Аманда Хокинг - Wisdom

I shoved as many clothes as I could into the two washing machines and turned them on. Pushing the hair off my forehead, I surveyed the room and I’d barely made a dent on the laundry. Sighing, I turned to leave, since I couldn’t do much more for the time being.

I paused in the doorway and looked down the hall, towards Ezra’s den. The door stood partially open, and I could see the dim blue glow from the computer. He’d holed himself up in there since Mae had been gone.

Chewing my lip, I walked slowly down the hall to the den. I always felt I was invading his space, but I couldn’t just let him sulk anymore. Mae had left months ago, and Ezra had to move on at some point.

“Hello?” I asked and pushed the door open wider. I’d expected to see Ezra sitting at the computer, but he lay on the sofa, his arm draped over his forehead.

“Did you need something?” Ezra lifted his arm from his eyes so he could look at me.

“No, I just…” I shrugged and leaned up against the doorframe. I wanted to make sure he was okay, but that sounded silly to say. Of course Ezra was okay. He was Ezra.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He dropped his arm to the side and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, his deep brown eyes looking beyond the wood. “I suppose it is time that I get up.”

“No, you don’t have to,” I said. “Nothing’s going on.”

“But you’re worried about me.” He sat up and looked around his den, which was unusually messy. Books and papers were strewn about, and a blanket lay rumpled on the floor. He’d been sleeping on the couch, preferring the distressed leather to the empty space of his bed.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.

“No,” he shook his head. “But I’ve spent too much time in here.” He rested his heavy gaze on me for the first time. “I’m being selfish and ridiculous. You have real things to mourn, and I’ve been sulking about like a whiny child.”

“Come on, Ezra. You and Mae were together for over fifty years. I can’t even fathom that.”

“But she’s alive and happy. Happier than I could make her.” He breathed deeply and turned away from me. “At least I have that.”

“She’s not happier,” I said. “She just... thinks she is, but she’s not.”

“A child was the one thing I could never give her, and it was the one thing she wanted more than anything else.” He spoke so quietly, I barely heard him, and then he shook his head and looked back over at me. “But how are you holding up with everything that’s been happening?”

“Great,” I shrugged. “Everything is about as good as can be expected.”

“Is it?” Ezra tilted his head, and his concern made me squirm. I lowered my eyes and fidgeted with the hem of my shirt.

“Hi, honey, I’m home!” Jack shouted from the other side of the house, and I smiled in relief. I didn’t want to delve into how I really felt, not even with Ezra.

“Jack’s back,” I said, as if Ezra hadn’t heard the same thing I had. “I’m gonna go.” I edged back out the door, but I waited until he nodded before I sprinted down the hall.

“Good, you’re here,” Jack grinned when he saw me. He stood in the middle of the dining room, and his excitement crackled through me.

“Yeah. Why?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I told you. I did something awesome.” His eyes sparkled, and he grabbed my hand.

“Come on. I wanna show you.”

“What?” I repeated.

“Okay, remember how you’re driving now?” Jack asked, pulling me along towards the garage.

“I can’t really forget it.”

“And with me, you, Ezra, Milo, and Bobby all driving our own cars, it doesn’t really seem like we have enough vehicles?” He paused at the door leading to the garage. “And how I’ve been needing to buy a new car since I lost my Jeep?”

“You didn’t lose your Jeep. You totaled it,” I reminded him.

“Semantics.” He waved it off. “So I’ve been looking for a car to replace mine, and today I found the perfect one.”

With dramatic flair, he pushed open the door to the garage and stepped inside.

Sitting next to the bright red Lamborghini was a small silver car. For a moment, I was dumbfounded. His new car looked old, like from the eighties. Don’t get me wrong - it was in good shape, almost mint condition, I’d guess, but it was not at all what I’d expected. I’d thought Jack would want something as equally flashy as the Lamborghini.

“So?” He stared at me expectantly.

“It’s nice.” I forced a smile, trying to match his enthusiasm and failing.

“You don’t get it.” His face fell with surprise and disappointment. “I can’t believe it.”

“No, it’s nice,” I said again and walked closer so I could see it better. I had to be missing something since he was that excited about it.

“It’s more than nice!” Jack insisted, still looking appalled. “This is a completely rebuilt 1982 Delorean!” He gestured to it as if that would make me understand, but something about the name clicked with me.

“Oh wait. Is that the car from Back to the Future?” I asked.

“Yes!” He dashed over to his new car. “But it’s better. It’s been modified, so it has keyless entry, an iPod interface, and lots of other stuff. But look!” He pulled on the handle and doors open, lifting up instead of out. “Gull doors!”

“So are you gonna take me for a ride?” I went over and peered inside, admiring the interior that looked brand new for being nearly 30-years-old.

“Yes, definitely,” he smiled. “But first, I gotta talk to Ezra.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one thing, I just pulled nearly a hundred grand out of our savings.” Jack leaned into the car and flipped open the glove box. He grabbed a few papers, which I’m assuming had something to do with his transaction. “And I need to talk to him about getting this thing insured. I don’t know if I need special like collector’s insurance or something.”

“You paid almost a hundred grand for this?” I gaped at him.

“It was totally worth it.” He closed the doors to the car and walked back to the house.

“And if you think that’s bad, you should hear what Ezra paid for the Lamborghini.”

“You guys are ridiculous.”

“Ezra!” Jack shouted as he went inside. By the time we made it to the dining room, Ezra was already at the end of the hall. “Good. I need to talk you. I bought a car.”

“Good,” Ezra said, and if he was surprised, he didn’t show it. “What kind?”

“A rebuilt 1982 DMC-12,” Jack said, and Ezra smiled approvingly.

“Nice,” he nodded. “What’d you pay?”

“Here.” Jack handed him the papers he’d pulled from the glove box.

Ezra sat down at the dining room table as he read through them, and Jack sat next to him. I peered over Ezra’s shoulders and saw that Jack had gotten some kind of warranty to go with it, and Ezra was apparently deciphering the terms of it.

“What are you guys doing?” Milo asked. He and Bobby came downstairs, and Milo stopped in the dining room to see what we were doing. Bobby ventured on, going into the kitchen to go through the fridge.

“Jack bought a car,” I said.

“A Delorean,” Jack smiled, and he puffed up every time he mentioned it.

“The car from Back to the Future?” Milo raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Jack’s smile grew broader.

“Does it come with a flux capacitor?” Milo asked.

“No.” Jack looked at him like he was an idiot.

“So it can’t really travel time?” Milo asked.

“Well, no. Of course not,” Jack said, sounding a little deflated. “It’s a car.”

“An old car.” Milo crossed his arms over his chest.