“Your mind must be aching from the number of thoughts coming and going each minute of the day,” Amy says. “I do think you’re going about this the correct way. You’re sparing the woman you were with any discontent and you’re being fair to yourself to learn what your feelings are for this other woman.” Amy uncrosses her legs and scoots toward the edge of her chair, reaching over to my hands. “For a person whose family thinks he is a mess, you have yourself put together quite well.”
My focus locks on Amy’s hand resting on mine. By the looks of her rippled skin, I’m guessing she is around Mom’s age, which tells me that she’s not only speaking from wisdom and knowledge but life experience, as well. It’s a bit comforting, I suppose.
“I want to come back and talk with you again,” I tell her, looking up into her hazy light eyes.
“You tell me when and I’ll be here.” She pulls out a planner and opens the front cover while she leans toward her desk to retrieve a pencil.
“Next week, same time?” I ask, feeling a slight weight lifting from my shoulders.
She jots my name down into the appropriate box in her planner and reaches to her desk once more for a card. She writes the time and day down on the back of it and hands it to me. “I’m looking forward to hearing what happens with Ari,” she says with a lopsided grin. “Good luck, Hunter.” Amy reaches out to shake my hand and I return the gesture. As I stand once more, replacing my jacket over my shoulders, I feel more space inside of my lungs, like it suddenly became a little easier to breathe.
While walking from the office door, my phone buzzes in my pocket again. I slide it out and see the school’s number calling.Shit.
I answer the phone, pressing it against my ear, listening to the pre-recorded message telling us that the bus will be bringing the children home an hour early to due to the impending blizzard.A blizzard at the end of March?Awesome.
I press through the wooden door, finding AJ comfortable on one of the chairs, thumbing through Better Homes and Gardens. The sight of him reading that particular magazine makes me laugh. We are carpenters, but it ends with the floors, especially for AJ, who has no color coordinating abilities considering he’s color-blind.
“Shit, that woman is magic, huh? A smile and everything,” AJ says, placing the magazine down on the side table while standing up.
“Thank you,” I tell him, feeling a twitch in my chest and twinge of pain behind my eyes. Maybe I’ve been blind to it and Amy possibly enlightened me just a touch, but I realize it’s nice to know I have people who love me and care about my well-being while I work through this mess. Even my jackass brother who is going through his own shit right now.
“We have to get home. School let out early and Olive’s going to be back in forty-five minutes.”
“Dude, have you seen it outside?” AJ asks. “You might want to call Charlotte to see if she can get her.”
And just like that, irritation seeps back in. Not at anyone but at the thought of missing my opportunity to talk to Ari today. “I’ll call her when we get into the truck.”
The moment we step outside, I see that AJ isn’t exaggerating. Three inches must have fallen in the past half hour we have been in here. I pull the sleeve of my coat over my hand and brush the snow off the windshield on the passenger side before sliding in.This sucks.
We pull out onto the road, going less than ten miles an hour, as it’s almost impossible to see out of the window with how hard the snow is falling.
I dial Charlotte’s number and listen to the three rings before she answers, sounding out of breath. “You okay?” I ask her.
“Yep, just shoveling now before it gets too heavy,” she says.
“I’ll clean your driveway off when it stops. You’re going to pull your back out again.”
“It’s fine, Hunt, really, but thanks. Do you need something?” Our conversations sound so friend-zone, but I do care about her as more than a friend and there are many moments where I wish our timing was different.
“AJ was nice enough to drag me to a therapist beyond my willingness to go on my own. I just got the call from the school and we’re trying to get back but there’s a line of brake lights in front of us right now. I’m worried we won’t get there on time.”
A huff of air creates a loud scratching sound in my ear. “You went to talk to someone?” she asks, a hint of hope filling her voice, telling me she was likely in on this intervention, too. “Hearing that makes me really happy.”
“I’m glad,” I tell her softly, almost intimately, speaking nearly under my breath to avoid the looks from AJ. Although, with how hard he is focusing on the road, I don’t think he even realizes I’m on the phone.
“I’ll get Olive and bring her back here until you’re home. Don’t rush, just be careful, okay?”
“I will,” I tell her.
“Is AJ driving slow?” she asks.
“Yes, Mom,” I tease.
“Hunter, don’t start. We both know how AJ drives.”
I’m smiling at her anger but she would normally have a valid point. Today, though, AJ isn’t even hitting ten miles per hour. “I’ll see you when I get home.”
I can hear a smile on her lips as she says, “Whatever.”
