Mom brought donuts for everyone else but always made sure to get me my favorite drug of choice.
Shipleys donuts were by far superior to any other donut place in the world, but their cinnamon rolls…they were to die for.
They were also expensive, and no way was I buying forty of them to feed to the guys at five dollars a pop.
“I’m glad to see you in,” Mom said. “You have a lot of stuff to catch up on.”
I grimaced. “They made me come.”
I wouldn’t have left even now, but it’d been two weeks and there was only so much that my mother could do from her end before stuff needed signing by the actual boss.
Hai walked in behind me, and my mom came out with another cinnamon roll in her hands.
“Hey, you don’t stay rich by buying stuff we don’t need!” I teased.
My mom gave me a sharp look. “You will buy what I say you buy, and then get a write-off. I already give you the out and don’t buy the other guys these cinnamon rolls, but Hai’s family.”
I winked at her. “Yes, ma’am.”
She pointed at me like she knew I was just trying to rile her up, then shook her head and looked at Hai. “Don’t let this big doofus intimidate you.”
“I’ll try,” Hai admitted.
I chuckled as I headed into my office, Hai close on my heels.
He knew we ate our breakfast in the breakroom. Just because we got something better than the rest of them didn’t mean we had to flaunt it in front of them.
The rest were in the makeshift conference room in the garage, and only Hai and I were in my office.
Giving me time to ask him what his plans for life were.
I’d wanted to ask him for a while, but Eedie was always around.
“What do you want out of life, Hai?” I asked.
Hai paused with his cinnamon roll halfway up to his mouth before saying, “What do you mean?”
“Do you want to live here? Work here? Marry my daughter?” I asked.
“Marry your daughter, for sure, yes. But not yet.” He paused. “I want to go into the military.”
My lips quirked. “Which branch?”
“The Air Force Academy,” he answered. “I got accepted. I did all the legwork. Worked my ass off to get the applications in. My mom freaked and said I couldn’t go, but now…”
“Now Mom is no longer in the picture, giving you enough room to breathe and allowing you to make your own decisions,” I said. “You know that you go there, you can’t take Eedie with you.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “And she knows. We’ve talked about it. A lot. But it’s the best way to make this all happen—the life I want. I could go in on the enlisted side, but that wouldn’t really secure our future all that well. And no offense, but I really don’t want to work on cars the rest of my life. I want to see the world, and I want her by my side when I do it.”
“You don’t marry her, she can’t go wherever you’re stationed,” I pointed out.
“I…I know.” He looked a little green. “I was going to ask you when we turned eighteen.”
They had another month. They both turned eighteen on the same day in August.
Another reason they were the best of friends since they were young. They had a lot in common. Crazy moms and all.
“You don’t have to ask anymore.” I stood up, brushing glaze off my chest with one hand and offering the other one to Hai.
