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Phillip and I left the club, got into my car, and drove over to the Delta Queen, which was docked downtown on the Aneirin River. The casino was closed for the night, and the strings of lights that swooped down from one deck to another were all dark, although the whitewashed wood and brass railing still glimmered in the moonlight.
Phillip got out of the car and came around to my side. I rolled down the driver's window, and he propped his forearms on the frame.
"Well," he drawled, staring down at the blood spatters on his jacket sleeves. "I suppose that this suit is officially ruined. "
Mud, blood, and grime covered just about every inch of his white suit. Wisps of blond hair had escaped his ponytail, dirt smudged his chin, and the left side of his face had already started to bruise and puff up from where the giant had hit him. Phillip looked terrible, and it was my fault - again. He'd taken a beating because of my desire to protect Gin, and we were both extremely lucky that things hadn't been a whole lot worse.
Guilt surged through me, but I made my voice light. "Well, feel free to send me the dry-cleaning bill," I said, trying to make a joke.
"Oh, I intend to. " His face was dead serious.
I winced. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into the middle of my fight like that. Next time, maybe we'll have a better guys' night out. Or at least a less violent one. "
"Oh, I don't know," he drawled. "You. Me. Out on the street. Facing down some punks and getting the best of them. You were right. It was just like old times - good times. "
His face creased into a wide smile, his blue eyes bright with victory. For a moment, it was like the years melted away, and I saw the scrawny kid he had once been, grinning like a fool because he'd managed to steal a couple of apples for him, Eva, and me to eat.
My chest tightened, the sensation even more painful than when Sierra used her stun gun on me. It had been so long since I'd seen him smile like that. It had been so long since he'd looked at me like that, without a trace of anger, hurt, or bitterness marring his features.
Phillip had been my best friend, the person I depended on more than anyone else, but I'd thrown that all away when I'd believed Salina and her lies over him.
Once again, I cursed my own foolishness, and I couldn't get rid of the hollow ache in my chest either. Because as the weeks had passed, and I got more perspective about Salina and all the horrible things that she'd done, I'd realized something else. Salina hadn't just cost me my friendship with Phillip - she'd also stolen my time with him.
Phillip and I had been estranged for years because of her, and Cooper and I hadn't fared much better, at least not after Salina had first left Ashland. I'd missed out on so much with them. Phillip growing up and making a name for himself as the owner of the Delta Queen. Cooper and all of his blacksmith projects. Not to mention Eva and all of the happy, sweet childhood innocence that Salina had taken from her.
It made me sick, thinking about all of those wasted years, all that precious time that I could have spent with people who truly cared about me. But instead, I'd squandered it by wondering where Salina had gone and why.
And now the same thing was happening with Gin.
The days were turning into weeks, and I was still no closer to figuring out how to set things right between the two of us than I had been the night that Salina had died -
"What are you thinking about?" Phillip asked, interrupting my thoughts. "You look so serious all of a sudden. "
I stared at him, and once again, I thought of all the quiet moments like this one that I'd lost with him because of Salina and her lies.
And in that second, I
vowed that it wasn't going to happen again. Not with Phillip, Cooper, or Eva - and not with Gin either. Salina had already taken so much from me. She wasn't getting anything else. Not one more damn second of my time.
"Owen?"
I made myself smile at him, as though I had nothing important on my mind. "I was just wondering how you're going to make me pay for this later. "
"We'll start with a new suit. " Phillip grinned again. "Although I'm sure that I can come up with some other acts of contrition that you can complete to atone for your sins. Tell you what. Come by tomorrow for lunch, and I'll tell you what you can do to complete your penance. "
If only he knew that was exactly what I was planning on doing. Making it up to him. Making things up to everyone. Cooper, Eva, Gin. I couldn't undo what Salina had done. But I could sure as shooting try my best to let them know how sorry I was for everything that had happened - and how much I loved them.
Especially Gin.
"Owen?" Phillip said. "There you go, looking all serious again. "
I gave him the same saucy wink he'd been using on all the women at the club tonight. "It's a date. See you then. "
He shook his head. "It's so sad that you have no game. That's something else we'll have to talk about tomorrow. Later. "
He gave me a much saucier wink, then straightened up and waved at me before walking up the gangplank and disappearing from view.
I put the car in gear and drove away from the riverboat, thinking about everything that had happened tonight. Talking with Phillip, laughing with him, fighting side-by-side with him. For the first time since we'd reconnected, it felt almost . . . natural. Like we were finally starting to get back to where we'd once been as friends. My lips pulled up into another smile.
