I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve taken my aunt to a new shop or restaurant and we end up having to leave because there’s no way for her to comfortably be there.
Growing up, before my aunt was diagnosed with MS, she was so active. She loved gardening, traveling, and going on long walks every day.
After she moved from the Philippines to Nashville, she’d pick me up from school and babysit me when my parents had to worklate. We’d walk through the neighborhood to my favorite ice cream shop, and she’d buy me a waffle cone sundae.
On the way back home, I’d tell her about what book I was reading. It’s one of my favorite memories.
When her mobility started to decline ten years ago, she was so sad that she couldn’t be as active anymore. I promised her that we’d still be able to go out and do plenty of fun things.
Every weekend, as long as she’s feeling up to it, I take her out to breakfast or coffee or to check out a shop in one of the small towns outside of Nashville. It’s not the same as what she used to do, but she still has fun. Except times like this.
I’m so sick of how my aunt is made to feel like she can’t do things just because she’s in a wheelchair. Especially for something like this, something as simple as dining at a restaurant. We did everything we were supposed to do and still she gets brushed aside because of someone else’s mistake.
I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t cry and grip the handles of her wheelchair. I start to turn her around when I hear someone call my name.
“Kendall?”
I look up and see Liam standing just a few feet away.
Chapter 7
Kendall
I’m so shocked to see him that the urge to cry disappears.
“Liam. Hey.”
For a second, I just stare at him. He’s infuriatingly handsome in the short-sleeve button-up, shorts, and sneakers he’s wearing. He looks like a model mid-photoshoot. How did he pull that off? I saw him leave to go on a bar crawl with Aidan and Micah last night after the engagement party. I went straight to bed after going home, and I felt like a dehydrated slug this morning after the three cocktails I drank last night.
He walks up to us and flashes a shy smile. “Hey.” He glances around, then looks down at my aunt. “It’s nuts in here, right?”
A strange softness hits my chest. So many times people don’t even look at her and only talk to me when we’re out together. Liam didn’t do that though.
Auntie chuckles. “It really is. Goodness.”
“That’s Nashville for you. Anytime there’s a new restaurant in the Gulch, half the city needs to eat there the week it opens.” He chuckles. “I guess I’m guilty of it.”
Auntie smiles at him. “We are too. Well, we tried to eat here.”
“What happened?” he asks, looking between us.
“They lost our reservation,” I say. “They said we could eat at the bar, but that’s just not possible with my aunt’s wheelchair.”
He looks annoyed. “That’s messed up.”
I exhale. “Yeah. It is.”
“Why don’t you eat with me at my table?”
I blink at him and laugh out of sheer surprise. “Um, no. That’s okay.”
He flashes that lopsided grin that gives me tingles in my tummy. “Come on. I’ve got a whole table and no one to share it with.”
He looks at my aunt. “My brother and his fiancée were supposed to meet me, but they’re a little hungover from last night.”
Auntie’s head falls back as she laughs. “Oh, I remember those days.”
“My big brother just can’t hold his liquor like he used to.”
