We both glanced over when we heard the front door open. A moment later, Haley appeared in the kitchen. “I’m here.”
“No,really?” I quipped. “We didn’t know.” She imperceptibly flipped me off before giving Mom a hug. Then she gave me one, and I chuckled. “Hi.”
She smiled. “Hi.”
“How was work?” my mom asked as she pulled the roast out of the oven.
Haley slumped onto the stool at the counter. “Crazy busy.”
“You look like you’ve been through hell and back,” I noted teasingly.
She shot me a look. “How kind of you, Brother.”
I reached down, pulling out a syringe that was sticking out of the pocket of her scrubs. “Still stealing from the hospital, I see.”
Haley chuckled. “I’m notstealing. I put stuff in my pockets so I have it on hand…” She pulled out a couple more syringes, some alcohol wipes, gauze, and tape. “…and then I always forget they’re in there at the end of my shifts.” She shrugged. “I’m starting up a collection in the glove compartment of my car.”
My mom sliced the roast and placed it on the serving platter before handing it to me to take to the dining room while Haleyhelped her grab the other dishes. She already had the table set like usual, and a glass of wine poured for each of us next to the empty plates. We took our seats—Mom and I across from one another with Haley beside her. They were the same seats we’d sat at for as long as I could remember. Despite now being head of the house, my mom wouldn’t sit at the head of the table in the seat my dad always took up. I swore sometimes I could feel him sitting there next to me.
“So…are things still up in the air with you and Brett?” my mom asked Haley.
“No,” she answered, not bothering to look up from her plate.
“No, as in…?”
“No, as in he’s a jerk.”
“Well, duh. With a name likeBrett, what do you expect?” I quipped.
“Wesley,” my mom admonished.
Brett was Haley’s on-and-off-again boyfriend, and they’d been on this little merry-go-round for just over a year. She claimed he was a jerk today, but I’d be willing to bet twenty bucks that they’d be back together in a month or so, and he’d beMr. Perfectagain. I didn’t like any guy she dated because none of them were good enough for her, and Brett was no exception. The guy was a douche.
Haley was the complete opposite of me regarding her outlook on love and relationships. She’d always been a hopeless romantic and, in my humble brotherly opinion, tended to be a bit naive and put way too much faith in the people she chose to give her heart to. She was very much an “I can fix him” type of girl, and the men she went for and the way she allowed them to walk all over heroverlybig heart and take it for granted only solidified that.
“Maybe—and this is a crazy concept, I know—you should stay single for a while.”
Haley shot me a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” I said. “Kick his ass to the curb and let him see what he missed out on.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is,” I said matter-of-factly. “You just don’twantit to be that simple.”
“Again, what’sthatsupposed to mean?”
“It means that you seem to have this mindset that if it’s not hard, it’s not worth it. Love shouldn’tbehard.”
“And what wouldyouknow? You’ve never even had a relationship.”
“Yeah,by choice. Because I have no desire to deal with bullshit like what you’rewillinglyputting yourself through. No fuc—” I cut myself off when my mom shot me the look; she’d never been a fan of the “F” word, and, well, it was my favorite. “No, thank you.”
We stopped talking about Brett and relationships in general after that.
Haley took off not too long after we finished dinner because she had a paper to finish up that was due tomorrow. I helped my mom clear the table and started on the dishes while she put any leftovers in containers and put them away.
“So…” My mom said as she placed a now empty pot into the soapy water for me to wash. “When are you going to bring someone home for Sunday dinner?”
