“Good,” Dad mutters.
“What’s the news then?” Mom asks, her eyes wide. “Now I have no idea what it could be!” She scoots to the edge of the chair, watching us intently.
My heart kicks up speed as I say it. “Nate and I are dating.”
I’m careful not to use the word “together” when Quinn had taken it entirely the wrong way.
Throughout the drive, I had been going through ways that they could react. I considered anger. I considered shock.
And judging by the way Mom’s eyes turn into saucers, I’m definitely getting the second one from her.
I look at Dad, wondering if I’ll see anger on his face. But he’s gone still.
Nate has too.
I hate this.
“So, yeah.” My hand rests on Nate’s leg, which is as tense as stone. “We got together on the trip, and made it official when we got back. That’s the big news, guys.”
I laugh, but both of my parents are silent.
“We meant to tell you as soon as possible,” Nate adds. “But Maisie had Quinn’s party and we both were exhausted.”
“It’s a huge change from what we said we were,” I say. “So, take as much time as you need.”
I wait for a barrage of questions from Mom and the expected quiet contempt from Dad. But they’re still staring at us.
Then Dad breaks the silence with the most shocking sound I’ve ever heard in my life.
He doesn’t laugh often, but when he does, it’s a high-pitched giggle that sounds wrong coming from a man like him. I’ve heard it just a few times in my life, mostly when his favorite team pulls off a move that no one else should have, or when he sinks his teeth into ribs that came out of the smoker perfectly.
It starts quietly as if he’s trying to contain himself, and then it gets louder and louder until his giggle echoes off the walls.
He’s smiling. He’s laughing.
“You ... aren’t mad, Jeff?” Nate asks slowly.
“What?” he finally says. “Mad? Ha! Iknewthis would happen. Ever since you two were kids, I was hoping you’d end up together. I almost lost hope. You had me with that loser, Rob, butthis? Oh, finally! Didn’t I tell you, Judy? They were never just friends.”
Mom sighs. “You did tell me. And now you’ll never let me live it down.”
Nate looks between them, shaking his head. “You asked Rob so many questions that I thought you were planning his funeral. You’re really not upset?”
“God, no! This is what I needed to hear! Finally you two saw what we all did years ago!”
“To be fair,” I say, “I was the one who didn’t see it.”
“You had a man-child clogging up your vision. I knew what Rob was and I tried to scare him away. But he stuck around.” Dad’s nose scrunches. “Like a little cockroach.”
“That’s what I think about him,” Nate says with a childlike smile. “He never gives up. One day, I feel like he’s gonna grow extra legs and turn brown.”
“Oh, he gave up after I was done with him,” I say.
“True. She thanked him for getting us together.”
Dad laughs again. “That’s my girl! If only I could have been there. I’d love to see that little idiot realize he never stood a chance.”
Nate finally laughs, all tension melting from his body. I turn to him with a smile. “And to think, you were nervous this would change things.”
