Page 24 of Real Forever
“Dude, that’s depressing as fuck.”
Jake smiled again. “Is it?”
“Yes. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-seven.”
“Okay, so you’re twenty-seven years old. You’ve finished your master’s degree and you own your own business. And you can’t take a fucking vacation yet? What are you waiting for?”
Jake studied her. “You know what? You’re right. I know you’re right.” He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve been so focused on getting through school and getting my business off the ground. Sticking to the plan, you know?”
Madison leaned a little closer in. “What plan?”
“When I was in high school, my parents and I sat down and sort of sketched out a plan. First the MBA, then the CPA, then my first office, and so on.” Jake conveniently left out the part about moving to Calgary to open the next office.
“Dude, it sounds like You’ve been doing waaay too much sticking to the plan. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, Jake. And then what?”
Jake huffed. “Everybody says that. ‘You could get hit by a bus tomorrow.’ But most of us don’t get hit by a bus tomorrow, do we? Most of us live long lives we could have done something with if we put in a real effort. I don’t want to look back and feel like I could have made something of myself if I had just put in a little bit extra.”
“I mean… you don’t feel you’ve already made something of yourself?”
Jake slumped slightly and released a heavy sigh. “Isn’t it my turn for a question now?”
“Yes, okay, it’s your turn.”
“Okay. You’ve got to tell me the deal with this truck. Did you fix it up yourself?”
Madison gazed out her window at the fog under the streetlight shining down on the frosty parking lot below. Her eyes were vacant. “It was my dad’s. He was a mechanic. He had his own shop, Avery Auto, in Snowbrook. The shop is still there, but Nikki and Billy run it now. They’ve worked there for years and were practically adopted sons to my dad...” She trailed off, her eyes now cast down to her lap, staring at her hands as she picked at her fingernails. “Anyway. Yeah, this is my dad’s truck. He bought it when he was in high school, and over the years he worked on restoring it. When we were kids, Lauren and I would go to the shop after school and hang out there until he was done, and then we’d all go home together. At some point, he started handing us wrenches. Well, more me than Lauren. She wasn’t interested. So, I helped him with the truck. Nikki told me later, when I was in high school, Dad decided he was going to finish the truck for me. That’s why there are seat warmers. He put those in for me. And the stereo. He wouldn’t have given two shits about that kind of stuff for himself.” She turned back to Jake and managed a lopsided smile. “So yeah, that’s what’s with the truck.”
Jake and Madison both sat quietly. After a moment, Madison continued, “My dad died. There was an accident at the shop. Just one of those things, you know.”
Jake spoke in a careful tone, not much louder than a whisper. “Madison, I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have asked if I’d known—”
She interrupted. “It’s fine. It’s been two and a half years. I should be able to talk about this shit, right?”
“Well, he sure sounds like an amazing guy.” Jake reached across the bench seat and took Madison’s hand in his, giving it an encouraging squeeze. The contact took Madison by surprise, but it didn’t startle her. Instead, it calmed her. She observed their clasped hands and appreciated how resolutely, yet how gently, he held her. She raised her eyes up to meet his and her throat constricted. Swallowing hard to keep the knotted mass of tears from unleashing, she willed him to see, in her eyes, how much she appreciated his steady kindness in this moment.
Madison took a slow, deep breath. “He really was.”
14
Madison
“You’re in a good mood today,”Lauren said, smiling over her coffee cup.
Smirking, Madison replied, “Am I?”
“Well, you’ve been staring out the window, grinning like a fool at the clouds going by, so yes—I’d say it seems you’re in a good mood.”
Madison blushed. She had been thinking about Jake and about the entirely inappropriate dream she’d had about him last night. The more time they’d spent together over the past couple of weeks, the more Madison found him occupying her mind.
“Can’t a girl be in a good mood around here? Yeesh.” She rolled her eyes playfully at Lauren.
“Were you out with a guy last night? On a date?”
Madison grimaced, “What? No.”
“Sorry. You got home late and now you’re grinning like you orgasmed twelve times last night, so…” Lauren smirked.
