The Good Son by Carolyn Mills (free e reader txt) 📗

“still fine” with Brenda, his wife. What kind of name is Dee Dee anyway? It sounds like a stage name for a stripper.

“I hate to cut this short, Ricky,” I say, “but Jason and I were just about to step out.” At the mention of his name, Jason looks up and smiles. I do my best to smile back, but from the way my lips refuse to cooperate, I’m guessing it comes across more like a grimace. I’d been looking forward to going out for dinner with him tonight, but this conversation with my brother is ruining my appetite.

“Oh, hey, no problem,” Ricky replies. “Thanks for the call, eh?”

“Sorry,” I say to Jason, after I hang up. “I didn’t think he would talk for so long.”

Jason shrugs. “No worries. You ready to go?”

The fact that Jason doesn’t easily get bothered is one of the things I like about him, but at times he can come across as indifferent. Not that I’d want him to be overly attentive or affectionate — I don’t do the whole affectionate thing all that well myself. We’re a good match on multiple levels. Our personalities are similar and we don’t demand too much of each other. Jason is tall, six-one to my five-eight, with an athletic build. He has dark hair, just starting to thin a bit at the crown. My natural hair colour is a mousy brown, but after years of highlights, I prefer to think of myself as an ashy blonde, with a few streaks of copper thrown in for good measure. I have an okay body, nothing that would stop anyone in their tracks, but for a thirty-eight-year-old, I’m in decent shape. Jason is forty-one, with a seven-year-old kid he sees every other weekend, and an ex-wife who teaches Pilates for a living. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have stellar abs or a killer body, because then I’d just remind him of her. At least that’s how I like to look at it.

Mom, for one, would love it if I finally settled down and married Jason already. “You’re not getting any younger, Zoe,” she’s reminded me on more than one occasion.

Even more than tying the knot with Jason, I think what Mom would really love is if I got back together with Amir. She never really let go of that little fantasy. I have to be honest, the thought does give me goosebumps, which is completely unfair to Jason, but in reality, there’s no danger of Amir and I ever reuniting. None whatsoever. I haven’t spoken to him in years; I don’t even know where he lives now. And I can pretty much guarantee that if we did happen to cross paths, he wouldn’t give me the time of day, much less entertain any ideas of linking himself romantically to me again.

Still, every now and again Mom brings up Amir’s name with this wistful look on her face, even though I’ve clearly moved on. And the fact that I’m with Jason is proof, isn’t it, that I’ve moved on?

JASON TAKES MY HAND AS we walk into town. We’re heading to The Crow’s Nest, which is only a few blocks from my bungalow on Pine Street, and one of the few decent restaurants in Dunford. It’s where we usually go. Incidentally, it’s also where we had our first date, almost two years ago, which gives you an idea about how spontaneous we are as a couple. The restaurant had just opened then, in what used to be Wilson’s Hardware. The new owners kept the rough wooden plank flooring and incorporated bits and pieces from the hardware store into their décor. Beside the cash register at the front there’s a container full of mismatched screws and bolts, and in the women’s bathroom, there’s an old tin watering can sprouting fake flowers by the sink. The best part though, is the former lumberyard, which was converted into a sprawling outdoor patio facing the southern bank of the Still River.

I’m guessing the patio won’t be open tonight, despite how nice it is outside. The last few days have been unseasonably warm, with the temperatures climbing into the teens, which is crazy for this early in March. As much as I’m enjoying the bizarre spring-like weather, I also know how a sudden melt affects the water quality in the river, which in turn makes things extra busy at the Water Treatment Plant. I can just imagine the turbidity levels sky-rocketing over the weekend. But I’m not going to think about work tonight. I want to enjoy myself.

“Anything new with your brother?” Jason asks, squeezing my hand as we walk along Main Street, past the faded storefronts and torn awnings of downtown Dunford. Is it just me, or does everything look a little extra dingy now that the last traces of snow have disappeared?

“Nah,” I say, wondering whether or not I should mention Dee Dee. Jason is touchy about affairs. His ex left him for a guy she met online when their son, Parker, was just a toddler.

Jason looks at me quizzically and I decide he’s expecting more than the non-answer I’d hoped to get away with. “He’s taking Leah to a play next weekend,” I offer. “They’re going to see Sleeping Beauty or maybe it was Beauty and the Beast.”

“That sounds nice,” Jason says. And I can’t help but think that my brother has him fooled, too.

Leah is my brother’s eleven-year-old daughter from his second wife. The wife before Brenda. And as much as he seems to be a decent dad, I honestly don’t know how he can look at that sweet girl and live with himself. Because I know I couldn’t. In fact, if it weren’t for Leah, I might never have broken things off with Amir. At the time, I couldn’t bear the thought of him being connected to me, to my brother, and to that innocent, innocent little girl.

CHAPTER TWO

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JUST AS I PREDICTED, THE patio at The Crow’s Nest is closed. The