Page 85 of Hand Picked
“ThatI would have remembered,” I said with a lightness I did not feel. I finished up my tale quickly. “So, we took the bugle off the wall, went outside, and blew it, thinking it was forunity. I can’t even imagine how ridiculous we must’ve looked! And then the next day, the mayor—”
“Hey!” Webb complained. “Now who’s telling the story wrong? Let me tell it. So, it was my idea to get the bugle down,” he informed my mom. “But Luke was the one who convinced Van to let us take it, using his obey-me teacher voice. It was the funniest, sweetest thing. His cheeks were all pink, and he had these cute freckles—”
“Stop.” I clapped a hand to my nose, embarrassed. “My freckles are not pertinent to this story.”
“I beg to differ. And then we ran outside. It was dark and cold and clear, and there must’ve been a billion stars in the sky—”
“It was February,” I told my mom with a shrug. “It was nothing special.”
“And then we held hands right there on the common—”
“More like, we each held up a hand to recite this silly pledge Van told us to say. It wasn’t like we actually intended to hold hands,” I explained a little desperately. “Because we didn’t.”
“Didn’t we?” Webb stared at me and stroked a finger over his bottom lip pensively. “I dunno. I sort of remember that I did it on purpose. Your hand was cold, and I—”
“You were being a good friend,” I said with something like rising panic, because he was making the whole thing sound soromantic, and what the heckity was that about when he’d said we werenothing?“So we said the stupid pledge—”
“Comeon! It wasn’t stupid,” he argued. “Dude. It was… special. It was meaningful.”
“We were drunk,” I scoffed.
“It was beautiful.”
“I guarantee you can’t even remember the words!” I nearly yelled. “Webb, for pity’s sake, stop making it sound like… like…”
“The specific words don’t matter, Luke! What matters is what’s in your heart, and I…” He swallowed hard and glanced around the table, then back down at his hands. “I felt united with you.”
“United infriendship,” I gritted out. I swallowed and turned toward my mom. “That’s what’s so annoying about this Hand-Fast Watch thing. People are getting confused.”
Iwas getting confused.
I cleared my throat and stood up. “And that’s the story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with an impatient first grader who needs to practice some spelling.”
“You don’t have to.” Webb pushed to his feet. “I can take care of him while you—”
But I was already halfway to the hall. “Stay there. Be back in a bit.”
I practically raced up the stairs, in case anyone thought to follow me, but then I paused before heading to Aiden’s room and took a deep breath. Tears pricked the back of my eyes, which was so foolish, but I pushed them back.
I knocked on the frame of Aiden’s open door and found him sitting on his bed, holding a cell phone in his hand. “Hey. How’s it going with the practicing?”
I expected him to look guilty because I’d caught him playing a game, but when he glanced up, his lower lip quivered.
“My mom just called. She said she’s not sure she’ll make it to the Spring Fling. She might have to do mandatory overtime. Mandatory means she has to do it. And she’s trying to get out of it, but she doesn’t think she can.”
“Oh, dang.” I picked my way through the toy cars scattered on the floor and sat on the twin bed beside him. “Dude, that stinks. So disappointing for both of you. I know she really wanted to be there. Maybe we can video chat part of it for her, you know? It won’t be the same, but—”
“Do you think my mom loves me?” Aiden asked suddenly. “Because my dad says…”
I ground my back teeth together, fighting the urge to snap something about Webb.
“I think your dad cares so much about you, he doesn’t always look at things clearly. He goes into protection mode, and his brain starts thinking, ‘Must. Keep. Safe.’ Like a robot.” I moved my hands up and down in a terrible robot impression, and he gave me a watery grin. I continued. “Your mom definitely loves you. Not a doubt in my mind.”
“Dad says love isn’t a thing you say, it’s a thing you do. He says love means showing up for people when you say you will.”
“There are a lot of ways to love, Aiden. That’s your dad’s way, for sure. And that’s real love, for sure. But love can also mean your mom working hard so she has money to take care of you. To take you to the movies. To buy sleeping bags for campouts.”
“But if she loves me, then why did she leave? My dad stayed, so why couldn’t she?”
