“Well, I’m here for you if you want to talk about it some more,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze before grabbing the wheel again. “Your parents seemed like nice people.”
“They were until I did something they didn’t like. Everything changed then; it was all about what people would think,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “They cared more about people gossiping about us than what I was going through. In the end, they managed to spread our business all over town; everyone was talking about it. There’s no way I’ll ever show my face there again and my mother didn’t even apologize, just tried to smooth it over like it was all my fault.”
“I don’t know what you did, and I’m not going to ask even though I really want to know,” he said, stealing another glance over at her. “But I do know this, parents are supposed to love us no matter how stupid we are. We all make mistakes, they’re supposed to be there to help us clean them up, not make them worse.”
“Yeah, well, someone should have explained that to my parents,” she said, shaking her head. “They missed that lesson.”
She fell silent, and he didn’t push it. He had his own secret, a secret that could destroy everything between them, and he knew that the time was coming when he’d have to tell her. There was no doubt in his mind that they were bonded; all the signs were there, but he just wasn’t sure when it had happened or why it had happened so soon. But Maddie needed to know the truth about him before they could go forward; he just wasn’t sure how to break it to her, how to tell her that there was a creature that lived inside him.
Stealing a glance over at her, he tried to imagine how that conversation would go and just couldn’t picture it, couldn’t imagine her not thinking that he’d lost his mind. He considered setting something up so he could shift in front of her, show her what he was instead of telling her, but in his mind that didn’twork out any better. Letting out a sigh of his own, he pushed it out of his mind. They’d get there eventually; he just had to figure out the right way to tell her. He knew it would come to him eventually, just not that night, but that was okay, it was too soon anyway.
They pulled into the parking lot of the opposing team right behind the team bus and that was the last he thought about it as they got ready for the game. It was hours later before they got back into the car to make the drive back home, but he was riding a high from doing the play-by-play again, and the entire problem was firmly pushed to the back of his mind. But it wouldn’t be long before he was wishing he’d had that conversation with Maddie much sooner.
***Maddie***
It made Maddie happy to see Walker so excited about something and she didn’t blame him. He’d been really good that night, keeping the crowd involved and giving the players the credit they deserved like an old pro. He held her hand as they walked back to his car, talking about it the whole way like a kid with a new toy, telling her all about the game like she hadn’t just been there.
When they finally got into the car, he fell silent for a few minutes, catching his breath and getting settled for the drive home. “All set?” he asked, turning to face her. “I’m sorry if I’ve been talking your ear off, I’m just excited.”
“It’s okay, you’re fine, I don’t mind listening,” she said, fastening her seatbelt. “I’m glad you’ve finally found something that feels right to you. I think you need to have a long talk with Professor Jefferies about a journalism degree or something.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure what my next move is,” he said, still smiling. “But I bet he’ll know. I’ll stop by his office tomorrow.”
They’d only driven a few blocks when Walker’s stomach began to growl loudly. “I’m starving, I think I’d better get something to eat before we leave town,” he said. “Do you mind?”
“No, I’m a little hungry too,” she said. “I’m not in any hurry to get home, my…roommate isn’t expecting me until late.”
“There’s a burger place on the way out of town, let’s swing by there and grab something,” he said. “We can eat in the car on the way, then you won’t be too late.”
“No, let’s go inside, we’ll enjoy it more,” she said. “And there’s no way Thomas can show up and ruin it, he’s safely on the bus back home with the rest of the team.”
“Good point,” he said, “then it’s settled, burgers before we go home.”
An hour later they got back in the car, both stuffed and groaning. “That was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had,” Walker said, starting up the car. “I’m glad we decided to stop here.”
“And it was nice of them to give us a few to take home,” she said, holding up the bag. “They could have just thrown them away.”
“It helps that we were their last customers of the night,” he said, pulling onto the highway. “Now that we have our stomachs full, next stop Elmwood Junction.”
“I had fun tonight, Walker,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand. “I’m glad we rode together to the game.”
“Me too,” he said, squeezing her hand. “It’s easy being with you Maddie, that hasn’t changed. It always has been that way.”
“I feel the same way,” she said, looking over at him, wondering if this was the time to tell him, and opened her mouth, then changed her mind. He was driving; it might distracthim. “Sometimes it feels like those three years never happened, like we were never separated.”
“I wish they hadn’t happened,” he said, stealing a glance over at her. “I wish I’d handled everything better, things could have been…different.”
“Walker, we can’t change the past, we can only move forward,” she said. “We both made mistakes back then, but we were just kids, we didn’t understand what real life is all about. I can move forward if you can.”
“I’d like that,” he said, flashing her a big grin. “I’m getting used to having you around again, and this time I promise I won’t get scared and run off like last time.”
“I’m glad, I don’t ever want to feel that way again,” she said, but deep down, she was worried about his reaction when he found out he was a father, if he would run like he had before.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as the miles flew by, the night even darker than normal because of the dense layer of clouds blocking out the moon and stars. She didn’t give it much thought when a few flakes of snow fell on the windshield, she was warm and safe with Walker, a bit drowsy from her full stomach and a busy day. They were halfway home, a tricky stretch of road that wound its way down into a canyon and back out again when flashing lights up ahead broke the darkness of the night.
“I wonder what’s going on,” Walker said, slowing down as they approached an officer standing in the road with a huge flare in his hand, waving it back and forth to get them to stop.
“Evening folks, the road up ahead is closed, a whole truckload of chickens tipped over on a curve, and now we’ve got birds running everywhere,” the officer informed them. “It’s going to be hours before we can get it cleaned up. You can take the detour on the old road or wait it out in town. Sorry for theinconvenience, but those birds are freaked out and impossible to catch.”
