Page 31 of Infinite as They Come
“I know nothing about you,” she finally said. “Can I know things? You’re not in Dallas anymore, right? That card mentioned New York. You’re my… God, you’re my son and I don’t know a thing about you.”
“I haven’t lived in Dallas in a while,” I explained. “Me and Holly are living in New York while she goes to college. Well, she’s done now. She graduated a few weeks ago from Columbia.”
Her eyes widened. “New York. Goodness, look at you. That sounds so exciting. And your girlfriend? Tell me about her. What’s she like?”
“She’s…” I laughed lowly, my head shaking a little as I tried to find the words. “She’s the best thing to ever happen to me. She’s everything. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Today wouldn’t be happening without her. I don’t think I could do this if it wasn’t for her…”
She smiled softly. “She seems very sweet.”
“She is. She’s perfect. Inside and out.” My eyes found one of the many photos on the wall: one of her and Kurt on what looked like their wedding day. Both their smiles were big, their arms wrapped around each other in a tight embrace. “What’s he like? Your husband? Is… Is he good to you?”
“Oh, Kurt’s so lovely.” She pressed a hand to her chest, warmth and fondness drenched in her voice. “Gentle. Kind. Patient.”
“Not like…”
“No,” she said, and that affectionate tone that had been there a second ago faded. “Not like him.”
“You’re happy with him? With Kurt?”
“I am. So, so happy. He’s a sweet man and so hard working. He works at a furniture warehouse not too far from here.”
“And he’s not…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. “He doesn’t…”
Her head shook. “No, never. Not even once.”
Throat clearing, I nodded. “He seems nice. Spencer too.”
“Oh, Spencer takes after his father,” she said with a big smile. “Quiet and shy. A little too shy sometimes…”
That made me frown. “Those kids were giving him a hard time the other day at the park.”
She sighed deeply. “It’s hard for him to make friends. He’s so timid andquiet. He’s not really like the other boys he goes to school with. I mean, half the time he’s in the garden. He likes planting flowers. They have this program at the park you met him at. On the weekends you can come down and take care of the garden—plant stuff, water it. He loves things like that. He’s… He’s a little sensitive and small for his age. I guess that puts a target on his back.”
Something weird and protective took over when she said that. That wasn’t just any kid. That was my brother. Half-brother, but still,my brother. “He doesn’t deserve that,” I said.
“He thinks you’re amazing, though,” she said as she smiled. “He goes on and on about you and thinks you’re very brave. ‘This guy at the park helped me and those boys left me alone’. It’s all he’s talked about. He showed me that drawing and then I flipped it over and then… Here you are in front of me.”
“Yeah,” I grumbled out, pressing a hand to the couch, and for a millisecond, the tips of our fingers met. It made me jolt as I pulled away from her touch. “Um… I should go check on Holly.”
“Will you come back again?” she asked. Like she was pleading, like how I used to sound when I was a kid, begging my dad to see her again. “I know you said you need time, and I’ll give you as much as you need, just please say you’ll let me see you again.”
Hand rubbing at the back of my neck, I nodded. “I promise I’ll come back. I just… I need to process… everything.”
“I understand. Of course. I’ll take you out to the back where Holly is.”
We both stood up, the walk to the backyard awkward and slow. When we got outside, I found Holly sitting down at the edge of the porch with Spencer in front of her. It was a small backyard but they had packed it with a whole heap of flowers. It was bright, welcoming. Spencer was grasping a brown pot stacked with orange flowers in his little hands. He spotted me and blinked his big eyes my way, setting the pot down in front of Holly.
“These are butterfly weeds,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Butterflies like to land on them. They like the color.”
“They’re so pretty,” whispered Holly, her fingers gently grazing againstthe petals. She must have seen me from the corner of her eye, because she looked over her shoulder at me, eyes widening as they darted between me and my mom. “Hi.”
“Hey. It’s, uh, getting kinda late,” I murmured, but it wasn’t even midday, and honestly, I just needed the tiniest bit of escape.
Holly nodded and stood up slowly, her hands smoothing out the back of her dress. She shot Spencer a bright smile, her head tilting slightly. “Thanks for showing me your flowers, Spencer. They’re so pretty.”
“That’s okay,” he said before looking at me. “You can come look at them whenever you want.”
“Sawyer has to leave now,” my mom said next to me, her hands clasped together. “I know today was a bit… much for everyone, but thank you for coming. You and Holly. Please don’t be afraid to come back again. I promise the door is always open for you. The both of you.”
