“But?”
“My mom likes traditional things,” I said with a shrug as I picked up my burger. “So, in her mind, if you’re getting married, your brother should be beside you.”
“It’s not like he didn’t invite you,” Iris commented.
“Exactly.” Nodding, I drained my beer. “But, tomake it up to me,” I said with air quotes, “he asked if I would drive his car back to Denver for him.”
Iris frowned. “Where did he get married?”
“Vegas.”
“You drove from Vegas to here since Sunday?”
“Huh? No, I left this morning.”
She was staring at me open mouthed. “Well, now I have a better idea of why your car died.”
“Why?”
“You killed it,” she laughed.
“He did say to check the water,” I suddenly remembered.
“Radiator leak?”
“I don’t know, maybe?”
Iris was chuckling as she ate. “Well, Will is the best. He’ll have you fixed in no time.”
We continued to eat. “I don’t dislike my brother,” I blurted suddenly, and Iris looked up at me in surprise. “I mean…he’s okay.”
“In small doses?” she guessed, and I nodded. “Yeah, I had a roommate in college like that, really nice girl, but I dunno, more than five hours in her company and I needed to be removed from sharp objects.”
“College? What did you study?” I asked as I finished my food. “That was exceptional, by the way.”
Iris flushed happily and took a bite of her burger. “Um.” She spoke with her hand over her mouth as she chewed. “English Lit, I know, so cliché, right?”
“Why?”
“Well, they say that everyone who does English Lit usually doesn’t know what they want to do with their life.”
“Really?” I shrugged. “I didn’t know that. I just thought they really liked old books.”
Iris laughed as she looked at me. “I do like old books,” she acknowledged. “And new ones.”
“See? What’s the problem?”
“What did you study? Graphic Designer, did you say?”
“Yup.” Pointing at myself, I answered the next question. “I’m a web designer.”
“Oh, cool.” Iris looked over to the desk with a laptop on it. “Only a DSL here, which is sometimes patchy, but in summer should be okay.”
“Yeah, saw the cable in the bedroom. I’m okay to use it?”
Iris nodded fervently. “Absolutely, but I can’t offer you Wi-Fi.”
“I can’t get cell service, so I was grateful to see the data cable, trust me.”