Page 22 of Aftersome
“You’re here earlier than I thought you would be,” Greg announced over the brim of his coffee cup.
“Couldn’t sleep much, so I thought I’d get on the road earlier. Plus, I hate driving at night.”
Stopping on the first step of the porch, I leaned my hip against the banister.
I hoped they couldn’t see how nervous I was. I didn’t want them to worry or have any doubts about me leaving, but standing here, I found it difficult to remain unfazed.
“And you’re staying with Kate, right?” Shelia asked as she sat in a rocking chair, nibbling anxiously on her thumbnail.
“Yes.” I smiled. “She and James are letting me stay with them however long I need to.”
She nodded.
“You have everything you need? Clothes? Computer? Does your cardiologist know you’ll be gone? Oh god, what if something… What if something happens when you’re all the way in Seattle and we’re not there…”
Greg immediately noticed the worry that his wife was expressing and quickly went over to her. Kneeling, he set his coffee down and placed both hands on her knees.
“Hey, look at me. She’ll be okay,” he reassured. “You see all those bags in the back of her car, that’s all her clothes, her belongings, everything that she needs.” He pointed over to my vehicle as Shelia’s lip quivered. “And her cardiologist knows, baby. I called him the other day to make sure our girl would be okay to leave. I also checked her tires the other day and I made sure she was good on an oil change. You know I wouldn’t let her go without making sure she would be okay, right?”
My breath had caught in my throat.
He really did all those things for me? To make sure that I would be okay?
My heart swelled in disbelief. I guess they really did love me…
Shelia lunged at Greg and wrapped him in a tight hug that almost sent them toppling over. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“God, I love you so much.” Shelia cried into the collar of his shirt as Greg rubbed his hand along her spine.
“I love you too. Now please, go give Wren that hug you couldn’t stop talking about giving her.”
He threw me a wink over his shoulder and let go of Shelia. The second she was back up on her feet, she flew over to me. Arms outstretched, face stained red, she pulled me into her embrace.
A memorable hug, to say the least.
“I’m so sorry, I just… I worry about you so much, Wren. I was doing fine until this morning when it hit me that you were leaving and I started to panic,” she confessed. “I was half tempted to pack all my things and go with you, but Greg told me that I needed to stay here. It’s just… It’s hard letting you go. I don’t want to say goodbye.”
I held on to her tighter as my eyes shut.
“Then we won’t say goodbye, how about that?” I offered. “We’ll just say ‘I’ll see you soon,’ because I will. I’ll be back before you know it, and hopefully with another person in tow.”
“I’ll see you soon,” she repeated on a half laugh, half sob. “I like that.”
“Me too.” I burrowed deeper into her shoulder. “And I promise I’ll be okay. It’ll be good for me anyway. To see Kate, see a new place, reconcile…”
“I know,” she said on a long, drawn-out huff. “If you ever need anything, or if it all becomes too much, come home, okay?”
Though I knew I wouldn’t come back without Mal, I still nodded my head in agreement.
With a few more hugs and words, I was finally back in my car with both Greg and Shelia hovering beside the door.
“All good to go?” Greg asked as he placed a palm onto the door and leaned in closer to look at the dashboard on my car. I noticed as his eyes drifted over all the gauges as if double-checking everything again.
I couldn’t help but smile.
Even though I was still a thirty-one-year-old woman, he was still looking out for me like you would a daughter.
“Yeah, I think so.”
