Page 104 of The Write Stuff

I debated what the best response would be and ultimately decided that being truthful was the only way to go. “I have to talk to her first, Aggie. I’m her son. This is my responsibility.”

“It might be your responsibility to talk to her about Wylie, but the rest of it is my responsibility,” she countered.

“And mine,” Mick interjected. “You guys can’t plan to talk to Eleanor without including me.”

He was right, of course. I didn’t like it, but he was absolutely correct. If we were going to clear the air, it would have to include all of us. Before I could respond, however, Wylie took charge.

“Huxley is first, and he gets to set the tone,” she said as she drank her tomato juice. She was the only person in the world I knew who actually liked tomato juice. Not V-8 juice — she hated that — but straight up tomato juice. It was odd and endearing.

“I agree,” Aggie said. “This is Huxley’s show. It involves all of us, though.”

“You know her differently than I do,” I interjected. “How do you think she’ll react when I tell her about my relationship with Wylie?”

Aggie sipped her coffee, and the way her eyebrows moved toward one another, I knew she was thinking hard. “She’s going to call you disloyal,” she started.

My heart sank. I’d known it myself, but it wasn’t something I wanted to hear.

“She’ll get over that quickly, though,” Aggie added. “She loved Wylie. Eleanor thought she was hilarious, and we used to talk about what a good match the two of you would make if you ever got over your ‘Wylie is a geek’ stage.”

I frowned. I didn’t like being reminded of that. “I never thought Wylie was a geek,” I started.

Three sets of eyes landed on me, and all of them were dubious.” Fine,” I grunted. “I thought she was a geek. The thing is, I’ve had a lot of time to think since Wylie and I started spending time together. I think I liked her even back then.”

“Of course you did,” Aggie said on a laugh. “It was obvious. You couldn’t see it, though, and the plan was to wait until Wylie finally grew into her looks. We figured you would melt down the first time she showed up with a boyfriend. Unfortunately, we never got that far.”

It was annoying to think they’d been chatting about this stuff without me knowing. I hated it. “You could have told me.”

“Oh, really?” Aggie made a face. “And how would you have reacted if we told you what we believed?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’m sure I would have been open to hearing it, eventually.”

They all snorted in unison.

“Fine.” I held up my hands in supplication. “I would have been a jerk.”

“It’s honestly better that you and Wylie found each other on your own,” Aggie said. “Eleanor is not going to have a problem with Wylie. Wylie’s association with Mick and me is another problem entirely.”

“Everybody needs to make up,” Wylie said. “It’s the only way this is going to work.” She looked angsty, so I ran my hand over her back.

“We’re going to figure it out,” I promised her. “My mother is not going to ruin this.”

“She’s going to try,” Mick said. “We just can’t let her get a foothold in her self-righteousness.”

“She’s coming tomorrow, right?” Aggie prodded. “That’s what you said when we were walking here.”

“Yes.” I bobbed my head. “Her flight gets in at around noon. She’s going to take a car to my house. I plan on telling her about Wylie then and telling her what I learned from you guys regarding Mick.”

“I wish I could be there for that part,” Mick said. “It’s time we hashed things out.”

“I don’t see how that would work unless you’re willing to hide in a closet until I’ve had my conversation with her,” I said ruefully. “The second she sees you, she’s going to go on the attack.”

“Huxley is right,” Aggie said. “He has to be first. We’ll figure out a way to set up a meeting between all of us after Eleanor has had her first freakout.”

“What if she leaves, though?” Wylie asked. “What if she won’t even consider talking to you guys?”

“We’re not going to give her a choice. One way or another, Eleanor is going to talk to us. We’re not letting her slip away. Not this time.”

WE SPENT THE DAY TOGETHER. ALL four of us. When Lucy was finished with her shift, which happened to be a morning shift for a change, she brought Hayley over for lunch.