“I’m going to organize his garage.”
Her eyebrows draw inward. “You are?”
I nod and reach for a fry. “Uh, yeah. What else would I do?”
She sucks in a breath as she drops into the chair next to me. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s the right thing when someone saves your life.”
“Me either,” I tell her as I pop the fry into my mouth. “But I’m going to figure it out.”
“Lou, I don’t need or want anything,” Oliver says for the millionth time.
“Baby,” Ma says to him, patting his hand, “you may not need or want something, but you sure as hell deserve it.”
Oliver shifts in his seat, forcing a smile on his face. “I did what anyone else would’ve done in my shoes.”
Ma just stares at him, and the look on her face even makes me shift in my seat. “No, they wouldn’t.She knows it. I know it. And you know it.” She points her finger at each of us as she speaks.
“You can have burgers on the house for the rest of your life,” Dad says to Oliver, and I raise an eyebrow at him.
What is he doing? He’s up to something, but I’m not sure what angle he’s taking.
“That’s too much,” Oliver replies.
“Take it,” I tell him. “They won’t stop until you accept some kind of gift.”
Oliver sighs. “Thank you, sir.”
Dad’s eyes flash because he hates the proper and extremely old terms as much as I do. “You’re welcome.”
“Can we finish eating?” I ask him and my mom, because we were having a fine time before Mom walked in and lost her mind.
“Sure,” Ma says, pushing herself up from her chair as my father takes her hand. “I’ll be over there.”
“Okay,” I tell her, but it’s not as if I won’t be able to see her. I didn’t think she was going to vanish into thin air. As soon as they’re back by the bar near Aunt Daphne, I turn my gaze back toward Oliver. “I’m sorry they’re so weird.”
“I really like them.”
“Then you’re a weirdo too.”
He chuckles as he takes another bite of his burger, which is probably cold since my family can’t seem to stop interrupting us.
“So, where are we camping when you say ‘down south’?”
“Just outside of Nashville.”
My eyes widen. “Really? I’ve never been to Nashville.”
“We’ll be outside, but maybe we can go to the city one night.”
“How many nights are we going?”
“Four.”
I lean back in my chair and try to think about how long four nights is. I mean, I know, but that’s with the hustle and bustle of the city, not crickets and wildlife. “I don’t know if I can make it four days.”
“You can, darlin’.”
“I don’t think so.”
