Chapter 52

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Over dinner that night, for which my best friend had provided peach pie from the bakery in town, I told him about my possible promotion. He was ecstatic.

“Woody, that’s amazing!” He got up and rounded the table to squash me in a hug. He was built in the same mold as his brother, but not as bulky.

“Thank you,” I replied. “What do you think, though? Can I handle it? I mean, look at the way I melted down last Friday with Rafe.”

He waved off the incident. “That was personal and he knew how to push your buttons. Isn’t that what people closest to us do, hit us where it hurts? You were born for this, Woody. You could do it in your sleep, and those kids love you.”

“Thank you.”

“Would you want to move closer to the school? Or would you stay here?”

I swallowed a piece of pie. It was yummy. “Oh, I’d stay here. I need the peace of this place to unwind at the end of the day.”

“Take the job, man. You will be so great at it. Wait until I tell Mom.”