“You have time?” he asked, once again looking shocked.
“Absolutely.”
“It’s not a car,” he pointed out.
“The parts are similar,” I said. “I can look anyway.”
“Sure.”
He sighed. “I hope it doesn’t die. Those new ones don’t keep the soda as cold.”
“And they aren’t as cool. We’ll fix it.”
He smiled. “Great.”
Half an hour later, I wiped my hands. “That should do it. One of the coils was blocked. I’ll have Stefano come check out another part I think needs some work. But it should help. Chase is great at finding parts. I’ll have him hunt down a compressor we can rebuild and tweak so we can keep it going.” I patted the lid. “I always liked this old girl.”
“I can already hear it humming.”
“Me too.”
“Grab a soda, and we’ll sit outside a spell.” Dad hesitated. “If you have time.”
“Add in some chips, and you got yourself a deal.”
I sat down in one of the rockers, taking a long pull on the orange soda and smacking my lips. “I always loved this one.”
He chuckled. “You were forever getting me in trouble with your mother, sneaking those. And the KitKat bars. You were the reason I had to get a locking candy display for the longest time.” He paused. “Until you learned to pick the lock.”
I laughed, remembering when he caught me. “You were so mad.”
“You were eating my profits, son.”
I chuckled. “Mom was pretty mad too.”
He sighed. “She was. I had to hold her back from grounding you.”
The bottle paused partway to my mouth. “You did?”
He took a sip of his soda. “Yep.” He met my confused glance. “She was the one who decided on the punishments, not me. She said I went too easy on you all the time.” He shrugged. “You were my boy,” he added, sounding self-conscious.
I shook my head. “I had no idea.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“You never said anything.”
“There’s a lot of things I never said,” he admitted, looking out over the road to the field beyond. “And sometimes I said too much.”
I thought of what Kelly had talked about. Of all the silence that lingered between us. My dad had always treated me like a kid. Second-guessed my decisions. Argued with me over my thoughts until I stopped expressing them—especially after my mom died. Until all that was left between us was silence.
“Maybe we both have a lot of things we need to say,” I offered.
“Hard to do that when I never see you.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs, staring straight ahead the way he did.
“Maybe we could change that.”
“I’d like that.”
I knew somehow I had to make the bigger effort. Bridge this gap between us.
I pulled out my phone and sent off a message, which was answered right away. I slid my phone back into my pocket.
“What are you doing tomorrow, Pops?”
He frowned. “It’s Sunday.”
I sat back and drained the orange soda, setting down the bottle. “I’m aware.”
“Church in the morning. Lunch at the diner.”
“Nope. Tomorrow, you’re coming with me after church.”
“Where?”
“Stefano’s mother’s place for lunch. It’s a weekly thing for her, and I join them on occasion. Stefano says you’re welcome.”
“I can’t do that. That’s her family.”
“Yes, you can. And you are. To Rosa, everyone is family. Me included.”
He looked at me. “Is Kelly included in the invitation?”
I paused.
“She’s a nice girl.”
I sighed. “Yeah, Pops, she is. But she’s more Charly’s friend.”
He emitted a low snort, shaking his head.
“What?”
“I’m old, not senile, blind, or deaf, Brett. I saw you two last summer in Lomand, holding hands, walking down the street. I saw how withdrawn you became when she left. I think she’s more than a friend of Charly’s.”
“Leave it, Pops. It’s ancient history now.”
He leaned back, finishing his soda, placing his empty bottle beside mine. “Your mom and I had our problems,” he said. “We even broke up before we were married.”
I looked at him, surprised at his words. “Oh?”
He nodded. “I was twenty-six when I met your mother. I was crazy about her, but I didn’t want to settle down. I wanted to see the world. She wanted a family.”
“Obviously, something changed.” I turned to look at him. “Jesus, she wasn’t pregnant with me, and you stayed. Is that it?”
Was that why he resented me?
He shook his head. “Math was never your strong suit, was it, son? We were married for four years before you came along.”
“Oh, right.” I chuckled sheepishly.
“I had been working and saving for years. Planning a three-year trip. I was going to see the world. I realized as I was working out the details of my time away that I wasn’t excited. I didn’t want to go anymore. My dreams had changed, and it took losing your mother for me to realize it.”
“What did you do?”
“Put my pride in my pocket and went to your mother. Told her how I was feeling. We compromised. We were married a month later and spent a year traveling together. Then we came home, and I opened the store with the rest of the money I hadn’t spent. We did well. I bought the building, and we moved upstairs. A few years later, you came along. My life was pretty complete.”