“Okay, Mommy.” He walks out, and I turn back to Win, Joel, and Murph.
“One condition,” Murph says firmly. “We’ll meet with a lawyer to draft a contract that makes it clear the money goes back to youfirstif we ever sell. That’s non-negotiable. That money is as much for Ben’s future as it is for yours.”
Joel and Win nod in agreement.
“I can agree to that,” I say.
Joel shifts his gaze between us, both excited and nervous. “So we don’t have to sell?”
“Nope,” I grin. “But I need to warn you about my family before they come to town.” I hesitate. “My dads are kind of a lot.”
When I told them I was staying in Rios and planned to come back to Weldon to pack up mine and Ben’s stuff, my dads refused to consider any option other than taking a few days offwork, picking up a U-Haul, loading it up, and making the drive to Rios. No matter how much I argued with them, their minds were made up.
“What do you mean?” Murph asks.
“They will ask a lot of invasive questions and hug you so hard that you fear for your ribs, but they will mean well.”
“I’m a firefighter; there’s not much I can’t handle,” Joel says with the smiling ignorance of a man about to learn a lesson he will never forget.
“Dad! Leave Joel alone!” I yell for the third time.
My family descended on us one mild Thursday early afternoon, and our home hasn’t been the same since.
They came in two packed cars and one stuffed U-Haul that they drove from Memphis to Iowa.
They came with the life I packed up when Simon died, and I left it in storage in my parents' garage, unsure whether I would ever find another place that felt like home again.
My dads have taken a tag-team approach to helping unload the U-Haul while cornering Win, Joel, and Murph and dragging out personal information from them. They do it with a smile, but there is no escaping their invasive questions.
“We’re just getting to know each other a little better,” my dad, Bryan, says with a wide, toothy smile I don’t trust for a second.
“You have him literally cornered in the kitchen.” I wrap my arm around Joel’s waist and lead him to safety, determined to keep a closer eye on him this time. “Come on, Joel. You’ll be safe with me.”
He grins down at me. “I really like this overprotective side of you, and you coming to save me. It’s almost worth being asked how old I was when I lost my virginity.”
I wince.
Why my dad felt the need to know that is beyond me. I don’t even want to ask.
“I shouldn’t have to keep saving you.” I turn to glare at my dad and find him smiling. Why would he be… My footsteps slow as realization hits. “You’ve been doing it on purpose.”
Dad steps around me and drops a kiss on my temple. “Just needed to be sure this is what you truly want. And it’s clear you do. You haven’t glared at me that hard since I put your doll’s dress in a hot wash and shrunk it.”
“That was unforgivable,” I accuse.
He hums. “It was, but you got three new outfits out of it.”
“Well…” I sniff. “My feelings were hurt, and Tabitha needed replacements.”
Dad chuckles. “Six years old, and she bartered over those outfits like a New York shark lawyer. I got her down from seven outfits, but it was not easy.” He winks at Joel. “We were all terrified she’d go to law school.”
Joel laughs as I roll my eyes at Dad’s joke. And itisa joke. They’d have supported me no matter what career I chose, even if that included law school.
“Great story,” Joel says, grinning, “Got any more of them?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He wraps an arm around Joel’s shoulder, and they walk off together.
Dad starts telling Joel about me herding all the kids in our neighborhood and even a cat one time for “lessons” when I decided to become a teacher. I was eight years old. That’s not the most embarrassing story he could tell Joel, but I probably shouldn’t leave them alone for too long.
