Page 131 of Just Between Us

“Want me to take over?” Austin asks, not a trace of disappointment in his tone.

“Yeah.” I put it in Park. “I do.”

Austin and I trade places quickly, and I’m grateful neither of them makes a thing out of this. I’ll get there. I know it. Making it to the end of the driveway was a baby step. While Austin opens the sunroof and adjusts the seat and mirrors, Liam turns and tosses me a wink.

“Proud of you, baby.”

We ride for thirty minutes or so, but Austin needs to get back to Penny and Lizzie, so he turns us back toward home. He parks it in the same spot as earlier and cuts the power. A peaceful quiet settles over all three of us for a moment, sitting in my brand-new car.

“Well?” Austin says, breaking the silence.

I look from Austin to Liam and grin. “Next time I’ll make it onto the highway.”

Austin returns my grin with an almost identical one of his own. “Hell yeah, you will.”

The thermometer reads 157 and I need itto be at least 165, so I slide the pan back in the oven and set the timer for eight more minutes. That should be enough.

From the dining room, I can hear Liam noodling on the piano the way he does when he needs something to do. Leaning a hip against the counter, I listen for a few seconds and think about how easily this has become my life. Chicken in the oven, Liam at the piano, Mutt underfoot.

A knock at the door sends Mutt into his usual frenzy of excitement, barking, running as fast as his legs will carry him.

“Got it,” I call, wiping my hands on the towel. The music stops playing and Liam strides into the living room right as I’m opening the door.

Mom stands on the porch wearing a floral blouse I don’t recognize, holding a plate of Saran Wrap-covered cookies. Henry is a half-step behind her, twirling his newsboy cap in his hand.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Mom pulls me into a hug, gentle like she always is with me now, like I’m something she feared she’d lose and hasn’t quite let herself forget it. But the same could be said for her. I easily could have lost her, but here she is with Henry at her side.

“Hey, Mom.” I hold on an extra second before stepping back to smile at Henry. “I’m glad you made it, Henry. You got the tickets?”

Henry’s eyes go bright and from his back pocket he pulls out a stack of lottery tickets. “Got us some scratch offs this time. Thought it’d be a fun after dinner treat.”

This has become a weekly thing for Mom and me. I lost so much time being careful with her, keeping a polite manageable distance. Then the wreck happened. Liam told me she was there every day. She brought food, she sat with him, and stayed later than she should have. Somewhere along the way, she and I have stopped being careful and started being us. Now she’s here weekly for dinner. Sometimes with Henry and sometimes alone.

I step aside to let them in. Henry greets Liam with a handshake, but when Mom steps forward, Liam wraps her up in hisarms, resting his head on the top of her head, and my goodness. Seeing him love the people I love, not because he has to but because along the way my people became his people, creates the sweetest ache unfurling in my chest.

I knew they spent a lot of time together during my hospital stay, but I didn’t realize just how much she’d come to mean to him until one day I found them sitting at the kitchen table, Mom doubled over, tears streaming down her face laughing at something Liam said. A joke I wasn’t in on. Even she is charmed by him.

Liam and Henry step outside, probably so Liam can show off my new car, and Mom follows me to the kitchen. “Can I do anything to help?” she asks, setting the plate of cookies on the counter.

“You can sit down and let me cook for you.”

She huffs, but she does it, settling in a chair at the table while I check the chicken.

“You two seem good,” Mom observes.

“We are. I’ve never been happier.”

She’s quiet for a moment while I pull the chicken and roasted potatoes from the oven, setting them on trivets.

“He brought me flowers,” Mom finally says.

I glance up. “Who?”

“Henry.” She scratches at an invisible spot on the table, aiming for casual and missing by a long shot. “Before we came over. From the shop next to his.”

Her cheeks are pink and she won’t look at me.

“Mom.” I spin all the way to face her.