Page 33 of Yesterday I Cared
That’s a pretty dangerous request because I have a lot of questions, but I don’t want to make him talk about this more than he should. “I’m assuming it was some kind of a crush injury in the leg?”
“Yeah, the car rolled a couple of times, and I was pinned beneath it when the fire department got there. They took me right into surgery to repair the leg, but they weren’t sure they could save it. I don’t remember the days after the surgery. I have the nerve damage mostly under control between therapy and occasional medications, but the pain flares up still. Thankfully, no complications came from the surgery or injury itself. I was in bad shape, though. Bryce told mehe wouldn’t have known it was me if he hadn’t demanded answers from my parents when he couldn’t get ahold of me.”
“Okay, now that I can picture.” I grin at him, taking another sip of coffee.
There’s a small, fond smile on his face. It amazes me to see him look back on something traumatic in that light. To pull the positive memories from the negative ones. He could be angry, he could rage against the world and his parents, but instead he’s chosen to move forward.
“And is this what made you start Operation Fly?” I ask, wanting to know everything. In a matter of hours, I went from not wanting to say a single word to him to needing to keep talking to him despite this cloud still looming over us.
“Kind of.” He reaches for the bread pan and cuts us both another slice without even asking. Which is fine. I would have gone for my own once he was done. “The driver of the car I was in was a single dad; his kid went to his grandmother. I couldn’t attend the funeral, but I made a sizable donation to the family to cover the costs and help get the kid settled into his new life more. I sent a card with my cell number and told them to let me know if they ever needed anything. About a year after the accident, I got a call from the grandmother. She wanted her grandson to learn how to swim, but couldn’t afford the lessons. She knew who I was and asked if I knew of any community efforts to get him lessons for free.”
“If you tell me you taught that little boy how to swim, I am going to cry.” The tears are already stinging the corners of my eyes. His cheeks flushed pink. “Oh, my god, Ronan.”
“He was a good kid,” he explains, like this one little gesture didn’t do something amazing for that kid. And lead to something bigger. “Plus, we all gotta start somewhere, right?”
“You’re a good man, Ronan,” I tell him, the truth slipping out before I can stop it. “I know I don’t always act like I believe it, but it’s true.”
Ronan gives me a tighter smile. The reality that there’s still something between us comes creeping back in. “I think I call this progress. What about you?”
“We’ll go with progress because there’s no way I’m leaving until we eat at least half of this.”
I end up staying another hour, but the conversation never got as personal as it started. We talk about the club, Operation Fly, and Lezak, who, after waking up from a nap, decides I need to play with him. Which has the two of us running around Ronan’s living room and earns me several laughs from Ronan. I don’t pull out my phone until I’m walking back to my car, Ronan’s door quietly closing behind me. New tears sting my eyes as I type a message.
Thank you for being the stubborn asshole you are.
Bryce’s reply is instant.
Bryce: He told you then?
He did.
I'll fill Josie in tonight, then.
How are you doing? I know it's a lot.
I don't know yet.
Josie is sitting at the picnic table outside the door when I arrive at Adair bright and early Monday morning. And I immediately have an answer to one of Mia’s questions—Josie didn’t know about the accident before, but she definitely knows now.
I stop at the bench she’s sitting at with a raised eyebrow. “Did you lose your key or something?” Biting her lip, she shakes her head. “If there’s a snake or something in there, Josie, you need to call Bryce because I don’t fuck with snakes.”
That at least earns me a small giggle, but then she’s setting a cup of coffee on the table and a bag with something that smells delicious next to it. She pushes it toward me. I drop my bag on the ground and slowly lower myself onto the bench. “So he told you.”
“I wish I would have known before,” she admits while I unwrap my sandwich. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to cry. I did that to Bryce over the weekend.”
I pause before I take a bite of my sandwich. “Are you sure? You were looking pretty cow-eyed when I walked up.”
She rolls her eyes, fiddling with a strand of her auburn hair. “I promise.”
“You didn’t have to do this, Josie. You don’t owe me or anything like that,” I tell her as I reach for my coffee.
Her smile is bright, nearly blinding. “I know, but I want to remind you that you don’t have to do anything alone anymore. I’m sorry your parents suck. You and Kat could talk about crappy dads together. I’m sorry you felt like no one was there back then, but I want you to know we’re here now. All of us.”
Well, shit. I chew the bite of my sandwich, not trusting myself to say anything in response to that right away. “I’m assuming Bryce told you about his part in the whole thing.”
“He did.” She sighs. “But of course I think he downplayed it. He told me he did what he had to do, but I was talking to Mia about it, and we think he wasn’t telling us the whole truth. There were a lot of unexplained absences in that timeframe.”
“You talked to Mia about it?” I ask, surprised to have her telling me anything about herself.
