Chapter Chapter Thirteen
Knox
Amy sent me all the details about the camping trip on Monday evening as I approached my parents’ house. I read through her email at a red light.
We’d leave on Friday morning and come back on Sunday evening. In my opinion, a six-hour bus trip for a two-night camping escapade was a nightmare. There were plenty of options closer to San Diego, but somehow I was strangely looking forward to it.
Amy: It’s going to be amazing. What are you up to tonight?
Knox: I’ll be in the neighborhood, checking on my parents.
Actually, they were the ones checking on me.
Dad had texted me this morning that he needed some help with the garden shed and that Mom was making pie.
I could read between the lines: They were still worrying about me.
But my bruises were gone, and I hadn’t had any headaches at all, so I knew they’d be pleased with my recovery.
Finn called as the light turned green.
“Hey, dude. I’ll be a bit late,” I told him.
“You’re coming to our parents’ house too?”
I was surprised. Maybe Dad really did need help and didn’t just make up a reason for me to be here.
“Yeah, but I’m stuck in traffic.”
“No problem. Dad and I will start. Anyone else coming?”
“Nah. We’re the only ones with time on our hands,” Finn said.
I laughed. That was true. As soon as one of my brothers was in a relationship, we saw less of him. Then again, if someone had told me last night to cut my time with Amy short, I would have told them flat-out no. So yeah, I was slowly starting to get it.
As I arrived on my parents’ street, I noticed Amy had texted me.
Amy: I baked a pie, and now I’m buried up to my ears in a craft project for the little ones. Being a chaperone for the elementary kids is more work than I thought it would be, but I love it.
I’d text her back once I stopped the car. Just as I had that thought, she sent me another one.
Amy: Oh, I’d give anything for a margarita right now.
That gave me a good idea. I parked the car in front of my parents’ house but didn’t get out. Instead, I started to scroll through the delivery apps. Nah, I was going to do one better: I would deliver it myself after I left my parents’. Instead of texting her back, I’d plan to surprise her later.
I headed straight to the backyard, where I knew I’d find Dad.
“Hey, Dad,” I said when I saw him.
He was on his knees, bent over the assembly instructions. “Should have just built one from scratch,” he murmured. “Oh, hi, son.”
“What’s going on?”
“I bought one of those ready-made sheds that you ‘just have to assemble.’” Yeah, he used finger quotes. “Got delivered today, and it’s a mess. The instructions make no sense.”
I was surprised. Dad was a very DIY kind of guy.
“I’ll read the instructions. I’m good at this.”
Mom came out a moment later. “Darling, I thought I heard your voice.”
She looked me up and down quickly, and I knew on the spot that this wasn’t all a coincidence. Dad probably did need help, but he could have just asked Finn. He didn’t need both of us here.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Perfectly fine. All healed.”
“I’m here. Sorry I’m late,” Finn called, coming up the next second.
“You’re not late. I just arrived.”
“Just in time for my pie,” Mom said. “Not as good as Amy’s, but it’s good, too, if I do say so myself.”
She set the plate with the pecan pie on the rattan outdoor table. I grabbed a slice and immediately dug in.
“How is it?” Mom asked.
“It’s good,” I managed with my mouth full.
“Even better than the one you and Amy baked at your house?” She smirked, and I choked on my next bite.
I looked at Finn, who shrugged. “Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t spill the beans.”
Mom started to laugh. “He really didn’t.”
I was getting suspicious. “How do you even know?”
“Well, from Wyatt, of course. He mentioned it when I last spoke to him. He was very miffed about it, which is silly.”
She gave me another smile but didn’t say anything else, which was strange. Mom usually didn’t have a problem saying what was on her mind.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I forgot what it was,” I admitted.
“Is it better than Amy’s?” Mom prodded.
“No,” I admitted truthfully. Amy’s pecan pie was perfection.
She sighed. “I’ve got to keep practicing, then.”
Finn looked at me with a strange expression and turned to Dad. “Right. Ah, instructions your nemesis again?”
“Yeah.” I gave them to Finn to look over while I finished eating.
“Why didn’t you buy some lumber and screws and build it from scratch?”
“I’m wondering the same,” Dad grumbled.
“You can always send it back,” Mom suggested.
Dad blinked. “That’s a good idea, dear, but since the boys are here, I think we’ll get the hang of it.”
“All right. I’ll go back in the house. My show is starting, but you let me know if you need anything.”
