After a long moment, Dell asked, “How come I’ve never met your parents, if they’re so close?”
“For one thing,” she said with a smile, “my dad’s eyesight has gone to shit, and my mom’s always been a nervous driver. That’s one of the reasons they’re at this senior living place; the staff can take them where they need to go in town or get stuff delivered for them. But…I’ve also told them I don’t want them to see it until it’s all done.”
Dell turned to look at her then. Her smile deepened at his stare. She shrugged.
“I love the idea of a grand reveal. I want to see the look on their faces, you know?”
Dell turned back to the window.
“I feel the opposite,” he said after a beat. “If my mom was here, I’d want her to see everything. To always be in my workshop, watching every piece I made. Telling me how to make it better.” Mae turned her body toward him, resting her hip against the window frame. “I think most of the time, that’s what I imagine is happening, in my head.”
Mae let herself stare at him, the tired lines of his face, the rough stubble on his neck.
“Tell me about her,” she said softly. “Georgia.”
Dell glanced at her, once and then away, back to the ocean.
“She’s just…” He raised his shoulders, let them drop. “Always been a good mom. My bio dad left when I was little, so she raised me by herself through most of my childhood. Ours was the house my friends always wanted to hang out at, because she made everyone feel so welcome. Like she was everyone’s mom, you know?”
Mae nodded.
“She met Henry, my stepdad, when I was in high school. He was a good guy; I was happy for both of them when they got married. Made it easier to move out here, knowing she wasn’t alone. But he died a few years ago, and…now she is alone. And I’m stuck here, because it’s where I feel safe now.” He shrugged again, in a somehow particularly self-deprecating way. “I don’t know,” he said, voice quieter. “She’s always been my favorite person. I just want her here.” A second later, frustration lacing into the words: “I know she’d like it here.”
Mae could only smile sadly at him. She’d promised not to touch him.
“I’m glad you had a mom like that.” And then, before she thought the words through, “I hope I get to meet her someday.”
Dell’s eyes flashed toward hers.
“She would…” And then he shook his head, a grin cracking onto his lips. “She would fucking love you.”
And before Mae could even absorb that, he stuck his hand in his pocket, checked his phone with a slight frown, and twisted away from the window.
Mae watched his long strides in silence, the swiftness with which his large body swept across the floor, disappeared down the stairs.
And with a deep, slow breath, she turned back toward the dusty glass, and watched the waves a bit more.
twenty-one
Dell was finishinghis second bookshelf of the week when Luca finally texted him back.
His stomach sank when he saw the reply to Dell’s request to talk, sent only a few hours after Mae had left his bed, four days earlier.
Okay
Luca had never been the most garrulous guy, but even for him, a singleokaydidn’t portend enthusiasm. Dell supposed he should be grateful that he at least included theay. Dell supposed he should be grateful Luca responded at all.
Is it okay if I come over later?he typed back immediately, not even concerned about how thirsty it appeared, texting back within thirty seconds. He wished he could express it somehow over text, that he wasn’t coming over to say goodbye. But he didn’t know how to say any of this, really.
At least Luca didn’t leave him hanging now.
sure
Which was how, three hours later, Dell once again found himself in front of Luca Yaeger’s door.
He sucked in a small breath when Luca opened it. Luca’s hair was starting to get curly again, and it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, making him appear rather scruffy, all over.
Dell was into it.
