A Good Measure by Nan Rossiter

Author:Nan Rossiter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

28

“YOU ALL SET FOR THE NIGHT?” PAYTON ASKED AS SHE PULLED INTO AMES’S driveway.

“Yep,” Cash said, reaching for his dinner—sesame chicken, steamed dumplings, and an egg roll. “We’ll be fine, Ma. No worries.”

“I don’t worry,” Payton said.

Cash looked directly at her and gave her an exaggerated eye roll. “No comment.” He held the door open and waited for Ned to jump out. “Go get busy, buddy,” he said, and then watched the Lab sniff his way up the driveway. “If you really didn’t worry, you’d let me get my driver’s license. I’m twenty-eight years old, Mom, and I know how to drive. Dad taught me—he used to let me drive, and if he was still here, I’d have my license.”

“I thought you said no comment. And I said I’d think about it.”

“If you’d let me drive, you wouldn’t have to drive me everywhere.”

“Yeah, and then I wouldn’t know where you are, either. Besides, we only have one vehicle.”

“We still have Dad’s old Bronco, and it’s a tank. It wouldn’t take much to get it going. I have a lot of money saved . . . and invested—I could buy a new car if I wanted to.”

Payton pressed her lips together in a stubborn line. “Cash, I said I’d think about it.”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes again. “Bye,” he said, closing the door.

“Have a good night,” Payton called. “Love you!”

“Mm-hmm,” he grumbled.

Payton watched him walk up the driveway, call Ned, unlock the door, and go inside. She was accustomed to him not responding in kind when he was upset—it had been his modus operandi since he was little—his way of showing her he wasn’t happy. She knew he loved her, and she knew he missed his father . . . and she knew he would be devastated if anything happened to her. He would regret the times he hadn’t responded that he loved her, too. He’d feel guilty and might never forgive himself. She knew her sweet son—she knew what made him tick . . . and what triggered him, but she loved him with all her heart and she just wanted him to be safe and protected. From the day she first held Cash in her arms, she’d loved him with the fierceness and ferocity of a mother bear, and when he’d started school, and his classmates had started making fun of him for being different—for being socially awkward, for being a math nerd who never thought about his appearance—it had broken her heart. Many times, she’d picked him up from school and he’d had tears trickling down his sweet face, fogging up his glasses, and she’d wanted to protect him from those kids who were so thoughtless and unkind . . . and she still wanted to protect him. The only kids who had been kind to Cash, besides Rylee and Jessie, were Quinn and Chase. They’d always included him. Chase, especially, with his gentle ways and kind blue eyes, had always picked Cash first if he was the captain of the kickball team.

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