I shake my head. “Not at all.”
She nods slowly like she’s thinking a lot harder about that than she should, her eyes downcast. “You always seem to calm him,” she says, lifting them to meet mine.
I raise my eyebrows and shrug because this is getting uncomfortable.
And then she changes the subject. “She seems nice.” Her eyes have dropped back to the floor.
“She is,” I answer, solemnly, knowing this conversation has shifted to Alice.
“I don’t know why I acted the way I did. I shouldn’t have.”
Like I said, apologies aren’t our thing. I know this is hard for her.
“You shouldn’t have,” I agree.
Her eyes dart up to meet mine before they drift off over my shoulder, and she huffs like she doesn’t know how to say what she wants to say.
“You don’t have to—” I start to let her off the hook, but she proceeds right over the top of me.
“I do. I’ve never seen you with anyone, but the way you were looking at her, I knew that you’ve kissed her. And that you want to again. And again. Not many people are as guarded as you…”
I nod in agreement.
She continues quickly, “I saw you let your walls down tonight and instead of being happy for you, I got territorial and protective.” She shakes her head, admonishing herself. “I had no right.”
Normally, I would keep my mouth shut but not tonight. “You had no right.”
She sighs like she’s even more disappointed in herself. “I didn’t. I’m seeing someone too, you know?”
This is news to me. “I didn’t know that.”
She shrugs. We both shrug a lot. “He’s come into the diner as long as I’ve been working there and always asks to be seated in my section. A few weeks ago he asked me out. Every Monday he comes in at the end of my shift and we have coffee for thirty minutes.”
“Is he a good man?” That’s all I want for her. It would help put my mind at ease.
She nods and smiles. “He is. He’s a widow, lost his wife to cancer at twenty-four. That was three years ago. He has a seven-year-old daughter, and works as an X-ray tech in the ER at Denver General Hospital.”
This is what she needs. Someone who’s stable, responsible, and has a future. Someone who’s a complement to all of her strengths. “He sounds great.”
She can’t help the smile that creeps into her normally guarded expression. “He really is.”
Lifting my backpack from the floor by the door, I heft the strap over my shoulder and tell her, “I’m happy for you. And Joey.”
Her eyes finally lift from the floor to meet mine. Her hand reaches out toward me but then retracts just as quickly. “Thanks, Toby.” I think she’s going to say more, but we just end up looking at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. Everything is back to normal it seems.
I turn and exit, leaving behind our oversharing exchange, but I can’t help feeling like a shift is happening, and in the end, I’ll be forced out when I’m no longer needed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Present,April 1987
Toby
It’s Saturday.I’ve already done my rounds of the house and helped Mrs. Bennett chase away the imaginary bear she was convinced was trying to climb in her bedroom window. It’s cold outside, so I’m drawing in my room until Alice gets home later. They’re playing at the Mammoth Events Center tonight and I’m going along so I can finally see her perform. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked forward to something like I’m looking forward to this. To seeing Alice in her element.
I’m an hour into a pencil drawing of Spider-Man suspended mid-air between two skyscrapers, when there’s a knock on my bedroom door.
Cliff doesn’t wait for me to answer. I think he knocks with one hand while the other is already turning the knob for entry. I’m desensitized to it now.
