Page 17 of Small Town Sizzle

“I won’t bring it up again here, but we have to talk about it.”

“And we will, but now is not the time,” I tell him.

There won’t be a time for it, because I’ll come up with a damn good reason as to why this town will be in my rearview before the week is over. Once we get through a meeting with the lawyer, I’m gone.

Ethan nods, sighs, and walks away. Laura stands there for a second before she comes closer to me. She looks around and then leans into me.

“He’ll never tell you this, but he can’t do this all by himself anymore, especially not with the injury. We could lose the businessorhim, honestly. He’s so stressed all the time. He’s working sixteen to twenty-hour days. I know I said we shouldn’t discuss this now, but…you need to know that the family business and your brother’s health are in danger. I know that the other project is on hold, and that you’d normally be out scouting more projects, but we don’t need them. If you could stay for a coupleof months even… I would appreciate it, as would your niece and nephew.”

Damn it, she doesn’t play fair.

I open my mouth to argue, but the words die on my tongue. I hear Mom’s voice in my head:“Family comes first, Garrett. Always.”

“Fine,” I mutter. “A couple of months. That’s it.”

Laura’s face softens. “Thanks, Garrett.”

She walks away, and I stand there staring at a picture on the wall. I shake my head as I see that monstrosity of a dog, George, in my mom’s lap. Her head is thrown back, laughing. She looks so happy. I can almost hear her in my head telling me how thrilled she is that I’m home and how proud of me she is.

“I’m so proud of you, Garrett. You and Ethan have taken the company to incredible places that your daddy never dreamed of. You’re overseas, making big moves. I always knew you were so capable.”

I close my eyes and inhale. I can’t count how many times she told me she loved me and was proud of me. I don’t think we ever had a phone conversation where she didn’t tell me as much. It’s something that I took for granted and know that I’ll miss.

I go to sit down in a seating area with comfy oversized couches. I’m away from most of the kids, but it’s enough to watch what’s happening.

“Remember when Miss Greta dressed up as Miss Frizzle from theMagic School Bus,” a teenage boy with shaggy brown hair asked.

“And she made the bus look like the one from the show,” a blonde girl said next to him. “Man, I screamed when I realized that chameleon on her shoulder was real.”

“And it jumped on George, and he walked around with it on him the rest of the day,” a dark-headed boy laughed.

“Miss Greta kept saying she should have gotten a saddle for George and a cowboy hat for Liz, the chameleon.”

“Man, she really was the best. I don’t know that I’ve ever retained more information about science than I did that day,” another teenage girl says sadly.

I smiled to myself. That definitely sounded like Mom. She never shied away from doing whatever she could to help kids learn more about science. She made up songs for Ethan and me so we’d retain information. She’d dress up as whoever she needed to so that we remembered them better.

“Are you really staying?” Mason asks as he plops down next to me while I’m in the middle of a memory of her dressed up as Albert Einstein.

“Seems that way. News travels fast.”

“Because we’re happy to have you stay.” He grins. “I hope Dad will be able to make more football games now.”

“He hasn’t been able to?” I ask in shock.

The thought hits me a little harder than I expected. Ethan is a very involved dad. I guess I always assumed that he was good at everything without question.

“Not the away ones, really.” Mason shrugs. “Mom is always there. Gran was always there, too. It’s just a lot of the time Dad is working with a short crew, and they’re working long hours to get jobs done before the deadline, so he can’t really afford to take off at night for the travel and the game.”

Why didn’t Ethan ever tell me that?

“Things are going to change, buddy. I’ll make sure your dad is at all of your games.”

“Thanks, Uncle G. I hope you’ll be able to come to my games, too.”

“I would love to be there and watch you play for Hicks Creek, bud.”

“Dad told you I was on track to break records, but there’s a freshman on the team who’s giving me a run for my money.”