Thinking of someone else whose life he hadn’t paid much attention to, he added, “Wish it wasn’t so late. I’d drive up to Providence . . . see Jaimee.”
Freddy walked away from them before anyone could reply to any of it. He flung a glance Jace’s way, went over to grasp his hand, then Irvy’s, said a few words of sympathy and regret, and then came to hug us girls and gruffly say, “I’m really sorry, guys! I wish—” He couldn’t finish. He let us go and without another glance at Matt or anyone else, he strode out of the building.
I’ve always liked Freddy okay. He’d never been anything like Tina or Turdy—always wanted to join in when he and his family came to visit. But his mother’s overprotective ways nearly always put a damper on things.
Aunt Nedra rarely said no outright but she’d take hours
