“Love you, man,” he replied.
As I was replying, “Love you, brother,” the line clicked dead, and my heart twisted.I knew enough about the messiness of grief to realize I couldn’t fix it for Lincoln, but it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to.
I was jogging down the stairs when I heard my mother’s voice and realized Lincoln must have called her right away.I let out a sigh of relief.This had been hard on all of us, but it had been brutally hard on our mom.I wanted nothing more than for her to feel better.She would love for Lincoln to be here full-time.But more than that, I knew what she wanted was for him to find some peace.
I detoured toward the kitchen, where she stood with her palm pressed to her chest, a beaming smile on her face with tears glittering in her eyes.I squeezed her shoulders.“Love you, Mom.”
She caught my eye, mouthing, “Lincoln’s coming home.”
Just as I was leaving to go see Kendall a few minutes later, my mom stepped out on the porch.“Will you be here for dinner?”she asked.
“I’m grabbing dinner with Kendall.”Easy enough answer, nothing unusual about it.No one, especially my mom, needed to know I was nearly breathless to see Kendall.
“I’m glad Lincoln’s coming home,” she called.
“Me too, Mom.Love you,” I added.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Jude
I almost forgot to stop and pick up pizza, but I remembered just as I reached the outskirts of Willow Brook.I practically kicked up dust as I turned into the parking area.When I walked in, there was a line, so I waited idly, glancing over my shoulder when I heard my name.
“Jude Silver.”
Graham was the superintendent of one of the hotshot crews and a good friend.He was a few years older than me, but I’d known him my whole life.
“Hey, man.What’s up?”
“Picking up pizza.Same thing you’re doing, it looks like,” he said dryly as he stopped beside me.
I tapped the toe of my boot on the floor.“Sometimes you have to make the easy choice for dinner.”
“Madison’s working late because she’s doing some kind of accounting thing.”He waved a hand vaguely in the air.“And, Allie’s up to her eyeballs in exams.It’s on me, man.”
“So, you’re getting pizza.Good choice.”
“Pizza’s perfect.It’s a complete meal, right?Veggies, meat, carbs, and cheese.How’s the fam?”
“Pretty good.”I hesitated.“Lincoln’s coming home.”
Graham held my gaze for a beat, a slow smile stretching across his face.“That’s great to hear.It’s about time.How are you and Kendall doing?”he asked next.
My head whipped up too fast for me not to give it away.A sly grin curled his lips.“What do you know?”I asked.
Graham tipped his head to the side, a furrow forming between his brows.“I thought you two were dating.You have been forever, right?”
“Forever?”I opened my mouth to add that we were just friends, to explain something I’d explained hundreds of times before.But I realized that maybe Graham had seen the obvious long before I did.Maybe I’d known my feelings for Kendall in my heart, but I’d kept them tucked away so tightly I’d assumed no one else could tell.
“All this time we’ve just been friends,” I finally said.
“Oof.Awkward on my part.Madison’s gonna give me hell.Tell me that I misread the situation.”He shook his head.
“Nah, it’s cool.While we have always just been friends, that’s not the case now.”
His brows hitched up high.“Oh,oh.”He paused.“Don’t screw it up, man.”
“I’m not going to screw it up,” I protested.
