming from? Is this ever going to get easier?
“It’s okay, mom, I know.” Austin patted her on the shoulder.
“I hate being such a sap. Ugh. Okay, so you want to work more for the business, but you’re not because? Explain.”
“Idowant to do more with Tucker Construction. I tried, but. Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll check in again with him.”
Austin looked down at his food like it contained the mysteries of the universe. He also changed the subject.
“I’m dating this new girl. She’s a friend of Lila’s, well, the older sister of a friend of Lila’s.”
J.J. listened to his words, but there was clearly something else going on. She had the distinct impression that Austin was protecting D.J. by talking about his love life to her.
But it was easy to overreact. It was easy to let that Mama Bear tendency overcorrect something that her kids had to handle themselves.
She pushed her worries away and immersed herself in Austin’s current conundrum of what to get this new girlfriend for her upcoming birthday.
* * *
By the afternoon, she was back at the salon.
Stone met her there.
“Our chairs! They look great. I didn’t expect them here this fast.”
