Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
What? Did he think he’d walk down there, say he was sorry and that they’d be fast friends after that?
No, he knew that wouldn’t happen, but he’d hoped for forgiveness. He needed it, whether he deserved it or not. The way he’d treated Shane was one of his biggest regrets.
He’d been no better than his father.
Soon, the dirt road turned to asphalt. The road ended at a “T” where he took a right. He had driven for only a few minutes when he saw it—what looked like a woman in the distance, sitting on the side of the road. She was far enough back, close to the trees, that he almost missed her. She had her arms around her legs, her body rocking back and forth.
“What in the hell?” His heart dropped to his stomach. As soon as he got close enough to her to pull over, he knew exactly who she was.
He and his friends had painted FAG on her house, which was down the long driveway next to where she was sitting.
He’d been a real stellar guy, hadn’t he?
Van killed the engine and got out, making slow movements. She didn’t look at him, didn’t say anything to him either.
“Hello?” he said tentatively. “My name is Max Sullivan.” He gave her his real name because she likely knew his family. “Can I help you with something?” He wasn’t sure what to do, he didn’t want to move toward her too quickly and scare her.
“I know your son,” he said when she didn’t reply. “Shane. I just saw him at the shop a little while ago. I could call him for you.” He didn’t mention the fact that he’d bullied her son as a child and that Shane hated him. He just wanted her to feel comfortable and he figured mentioning Shane was the best way for that to happen.
She looked up at him then. “You know Shane?”
“I do.” He took a step closer, then another. “I used to live here. Just came back for a visit.” Another step. “His shop is great.” Another one. “I bet you’re real proud of him.”
She smiled then, and damned if it didn’t make his own heart speed up. It was the one a mother was supposed to smile when someone mentioned her child. The way he wished his own mom would smile. “I am. I’ve always been proud of him.”
“How about I call him for you?” he asked.
“No. I’m okay…I just need a few minutes. I’m okay. I don’t want to bother him. I just…I thought I could make it. I haven’t had an attack in a while.”
His heart broke her for; broke for Shane too. “Can I sit with you? I’ll give you my phone if that makes you feel safer.”
“I forgot my phone at home. How could I have forgotten it?” She reached up, rubbing a spot at the back of her head.
When Van reached her to sit down, he saw there was a small bald spot, as though she often played with the hairs there until they’d fallen out.
“Here’s my phone.”
“Thank you.” She took it and he was glad for it.
They sat in silence, in the gravel, for what felt like an eternity but he knew it was only a few minutes.
“Shane loves working on cars,” she said.
“Yeah, I bet he does.”
“He was always a natural. He used to work on them before he had any training. That’s my Shane, though. He can do anything if he sets his mind to it.”
Van could see that. Wished he’d had the chance to witness it in person.
“I’ve always envied people like that,” Van told her. “People who were good at everything.”
“Me too. Most of the time those people are assholes.”
“Not Shane,” Van said.
“Nope.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “What about you?” she asked and then said, “I’m sorry. You don’t have to sit out here and tell me anything. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. That’s my driveway right there.”
He knew it was. “Nah, I’m good. I have nowhere else I need to be. My father recently passed away. We weren’t close. I came to see my mom.”
They talked a little about how Van hoped he could find some kind of common ground with his mother. Annie, he’d learned her name was—because over the years he’d forgotten—said that they would, because mothers loved their sons too much for them to be lost to each other forever. He hadn’t given her all the details, of course, and he thought that might change things but right then he knew that wasn’t what she needed.
Right now, he thought, Annie Wallace just needed someone to listen.
He talked about living in Los Angeles, the ocean, and how weird it was being back here.
She told him Shane had built his own house on the same property as her—designed it himself. Again, he was good at everything, she reminded him.