Also, he really had been acting funny all week.
So with many apologies and the promise of spending the rest of the day together, I’d set off to join the Allen clan for breakfast.
The little café was busy when I walked in, mostly full of people with headphones, and laptops. But just as I spotted the table where they were sitting, someone caught me by the wrist. I looked up, ready to backhand whoever had grabbed me, just in time to see Derrick. He put his finger to his lips and nodded at the door. Once my heart had slowed, I let him lead me back outside.
“Well, hello to you, too,” I said, rubbing my wrist. “Does this mean I’m uninvited to breakfast?”
He laughed, but there was no humor. “Sorry about that. I just wanted to warn you that this meal is going to be…well, awkward.”
I would have laughed, too, had he not looked so completely miserable. “What’s up?”
“I know this is presumptuous on my part and really stupid, but…would you be okay if I asked you here to help suppress an atomic explosion of sorts?”
“Um, sure?”
“Because I know I’m going to get zero support from my parents. Zilch. At least in this arena.” He glanced back at the window. Did he really consider me that much of a friend? Or was he just that hard up for friends? “Also,” he continued, giving me a weak grin, “my parents like you. So they’ll be less likely to kill me if you’re present.”
“That’s why we’re in public, isn’t it?” I looked back at the crowded room. “Because you don’t want a scene.”
He gave me a sheepish grin. “You’ve met my mother. Can you blame me?”
“Fine. I’ll try. But on the off-chance they do kill you,” I said, hoping to ease the anxiety evident in the lines on his face, “can I at least call dibs on your truck?”
He stared at me for a moment then let out a laugh. It was good to hear that sound as we went back inside. But neither my joke nor the laughter was able to chase the sudden angst from my stomach as we wound our way through tables and customers to where his family was sitting.
Jade was drinking a milkshake that was red, white, and blue. Mr. Allen was adding creamer to his coffee while Mrs. Allen stuffed enough napkins into Jade’s shirt to cover her in the Splash Zone at Sea World.
I slid into the booth beside Jade, and Derrick sat next to me. Wow. Whatever it was, he didn’t even want to sit with his folks.
“Mom, Dad,” he said, leaning his elbows on the table. “Thanks for meeting me here on a Monday. I know you have work, so I’ll try to make this quick.”
At the mention of work, I gave him a sharp look. Yeah, it was Monday, but it was also the Fourth of July. I’d even been given the day off. Andtheywere still going to work?
“I trust your trip to Colorado went well?” Mrs. Allen added a packet of sweetener to her tea. “You got back late enough last night.”
“It was the only flight available.” Derrick cringed slightly, and I could only guess he was thinking about the cost of such a flight. “Anyhow, that’s what I’m here to tell you about. As of last Saturday…” He glanced at me. “Amy and I are officially done.”
“What?” Mrs. Allen spilled her tea on her lap, which made her shriek as she hopped up and down in her seat, trying simultaneously to clean it up and demand answers from Derrick. Mr. Allen tried to help his wife while uttering words under his breath that I prayed Jade didn’t hear.
Derrick gave me an exasperated look, and I gave him what I hoped was a sympathetic smile.I’m sorry, I mouthed as the waiter arrived with our food while Mrs. Allen fussed about a new cup of tea. Only then did I realize I hadn’t gotten to order for myself. Still, somehow, I got the Greek yogurt with fruit that I would have ordered had I been given the choice. Stressed or not, Derrick seemed to know me better than I thought.
“I knew it.” Mrs. Allen finally threw the wet napkin on the table and glared at her son. “You have one success in your life, and you manage to blow it up.”
I stared at Mrs. Allen as she started covering her bagel with cream cheese with a violent passion. Never in my life had my parents uttered anything like that.
“Mom, that’s unfair.”
“No. No, what’s unfair is a son who goes to three years of college and quits.”
“I joined the military.”
“You quit.” Her hand shook as she continued to smear cream cheese all over what was by now a very battered bagel. “Perhaps I should just save the military the trouble of taking your application for OGF—”
“OTS. It’s Officer Training School—”
“Whatever!” She stopped to glare at him before resuming the spreading of her cream cheese. “And I can tell them how you’ll just quit. Just like you quit everything.”
“I don’t quit ev—”
