Page 17 of Forever Christmas
“Are you coming?”
I hesitate. “Nah. I’ve got a lot going on here.”
“But he’s your father. He might not make it through this.”
“I quit considering him my father the last time he gave me a black eye,” I say. “You and June still okay?”
“We are,” she says. “He’s changed, Gavin.”
“I doubt that,” I say. “But I’m glad he isn’t hurting you.”
I’d kill him if he did, but it was always about me. Never the girls.
I think about June. We don’t talk about Dad. But he can’t be good for her, even if he isn’t one to punch a female.
“Please, Gavin. Make amends with him before the surgery.”
“Is Grandma K there to help you?” I ask.
“Of course,” she says.
“And Uncle Ben?”
“He’s coming.”
“Then sounds like you have plenty of help. Let me know if he keels over. I’ll buy the first round.”
“Gavin!”
“I’m serious, Mom. Love you.”
And I end the call.
I do love her, and my sister. But if she thinks I’m going to drop everything and go play nicey nice with the man who bruised me body and soul, she’s wrong.
Dead wrong.
I sit in the seat of the Mazda, watching the temperature gauge.It’s holding steady, unlike the way I’m feeling inside.
“Everything all right?” Mario asks. He bends down, his head by the door. His hair is wild, black and curling. He hasn’t cut it since his last girlfriend.
“Just parent stuff,” I say. “Nothing important.”
“Temp holding?” he asks.
“Looking good.”
“Cool. Because some hot chick just drove in an engine overhaul, and I’m going to need a secondset of hands.”
“For the car or the chick?”
He elbows me. “Yeah, right. You won’t even shoot pool with me anymore. Bona fide househusband. Your bachelorhood is blown.”
“I don’t make a good wingman,” I say.
“Yeah, they always want the married one anyway,” he says. His fingers comb through the wild tangle on his head. “I’m thinking of growing my hair long, get a beard. That’s the look now.”
“Don’t ask me for grooming advice. I barely remember to shave.”