“Enjoy your show, Mom,” I told her. “We’re all good.”
Finn and I exchanged a glance as he and Dad bent over the instructions again.
Back in the day, Mom suggesting sending back the shed would have escalated into a shouting match.
Then again, everything was a fight all the time back then.
For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how they were making it work now.
My brother and I were excellent at reading instructions.
Both of us had built a lot of IKEA furniture.
Even though we were already employed at Sterling Investments by graduation, we didn’t want to overextend ourselves financially, so we bought more modestly priced items for our places.
After a childhood where money was often scarce, we knew how to budget.
I’d never thrifted stuff because I hated the idea of secondhand items, but I bought a lot of cheap furniture with dubious assembly instructions.
I took another look at the instructions after Finn and Dad were through, and then we started our attack on the shed.
“How’s the store doing?” Finn asked Dad as we started to disassemble the parts that he had mounted incorrectly, which was most of them.
“It keeps me and your mom busy. Frankly, that’s all we need right now. I’m making a small profit, which is good because I would never run it at a loss. Never.”
“You could,” I offered. “You know that we—”
“I know you boys like to take care of us. And we appreciate you buying the store back in the first place. Anyway, your mom and I like to keep busy during the day. It’s nice that we each have our own floors, but we like that we can meet up throughout the day.
I feel blessed to be at this stage of life. ”
“What do you mean?” Finn asked.
“That your mom and I managed to reconnect. It’s awful when day-to-day life gets in the way of love and respect.
Unfortunately, that was what happened with us when you were kids.
Your mom was taking on much more than I did with you kids and around the house.
We were both working back then. I put in more hours, and when I came home, I figured I’d earned the right to relax. I thought I was doing enough.”
Dad wasn’t prone to introspection, so this was surprising. I figured he’d said his bit, but then he went on.
“Your mom kept telling me that she needed more help—that she was drowning. But I figured it was just the season of our lives, and it would eventually pass. But the resentment built up over time, and I lost her.” He shook his head.
“Never allow that to happen. Never. Once you lose someone... there’s no guarantee that you’ll manage to find your way back together. ”
“News flash, Dad,” Finn said. “We don’t have anyone to lose. This little monologue would be more helpful to our older brothers.”
Dad shook his head. “Nah. It’s good for you boys to hear it too. Who knows what ideas you might get.”
“No ideas whatsoever,” Finn said. He stopped in the act of undoing a screw and looked at me. “Why aren’t you backing me up?”
“That’s good advice,” I told Dad. “But I agree with Finn. The rest could use it more than us.”
Dad laughed, shaking his head.
“What is it with you and Mom today? She was laughing at me earlier too,” I pointed out.
“Son,” Dad said seriously, “neither your mom nor I was born yesterday.”
“Neither was I,” Finn cut in, putting the correct screw in, “but I’m missing something too.”
“Knox, you’ve seen Amy far more often since the accident than before. Something’s going on between the two of you.”
My parents were correct, obviously, but I didn’t want to discuss this with them. Then again, I didn’t want to keep secrets either. But I didn’t even know what Amy and I were doing, so how could I explain it to anyone else?
“It’s true, we have been spending time together, and we’re going to spend even more together soon. I’m going on a school trip with her next Friday.”
Finn’s eyes bulged. “Dude, we were supposed to have another catch-up session on Friday, remember?”
Dad started to laugh, then shook his head. Finn blinked, then cocked a brow.
“I forgot about the meeting,” I admitted. “The person who was supposed to go with her backed out, and I thought I could help.”
“You forgot about the meeting,” Finn parroted, stunned.
Now that I saw the shock on my brother’s face, I realized that this was a big deal. I never forgot about meetings.
“Let’s stop gossiping and focus on finishing this thing,” I said, “or we’ll be here until God knows when.”
“We can go grab drinks after,” my brother suggested.
Usually, I’d agree on the spot, but I wanted to drop by Amy’s place with a margarita.
“I can’t tonight,” I said.
His expression of shock intensified.
I felt guilty, but only for a split second. I could always hang out with Finn, but I wanted to surprise Amy tonight.
Fortunately, between the three of us, we finished the shed quickly.
“All right, I’m going to leave. I’ll just go inside to tell Mom bye.”
Finn was staying to help Dad with the cleanup, and he eyed me suspiciously.
“Why are you in such a rush? What are you doing?” he asked.
“That’s my business.”
Finn blinked—rightfully so, as we never kept secrets from each other. “Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”