“It’s nice,” he says in approval. “It shows off your eyes.”
My eyes aren’t all that exciting. They’re hazel and too round for the current fashion. I know he’s shoveling it on thick.
“And my glasses,” I joke and push my glasses up my nose.
“Okay,” he says after I’ve made my purchase (while keeping the hat on—made ringing it up interesting). “Now that you don’t feel like you have to run for cover, how about going out for something to eat?”
“In public?” I squeak. It’s liable to get hot in one of Cascade’s handful of restaurants, and no way am I taking this hat off.
“Big Ben’s Burgers. We can eat in my car.”
Burgers with Carwyn, like we’re... what? What are we? Two neighbors who ran into each other, that’s all. I tell my imagination not to go romping off someplace silly.
“Anyway, I owe you.”
I cock a questioning eyebrow.
“For almost laughing,” he says and smiles. That smile could melt a snowman at twenty paces.
“Come to think of it, you do,” I say, so off to Ben’s we go.
We order peppermint milkshakes. I know I’m strong, but who can resist a peppermint milkshake?
“Everyone’s talking about you being back in town,” he says and crams a couple of french fries in his mouth. “You’re like a returning hero.”
“Hardly,” I say.
“Local girl becomes famous author.”
“I’m not that famous, and everybody writes books these days.”
“Nobody around here.”
I work up my nerve and ask, “How about you? Are you impressed?”
“Absolutely,” he says. He shakes a fry at me. “But then I always knew you’d go on to great things. You were so smart, always with your nose in a book.”
Hiding sometimes, if I’m being honest. Which I’m not, at least not now. “You’ve done pretty well for yourself,” I say. “High school principal. That’s an important job. What’s next, superintendent of the district?”
He shakes his head. “No, I’ve got my hands full just taking care of things at the high school. And with my folks.”
“Your folks?”
“I guess your mom didn’t tell you. My dad’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.”
I don’t know what to say. This feels like a gut punch. If it feels that way to me, what must it have felt like to Carwyn when he first heard the diagnosis?
“He was beginning to slow down, joking about starting old age early. But then he started to complain about muscle stiffness. When the tremors began, we took him to a specialist in Seattle.He’s still doing pretty good so far, but we’re bracing for things to get worse.”
“I don’t suppose your brother can come home,” I ventured.
“From Burkina Faso? No, not right now. Anyway, he’s doing important work.”
“So are you,” I point out.
“I’m already here. Anyway, we’re managing. My parents will need more help over time. It’s gonna be hard for Dad. Already is.”
He looks so sad. I wish I could hug him.
