“If I ever come face to face with that woman,” I ground out. “Who does that to little kids?”
Charlie snorted softly and looked out of the window. He pulled down the sleeves of his knit sweater my Grams had made for him. The sleeves were longer than usual and had thumb holes, which he now slipped his thumbs through.
The way Charlie and Law’s mother had traumatized him was brutal. It had changed him on a fundamental level and given him body dysphoria like whoa. He was better now, having been away from her toxicity for months and having found love andacceptance with my uncle, but there were signs if you knew how to look for them.
I just hoped the little ones were okay after it all. I knew Harper—Charlie’s mini-me—was old enough to understand better which was both better and worse. Marlie was a dog loving, sweet little girl and not even chubby. If this set her careening into the society’s twisted beauty standards before her time, I’d walk to Phoenix to stab a bitch. Then there was the sweetest, funniest little menace, Tristan. He was a lot, but not in a bad way.
I really liked those kids. Their dad seemed like a good guy. Besides, he was easy on the eyes, straight as he might’ve been. We could always use more eye candy I wasn’t related to around here.
“When are they moving?” I asked between pieces of a meal that was way too good to be so simple. I also enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to make it myself.
“He’s being optimistic and thinking before Christmas,” Charlie replied, his expression a bit disbelieving.
I whistled. “That’s a tall ask.”
“Yeah. But they have an amazing house in a very in-demand neighborhood. It’ll sell immediately, I’m sure. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a family Christmas.”
The wistfulness in his tone slayed me. I knew I’d have one, for sure. Charlie would be part of it either way. It was just that the people that had made me wouldn’t be there. Nor would my siblings. They all were back in Utah where I hoped they’d stay.
I swallowed hard, the hashbrown I’d stuffed into my mouth tasting like concrete dust suddenly.
Charlie’s hand appeared on my wrist. He squeezed firmly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not that.” I cleared my throat. “Or maybe it is, but it’s clear I can never go back, right? It’s mostly that I worry about mysiblings. Even though they’re definitely better clones than I ever was….”
“You want something else for them,” Charlie stated, smiling in his kind way.
“Yeah.”
We finished our breakfasts while pointedly chatting about anything but family. Then Charlie went into the office to do his accounting slash receptionist thing, and I went to the storage room to gather my equipment.
Cleaning a motel wasn’t what I’d thought I’d do with my life, but I didn’t dislike it. I had a schedule to follow, I often helped with the dinner service too, and I had a free roof over my head in the form of the cabin. Sure, Nic and Dana paid me a bit less because of that, but it gave me the independence I’d craved since I was about twelve and realized what a fucked up cult my family was part of.
I put in my earbuds, cranked up the volume of some Måneskin, and went to work. I had rooms to clean.
After work, I drove into town to go chat with Aunt Regan for a while. They were too busy though, so I left them alone. Instead, I headed pretty much across the street to Felix’s shop.
Nostalgia Nook was a curious mix of a second hand bookstore, antique store, and whatever else. Basically you could find all sorts of stuff there.
Since Felix had been feeling slightly better lately, I wasn’t surprised to find him sitting on a high stool behind the counter.His wheelchair was nearby, but I also spied his crutches, so I assumed he was covering all bases.
“Hey!” I greeted him brightly.
“Afternoon. What can I do for you?” he asked, smiling.
He was an old school friend of Uncle Teague’s, which meant that he was a bit too old for me, but nobody said flirting wasn’t allowed. I mean, I was going to hell anyway for being queer, so if I flirted with someone “too old” then at least I’d go out with a bang.
“Aunt Regan was busy,” I said, pouting a little.
He snorted, sounding amused. “I see how it is. I’m the second best option.”
I tilted my head as I planted my palms on the counter between us. “Technically, sixth. Like right after my aunt and uncle, Grams and Gramps, and Charlie.”
He slapped a hand over his heart and groaned dramatically. “You wound me!”
I grinned. “But now that I’m here, I’m gonna go check the lamps you have. I really need my cabin to look less like a cave.”
He gave me an understanding look. “Yeah, I can imagine Charlie didn’t have many lamps around.”
