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“Zachariah, I’m gonna get my belt after you.”
“You’d have to catch me first and you haven’t been able to do that since I was twelve.”
My mom side-eyed me and then started grinning. Our playful banter had always been there between us. She was my mom but she was also my friend. My dad was too, but my mom and I had an extra special bond. She’d always understood me so well and on too many occasions to count, I didn’t have to say a word about what I was thinking or feeling before she already knew and knew exactly what to say to me. She also knew whenever I was hiding something.
“So how was your day?” she asked.
“Productive.”
“How many cases do you have going now?”
“Too many. I could really use a mental vacation from all of them.”
“I know they’ve always been mentallyandemotionally taxing on you.”
“Just comes with the territory, but I still enjoy what I do.”
“That’s a good thing. So have you heard anything from Avery?”
“No, and I don’t expect to. She can stay in Lubbock from now on as far as I’m concerned.”
“Your dad and I feel the same way. I am curious, though, how long she’s gonna be gone this time.”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
My mom canted her head to the side and looked over my face.
“What’s the no shaving about that you’ve got going on now?”
“I just felt like letting my facial hair grow. It’s nice not having to shave every day.”
“But I can tell that you’re keeping your beard groomed or it’d be all scraggly. It’s short and neat-looking.”
“Well, I am keeping it groomed.”
“Daily, right?”
“Yes.”
“So what’s the difference in doing that versus shaving every day? About a minute?”
“A minute gained instead of wasted.”
My mom looked over my face again then started searching my eyes—and I wanted to close them. I knew that she knew there was more to me having a scruffy face than what I’d just told her. My eyes had always given me away with her.
“My God, you’ve met someone,” she said. “That’s why you’re looking different. And I haven’t mentioned it to you, but I’ve noticed the pep in your step lately and wondered what it was about.”
I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it.
“Zac, you’ve gotta tell me,” she said, touching my arm.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. It’s me. Remember?”
I stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. “I don’t want Dad to know. At least not yet.”
“So you have met someone?”
