It Happened on Maple Street

“Do you have brothers and sisters?” I asked, because I wanted to know everything about this guy. And because I didn’t want to freak myself out about the coming meeting.

“Brothers, no sisters.”

He wasn’t the most talkative person I’d ever met. But that was okay. I could talk a lot. When I liked the person I was with. I had thoughts about everything.

“How many brothers?”

“Four.”

We were stopped, and I stared at him. “Four?”

“Yeah.”

“Older or younger?”

“Older.”

“You’re the youngest of five boys?” My incredulity showed. I wasn’t savvy enough to stop myself.

“Yes.” He turned and looked out the window. He was shy, and I’d made him uncomfortable.

Calm down, I admonished myself. You’re going to lose him.

“What about your parents?”

“What about them?”

“Do you live with them?”

“With my mom.”

“They’re divorced?” I didn’t know anyone closely who’d been through a divorce. Or whose parents were divorced.

“No.”

“But your dad doesn’t live with you?”

“He died when I was five.”

Oh my God. My heart bled. All over the car. My dear, sweet, great-haired Tim had pain in his life. I wanted to make it all better right then and there.

“I have a friend—she actually lived with me and my family last year during our senior year of high school—her dad died when she was five, too. He was a teacher. And a football coach. Our high-school football field is named after him and his twin brother, too, who was our tennis coach and athletic director. Heidkamp Field.”

He nodded.

“What did your dad do?”

“He was a teacher.” And he was done talking.

I wanted to take his pain away.

I was falling in love.

And no one was going to believe that. No one. Not in a million years. But I knew. I recognized the truth as surely as I knew I had to breathe to stay alive. It settled upon me with a certainty that didn’t leave room for doubt.

So the secret was mine. To cherish. And to keep hidden away where no one could do it damage.

He sat in the blue Opal Manta watching Tara drive. Not only was she beautiful—so much so that he kept wondering about the abundance of assets hidden behind that soft white top and the tight-fitting blue jeans—she was also an impressive driver.