Page 62 of Something Good
Will had always carried some anxiety and worry when we were kids, but there was a reason I’d called him golden boy. It wasn’t just that he’d had a picture-perfect life, that he was the opposite of my bad boy persona. It was because he’d been a golden ray of sunshine in my otherwise dreary existence. He’d been hope and light and happiness when I thought I’d forgotten what any of those things meant.
And now, that light was dimmer, somehow. I wanted to know why, but it wasn’t my place to know those things anymore.
As if sensing my stare, he turned his attention toward me, eyes wide and searching mine. I wanted to ask him a million questions. Tell him a million things. And I didn’t know where to start. I had so many words inside me, fighting to get out. But they were stuck, jammed at the base of my throat like they were vying to escape but had gotten caught in a bottleneck. I didn’t know how to set them free.
The moment passed, and Will turned away. “Goldie! Come on, pup. It’s time to go.”
I swallowed. “You’re leaving? We didn’t get to your lesson.”
“It was never about the lesson.” Goldie came trotting over from where she’d been sniffing around under one of my workstations, and the two of them headed toward Will’s truck.
I stood in the doorway with my hands tucked in my pockets as Will opened the door to his truck and Goldie hopped into the cab. He turned and gave me a long look. I thought he might say something, might give an explanation for his sudden departure, but he only offered a small nod, then climbed into the truck, and moments later, he was gone.
35
WILL
My chest squeezedin a way it hadn’t in years as I drove away from Sammy’s shop. Not even the implosion of my marriage had made me feel this sense of panic. A part of me was surprised by that knowledge, even as I recognized that I shouldn’t be. There had been a million warning signs that had only recently become evident as I examined the events of the last seven years. I couldn’t think about that now though. Instead, I concentrated on my breathing as I willed the pressure in my chest to ease.
It had all been too much back there at the shop. Standing in Sammy’s proximity. The way he’d studied me as I peered at his bulletin board. Not to mention the information he’d shared about Rafi and Jason. I couldn’t say I felt betrayed exactly. I hadn’t expected anyone to take sides. Though, when I really thought about it, maybe that wasn’t entirely accurate. Rafi and Jason had always beenmyfriends. Hell, Jason had made it clear more than once that he was concerned about my relationship with Sammy. So how the hell did he end up hooking Sammy up with a job?
Under the weight of so many unanswered questions, I pulled up Jason’s number and hit the call button.
“Hey, Will. How’d it go at Sammy’s?”
“You helped him get a job?”
The line was silent for a quarter of a mile before he said, “Yeah, I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, J?”
His sigh echoed through the cab of my truck. “Where are you? Can you meet me at Arlo’s?”
“I’ve got Goldie with me. I’m not leaving her in the truck while I go into a bar. Just explain it to me.” My jaw was clenched and my tone was pinched, but I didn’t care. I wanted answers. And the more I thought about it, the angrier I became.
“I’m not doing this with you over the phone while you’re driving. You’re clearly upset. Why don’t you come out to my place?”
“Fine. Send me your address.”
I pulledup in front of Jason’s house fifteen minutes later. He had a small, two-bedroom one-story not too far from the one I’d grown up in before we moved to Grand Island. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it looked well-tended, with a brightly lit front porch and tidy landscaping. The simplicity of it suited him.
Goldie trailed me as I stepped up to the front door and knocked. Some of my anger had deflated, but the hurt was still there. Maybe we hadn’t been as close over the years as we had been that summer, but we’d talked a lot in the months following my exit from Astaire. There’d been plenty of opportunity for him to tell me he’d helped Sammy. Maybe if he’d explained it to me, I could have even appreciated that he’d offered help to someone I cared about, even underneath all the hurt. As it stood now,though, it felt like he’d deliberately hidden it from me, and I needed to know why.
The door opened, and Jason stood barefoot in a black AFD hoodie and joggers, his face pinched and an apology in his eyes.
“Why, J?”
He opened the door wider, stepping out of the way so I could come in. Goldie, a traitor for the second time tonight, gave a couple of little hops at the sight of Jason and immediately circled him, wiggling her butt and trying to bury herself in his legs. He leaned down and gave her a good scratch while I stood in the center of his living room, impatiently waiting for him to finish with my dog and answer my question.
When Jason rose, it was to find me staring at him with my arms crossed and eyebrows raised. He released a sigh. “What did Sammy tell you?”
I glared at him. “He said he went to work for Rafi’s father and that you were the one who hooked him up with the job.”
“He didn’t say anything else?”
“Not really. That was basically it.”
“Can we please sit down?”
