Page 54 of Family Forever
After a brief pause, his brother spoke. “I’m going to come home this weekend so make some sort of plan to go somewhere or do something for yourself. I’ll call Aric and let him know you’re fine and you’ll be a while. Clear your head.”
“Thanks, see ya this weekend.”
Dylan stared out the windshield at the large, mesmerizing snowflakes falling from the sky. They were thickening to the point where he could hardly see the church across the street any longer. His cell phone rang, knocking him out of his empty trance. His heart skipped a beat when Marissa’s beautiful face flashed across the screen, then it plummeted into his gut at the thought that one of his brothers probably called her to inform her of his meltdown. Yet, he couldn’t ignore her call. He needed to hear her soft, lovely voice.
“Hello.” Though he tried to sound upbeat, his tone was bleak, even to his own ears.
“Hi, Dylan. How are you?” Her sympathetic tone alerted him to the fact she knew what had happened.
“I’m fine, and you?”
“Talk to me, Dylan, I just hung up with Braden and he told me what happened. Are you okay?”
Excruciating silence filled the air. He was so embarrassed he didn’t know what to say to her. No, he wasn’t okay but the last thing he wanted to do was tell her that or lie. He couldn’t bear the thought of her knowing how very out of control and weak he was at this very moment. Nothing was working out right or even remotely going according to plan.
“I’m coming home. I’m leaving right now.”
“No, stay there, I’m fine,” he snapped in a tone nearly as abrasive as the one he’d used on his brothers earlier in the evening. He’d give anything to suck the words back into his mouth and respond all over again. On second thought, what was he worried about? She couldn’t come home. She didn’t have a car. Her silence made him edgy and he fought for a controlled voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. You can’t miss your classes. I’m fine, really.”
“You know, it’s okay to let people help you. You don’t have to do everything yourself all the time.” Hurt emitted from her tone.Great.The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, or any of his family for that matter, yet he managed to do an excellent job on the whole lot of them in less than an hour.
With as much as he wanted to keep hearing Marissa’s voice, he knew he needed to end the call or he’d probably find himself begging her to come home.
"Marissa, I really appreciate your call but I have to go. I need to get home to the boys."
She bid him a reluctant goodbye.
He tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and put the truck into gear. He wasn’t even out of the parking lot when his phone lit up again. He put the truck back into park and snatched his phone off the seat.Yep, Aunt Mitzi.
“Hi, Aunt Mitzi. Which one called you?” he asked, happy he was able to keep his voice in check.
“Nice try, Dylan, but you can’t fool me. Nate was too convincing on the phone.”
He wondered who Luke had called. He was the only one left.
“Would you like me to come up for a few days so you can take a little break?” his aunt continued.
His lungs deflated. “Thanks, but I’m okay. I got this, I feel better already, and I’m on my way home.”
It took about fifteen minutes to convince his aunt that he'd regained control of himself and would head home shortly. He drove around a bit longer before pulling into his driveway. He had been gone for over two hours and was sure the boys would be starving to death by now since it was way past their normal dinner time. He walked into the house to find Aric washing what appeared to be dinner dishes. Braden was wiping off the table and Nate was sweeping the floor. Luke stood by Aric’s side and looked up at him with his big puppy-dog eyes. The fear emitting from his little brother’s gaze felt like a punch to his gut. He needed to fix this mess.
“I take it you guys ate dinner?”
“Yeah. Aric made hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.”
Hmm. Aric, who never helped in the kitchen, made dinner.
“We made a plate for you, it’s in the fridge. I’ll get it for you,” Braden said as he stepped toward the refrigerator. “What do you want to drink with it?” he asked as he glanced over his shoulder.
He yelled at them and now they were going to wait on him hand and foot. Why did he feel so guilty about it? Then again, they did sort of have it coming.
“Milk.”
Braden put the plate in the microwave and poured a glass of milk, and then he set them both at Dylan’s spot at the table. The kitchen was unusually quiet as he ate.
When he was done eating, Aric swiped his dirty dishes and washed them without complaint.
Dylan herded the younger boys upstairs to get ready for bed.
