Page 10 of The Leaves In Autumn
“You’re in a weird mood for someone about to be married.”
He smiles.
“Yeah, can you believe it? Life is about to change.”
He chuckles.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“Another cup?”
The waitress’s soft voice has a tiredness that someone so young should not be feeling. Sounds more like a forty-eight-year old’s exhaustion with life.
“No. We’re good.”
I feel bad for the server, who is waiting on the entire room by herself, with only one busboy’s random assistance. Sweat sticks a loose curl against her face. But she has such kind eyes, and they remind me of Kristin’s. That alone deserves a good tip.
“We’ll take the check when you have the time.”
Van speaks gently to the girl. He must have read my mind. I’m surprised he didn’t let her in on his opinion of the food. Maybe he sees the same thing I do. She takes out our bill and moves to the next dissatisfied customer. I reach for my wallet. Van’s expression softens.
“Give her a good tip.”
Why that makes me happy I don’t know. It kind of confirms my opinion of my brothers. It is most surprising in Van, who carried the title of being the Lyon’s loose cannon for so many years. Until he met Layla, there was an unpredictability to his personality. Or maybe he was the most predictable of us all. He was the wild man. Things would come out of his mouth that surprised us on a regular basis. Since he was a kid, he loved the shock value. There was something kind of fun about it, if it wasn’t aimed at you.
“So, you coming with Barbra tonight?”
“She’s going out on a date.”
He looks at me with an all-knowing expression.
“Come on. Doesn’t that bug the shit out of you?”
“Why would it?”
“Because you’re starting to look at her in a different way.”
“That’s bullshit.”
The lie doesn’t stick.
“Yeah, okay Aargon. It’s not like I know your tells.”
“Just because Ilikeher doesn’t mean it has to be anything deeper. She’s not my type at all.”
“What type is that? We haven’t seen anyseriouscandidates lately. And by lately, I mean since you were in your thirties. What’s up with that?”
“Figure it out.”
“I have. Now I want you to.”
We have a ten second staring contest that I win easily. So, Van precedes to lay it on me.
“Here’s my take. You never got, I won’t say past the suicide, but through it. Then when Kristin died in the accident, it sealed the pain inside you.”
“It’s good to know you got your psychology degree.”
