My heart gallops against my ribs, my chest getting tighter with every strained breath I try to take. “OK,” I squeak, closing my eyes and willing my body to calm down. “You’re sayin’ you’d be OK with that if it did?”
“Um,duh,” is all he says.
“OK then,” I reply, shaking my head. “Onthatnote, now that you’ve tried to give me a heart attack, is there anythin’ else you want to talk to me about? Or did you want me to give you a talk about stayin’ safe, watchin’ your surroundin’s and comin’ back in one piece?”
“Oh, I’m definitely comin’ back in one piece. I’m not missin’ out on your promise of all the Corned Beef Hash I can eat.”
I gasp. “Did I say that?”
“You did. You must be gettin’ forgetful in your old age. That’s OK, I’ll remember it for the both of us,” he replies with a cheeky laugh.
“OK, you’ve got me there. Love you, Wy. Talk soon.”
“Just promise me one thing, Mags.”
“Anythin’, Wy. You know that.”
“Make him smile. He’s finally got a chance to stop worryin’ about me and justlive,and I want him to do that, hopefully with you. Mom wouldn’t want you two to be unhappy. I know that. You two just need to believe it too.”
“Wy…”
“Gotta go, Mags.Byeeeeee.” Then he ends the call and I’m left there staring straight through the windshield.
“Do I even want to know what he was sayin’?” Red chuckles. “You look speechless, and I figured it would be one of those Wy-Mags talks that his Dad doesn’t need to know about.”
“Hmmm,” I say, still trying to process Wyatt giving us–me–his blessing when there's nothing to need his blessing... yet...
I hand him the phone, surprisingly disappointed when our fingers don't touch again. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I've always trusted you to give him good advice when he needs it and that hasn’t changed.”
A lump grows in my throat, a happy one this time. To distract myself from all the whirling thoughts in my head, I grab my phone to look up the weather.
“Well,” I say after a moment of silence. “Wy’s right about that storm. It looks like we might have some weather to contend with soon.”
His expression turns thoughtful. “Might have to adjust our plans for the next few days then. How long until it hits us?”
“Wednesday night by the looks of it,” I reply.
“OK. We can work with that.”
I tilt my head to him. “So, these plans. You were goin’ to tell me before Wy called. Care to fill me in on where you’re takin’ me?”
Red rubs his chin. "The storm might change things. But how 'bout this? We'll do my meetin's today before stoppin’ in Anchorage for the night. Then we’ll head straight for the Rainbow Springs cabin tomorrow. Wednesday, we'll do the surprise I've organized for us before the storm hits, then bunker down at the cabin until it passes. On Friday–as long as the way is clear–we'll drive to Palmer bright and early as planned. Rhettand Austin are goin’ to meet us there to pick up a couple of bulls from Rod.”
Out of all of that, only one thing grabs my attention. “A surprise?”
“Yep. It’s asurprisethough. Which means I’m not tellin’ you about it. But I know you’ll like it, because I’m pretty sure you’ve never done it before.”
“Are youreallynot goin’ to tell me?” I ask with my best puppy-dog eyes.
“Nope. But that’s half the fun, right? Experiencin’ new things together?” I nod. “Do you approve of this plan then?” he asks.
I wave my hand in the air. “Of course. Whatever you’ve gotta do, Red.”
He side-glares at me. “Nope. None of that. This is your trip too. I want you to have fun and make new memories. Didn’t we say at the start of this trip that we were goin’ to start puttin’ ourselves first?”
“Yeah….”
“Mmm hmm,” he replies, sounding unconvinced. “How ‘bout this then. You decide what we do in Anchorage tonight.”
