Page 127 of The Only Seconds that Matter
Johnny was so occupied with his obliterated house and Victor with repairing his barn’s roof that neither of them had any time or headspace to dedicate to the Taylor Problem until later that week, which is when Johnny suggested out of nowhere that Victor come with him to dinner at a local diner to have a conversation with his sister about it.
“Why me?”Victor asked.“Isn’t this something you and your sister should hash out?”
“Why are you so hesitant to get involved?That girl ran away from home to comehere, not my house.”
“I don’t want to stop on your sister’s toes.People don’t like thirty-year-one-old single men getting too involved with their children.”
Johnny gave Victor a heavy-lidded look, as if asking him not to be so stupid.
“I just think that if I get too involved people are going to wonder why.I care about her, obviously, but I want to be professional.”
Johnny reached over and placed a hand on top of Victor’s head, which was sadly much too easy for him because of their height difference.“I’ll tell her I invited you.She came here.That means you’re involved, whether you wanna be or not.”
“Okay.”Victor still didn’t like it, and it must have been obvious in his voice because Johnny faced him more fully and grasped both of his arms.
“Trust me, okay?I know my sister.She knows how much Taylor cares about this place and that horse you got her ridin’.If you did Taylor any harm, she wouldn’t be runnin’ here to get away from Mike, would she?”
Victor pressed his lips together and nodded, no less uncertain.
Johnny moved his hands to straighten the lapels of Victor’s work coat as if they’d been crooked.The touch was small and casual, but it made Victor’s chest clench with affection.Before he could hope for a kiss, Johnny was out the door, expecting Victor to follow.
* * *
One thing about Johnny’s sister was that she had all of Johnny’s looming presence with very little of his warmth.She also stood around five-ten, which meant that Victor had to look up at her when he greeted her in the lobby area of the restaurant where they’d been waiting for her arrival.She wore old sneakers, jeans with stains on the thighs, a faded T-shirt with the silhouette of a buck across the chest, and a camouflage baseball cap with her red-tinted blond ponytail pulled through the hole in the back.Victor realized he’d never seen her in make-up, or anything more formal than her manager uniform at Wal-Mart.Taylor also didn’t like anything frilly, so they had that in common with one another.
She didn’t seem shocked to find Victor there, so Johnny must have told her he was coming.A waitress showed them to their booth, so Victor followed the Stearns siblings toward the back of the restaurant.Once they were situated with their drinks ordered, Johnny wasted no time.
“We need to talk about Taylor.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said in your text.”Kayla stretched out an arm and slumped in her seat, frowning slightly.“With you losing your house an’ all, there’s been too much chaos for me to properly punish her for what she did.”
“Do you need to?”Johnny asked.
“She stole our damn dirt bike and put her life in danger multiple times over.Fuck yes she needs to be punished.”
“She was runnin’ away for a reason.”
“She’s a wild child with wild child ideas.”
“Yeah, and?How’re you plannin’ on dealin’ with that?”Johnny asked.
“You tell me, since you seem to know so much.”
“Listen.”Johnny sucked in a sharp breath before continuing.“I know I ain’t always been the most responsible—”
Kayla snorted.“That’s puttin’ it lightly.”
“But I’m tryin’ to do better, and Ibeenbetter.I been sober for months, and this tornado has really fuckin’ tested me, but I’m still holdin’ my ground.”
“Great for you.What’s this got to do with Taylor?”
“You know how much we get along.Not that I don’t love your other kids, but Taylor and I have always been thick as thieves.Maybe it’s cuz I see myself in her.I dunno.But I’m wonderin’ if maybe she might be happy spendin’ more time with me.”
“At what house?”Kayla asked.
“I’m stayin’ with Vic right now.He’s put me up.And Taylor was headin’ for Vic’s place cuz she loves it, so it might work out for everyone if I get Taylor a few days of the week.You get a break from her, she gets to be with me, and she gets to be somewhere she clearly loves.”
Kayla looked very skeptical, which Victor didn’t think was a good sign.“Why would Vic wanna put up with your dumb ass and some smart mouth 10-year-old?What’s in it for him?”
