by Jami Wagner
* * *
I pick Kelsey up for dinner and ever since she got in my truck, she’s been acting weird. She hasn’t spoken much, and every restaurant I mention, she’s against it. It started to snow first thing this morning and the roads are getting icy. I hadn’t wanted to drive far, but now we’re driving down the road with no specific destination in mind.
I plan to take her any place she wants tonight. I trust that she will believe me, but having her in a good mood when I tell her why I originally came to help Sara with the bar will help.
My hands are sweaty as I grip the steering wheel. I can’t wait any longer. I need to just tell her. I glance over to see her eyes are glazed over as if she is about to cry.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” I ask her for the hundredth time. Last time she snapped at me, but I don’t know what else to say.
She lets out a frustrated sigh that sounds exaggerated.
“Yes, I’m fine, Now will you please stop asking me that?”
“You’re very snappy, and to me that means you’re not fine.”
“Snappy,” she huffs. “That’s a polite way of calling me a bitch.” She crosses her arms. Her eyes narrow as she fixes them on me, and I’m quickly regretting what I said.
“I don’t mean it like that, You’re just … acting standoffish. That’s all.”
“Let’s just drop it, okay? We can just go to the BA or something. It doesn’t need to be a special night,” she says and her body freezes. “Wait, never mind. Go wherever you want.”
If she wants to go the BA, I’ll take her to the BA. I don’t like it when she isn’t happy, and I will do anything to change that.
She doesn’t say anything as we find a parking spot. Nor does she say anything when we join Logan at one of the tables inside. She just sits in silence, staring off into space, and I really wish I knew what she is thinking right now. I reach my hand under the table to give her thigh a light squeeze. If I knew what was wrong, maybe I could fix it.
Whatever mood she’s in, it isn’t giving me the encouragement I need to tell her about my dad. I don’t want to make her even more upset, and right now that seems to be all I’m doing. Tonight is definitely not the night I tell her, but fuck, I’d better do it before it’s too late.
