She nods.
“What are you hoping to tell them?” I don’t knowwhy I say it like that, but I’m curious about her response.
She shrugs. “We’re neighbors and friends. I owe you dinner because you fixed my car.”
I lean my head back against the headrest. “We’re already squared away with that. I’ve still got like twelve coupons to go.”
She tenses, and I hope I haven’t said something wrong.
“Are you okay?” I ask, trying to see her face as we make it to the road.
“I’m good. I still feel like an idiot for giving that to you.”
“Why? It’s a good excuse to hang out with you,” I say, smiling at her.
She looks at me for a moment and then turns her gaze forward, checking both directions before pulling onto the road. Her grandparents are ahead of us, and they’re going faster than I expected.
“You want to hang out with me?” she says, her voice small.
“Of course. I feel like there’s always something new to learn about you. And maybe there’ll be an actual crime one of these times.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “It was dark, and it looked like a body.”
Laughing, I say, “I know. I just thought I’d tease a little more about it.”
Laney turns on the radio, and we sing along to 80s songs, quizzing each other on the lyrics as we go.
“You know a lot of songs,” Laney says.
“I’m old, and my parents listened to a wide variety of music. I didn’t always love it, but now I’m grateful for it.”
“Do you see your parents often?” Laney asks, looking at him for a second while at a stop sign.
I blow out a breath and shake my head. “No, not too often since I’ve been in the league.”
“They don’t come watch your games ever? At least once a year or something?” Her concern nearly breaks me.
“My parents differ from most. I’m not in a place to return the money they spent while raising me, so they don’t love the idea of adding to that debt.”
“Are you serious?” Laney asks, her expression pure shock.
I turn to stare out the windshield, trying to rein in my emotions and push them back behind the wall.
“Connie comes out in the summer and will stay for two weeks with her kids so they can see me play. Camille came when she just had the one baby, but she gets really sick when she’s pregnant, so she won’t be here this year.”
“What about the third sister?” she asks.
“Cecilia? She’s on myparents’ side.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Really?” She shakes her head, and her face turns red.
With a quick shrug, I say, “I’m used to it now.”
“But that’s the thing. You shouldn’t have to be used to it. You should be loved because of who you are, and they should be proud of where you’ve gone in your life, not asking for repayment.”
We’re quiet for several moments before she says, “Sorry for that. I just get really irritated when people are so worried about themselves that they don’t think about anyone else.”
“I appreciate that.”
