Jeremy’s eyebrows shoot up.
I disagree.
“Now, obviously,” Collins says, raising her chin.
My mother takes a deep inhale, something I’ve seen her do on multiple occasions to calm herself down. “Well, I’m certainly excited, but why didn’t—” She stops mid-sentence, her forehead attempting to scrunch up. “What is that awful smell?”
I take a sniff of the air. It smells like sweaty Cheetos.
I glance at Lyndi, whose eyes are wide and aimed at Crew. Something thuds and I look under the table to see two empty shoes and two bare feet, swinging happily beneath his chair.
“Oh!” Mom gags and jumps up from the table.
She’s not being dramatic. The stench is wretched. Who knew little kids’ feet could stink so bad?
“Crew,” Lyndi whisper-shouts. “Put your shoes back on. We are leaving right now.”
“But I’m still hungry.” He kicks his feet faster under the table and the smell wafts through the room. I watch as it hits everyone at the table. My sister and brother-in-law, Sophie, and finally my dad. Sophie gags and runs from the table.
My dad chuckles. “What do you got for feet there, son? I haven’t smelled something that bad since Ward was a teenager.”
He’s laughing? The man rarely even smiles. My sister notices it too, and we share a concerned look.
“I’m so sorry,” Lyndi says. “He hates wearing socks. I thought he put some on, but it’s just so hot his feet always stink.”
“If I’d known it was that easy to clear the dinner table, I would have stopped wearing socks years ago.” My dad is full-on belly laughing.
What is going on?
Collins looks over from the other end of the table and gives Crew a smile. “Good job, buddy.”
Of all the family dinners we’ve had, this one has been the stinkiest, but by far the most enjoyable. I give him a high five. Beneath the table where Lyndi can’t see.
“On that beautiful note,” Lyndi says, dropping her napkin to her nearly empty plate. “We should be going so I can get this little monkey in the tub.”
A woman with the perfect excuse to leave a family event early? Where has she been all my life?
Twenty Six
Ward
“You’resmiling,”Calebsayswhile we pack away our gear.
There was a nasty accident on the highway, and it always takes me a while to pull myself back together after one of those. But not today. Today there is hope where there wasn’t before.
“It usually takes two days after visiting your parents for your face to unfurl. Suspicious.” He pumps his eyebrows. “It’s the hot mom, huh?”
“Her name is Lyndi, and you should use it if you want to keep your tongue.” Not even my annoying best friend can kill my spark.
His eyebrows shoot up in a way that says he knows I’m serious. “You got it bad for her, man.”
“No, I don’t.” He knows our relationship is fake. It’s a good reminder for myself.
“What about the ex?” Caleb follows me to the back of the garage, where we drop the tools in the bin. “What happens when he comes back into the kid’s life?”
My back goes stiff. I don’t like the reminder that someone else was in Lyndi’s life before I was, even if my claim on her is only fake. “He won’t.”Will he?Just because Lyndi said he wasn’t part of their lives right now doesn’t mean it will always stay that way.
Caleb scoffs. “They always come back, dude.” He kicks the bucket. “They always come back and screw things up.”
