Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

parking lot, just because there wasn't another restaurant in sight. I parked next to a beat-up truck with rifles in the back window and headed for the front door of Billie Jo's wondering if Mom could take another twenty minutes of the place so I could get a sandwich to take with me. I held the door for two ladies with blue hair while I thought wistful thoughts of the lasagna I'd planned to make for Alan, and then I finally got inside.
    Mom was in a booth to the left of the door, plugged in and playing some game on her phone that made her lip curl as she jabbed at it. Will was in a booth to the right of the door, drumming lightly on his table as he swayed to music I could hear five feet away. I stepped over to Mom and tapped her phone.
    "Lukas!" She shot out of the booth to hug me and held on. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my cheek on her head.
    "I'm sorry you've had an awful day, Mom."
    "It's better now," she said, stepping back to rub a tear from her cheek. "Look at you! More like your father every time I see you." She poked my chest. "And still working hard. Are you keeping your GPA up too?"
    It hadn't had a chance to fall in the week and a half since we'd talked about it, but I raised my hand and gave her scout's honor that I was keeping my grades up. She hugged me again then we went over to Will.
    My little brother unfolded himself out of the booth and he was a good two inches taller than he'd been in July, a whole six inches taller than me now. I asked Mom if she'd been fertilizing him along with her houseplants. He rolled his eyes. He didn't hug me. Crap.
    "Is this your college boy, Marcia?" a waitress asked. Mid-fifties, cheerful and friendly, she and Mom had probably found a lot to talk about. Mom handed over the phone charger as the waitress smiled at me, showing her dimples. "Your momma is very proud of you, son. Don't hurry off now— I've got a pretty daughter at home."
    "He's gay," Will said.
    "William Riker Blake!" Mom gasped. I poked him in the stomach, he tried to smack me, and I twisted his arm till I brought him down to where I could get him in a headlock.
    "Don't mind him, ma'am," I told the waitress as he tried to fight free. "He's sixteen. He can't help being a jerk."
    "Boys!" Mom snapped. "Outside!"
    "Oh, the many times I've said just those words," the waitress said with a grin and walked away. I took Will outside and let him loose with a shove so if he still wanted to hit me he had to come back to do it. Mom squeaked at the rain and trotted over to her car.
    "Let's go, boys!" she called, and ducked inside. A moment later her car started. I looked up at Will.
    His hair was long and in his eyes. He wore a black sweatshirt and a black T-shirt over it with some gore-filled band logo on it. And he wouldn't look at me. Mom had said he was doing well, but either she'd been protecting me, or my revelation had had more effect than I'd expected.
    "Mom said you have your learner's permit, right?" I asked him.
    "You're going to let me drive your truck? Lukas breaks the law? You're not my guardian."
    "You better study the book some more. It says 'or other relative twenty-one or older.'" I unlocked my door and tossed the keys over the cab to him. "Just— pay attention, all right?"
    Inside I turned the radio off before he got the key in the ignition. I'd spent the last half hour singing along to an oldies station that played the songs Alan tended to sing, and I didn't feel the need to share that. Will grumbled at the lack of leg room and adjusted the mirrors; then he started the truck and backed up carefully. I tried to watch him without seeming to, but when he growled I shrugged.
    "It's my truck, little brother. And you're on a permit. I'm supposed to keep an eye on you."
    "So keep an eye on where the hell I'm going, dude. Which way?"
    I directed him, watching to make sure he wasn't going to lose Mom or take someone out. "Mom looks tired. Beyond ten hours of driving, I mean."
    Will's shoulders bounced in a shrug but he kept both hands on the wheel. "She's been having her migraines again."
    "She didn't tell me."
    "Yeah, well, seems there's stuff you haven't told us too."
    That hadn't taken long. I took a deep breath. "How do you feel about that?"
    Another shrug as we accelerated on the highway ramp. I checked his speed, the cars around us, and that Mom was following.
    "One guy at group is gay. Guys in PE put him over a pommel horse and beat him and he went home and hanged himself. His dad found him