“Drop it, David. We went over this, already. And I ended that conversation,” I said with force. “So, let it go.”
“Fine.” After a moment of silence, which in and of itself with David is really odd, he broke it by asking, “So what have you both been doing since getting home?”
“Reading,” shrugging my shoulders. “Although I’m out of new books, Charlie has plenty to choose from with my collection.” My mind was thinking about wanting to go get a new book, somehow. Hmmm. “Maybe, I could have Charlie walk me to the library tomorrow, even if I should probably stay in bed for one more day. I’m only in extreme pain if I do something stupid. Walking shouldn’t be an issue.”
David rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe you found another man just as obsessed with books as you are…” shaking his head back and forth, smirking.
I shrugged again, trying to keep it nonchalant. We continued to talk, David filling me in on who helped with the food and items that were left, some gossip about the mine going under. It wasn’t producing as much coil as others in the region anymore compared to the spending, which didn’t sound good to me.
And there is a woman named Verna Dibble with the Woman’s Club of Mount Washington who is trying to get funding from the city so they could plant a bunch of trees and shrubs on the mountain side to beautify the area. They also asked for the city to have the giant Iron City Beer billboard to be taken down as it was an eyesore and inappropriate for children to see, which was ridiculous to me, but what do I know, I don’t have kids.
“Speaking of kids, Linda got pregnant, finally,” David continued, shaking his head with a small smile. “Her and Paul were having the hardest time. Paul is ecstatic! He was in room two, and you could hear him tell everyone from the back of room one, I swear.”
“That’s amazing! I am really happy for them,” smiling, glad there was some good news in there after the kind of week I’ve had. At that moment, Charlie walked back in, changing my thought to,I guess it hasn’t all been bad. I smiled at him, he looked better now, but his fingers were fidgety with themselves.
“So, I made a meatloaf with a small batch of mashed potatoes,” he blushed a little when I gave him a big smile. He was so cute. “It should be done soon, but do you have a vegetable preference?”
At the same time as I said, “Whatever we have and whatever you want,” David said, “Carrots!”
Charlie bounced his eyes from me to David, then back to me. I just rolled my eyes, swung my arm in David’s direction repeating, “Carrots… apparently.” This caused Charlie to crack his first smile since David arrived. It wasn’t big by any means, but I’d take it.
God, I wish I could kiss him. I need some honey.
“Okay,” he nodded his head and turned to leave, his shoulders not as high around his neck as they were when he arrived.
“Ho– Charlie.”
Shit. I almost let out the endearment.
This was harder than I thought it was going to be. How did I fall so hard and so fast?
He startled to a stop, turned his head back to me at the door, holding onto the frame. His lips were in his mouth, with a slight blush coloring his face. “Just yell up the stairs, okay? I’ll have David bring me down, since he is here to supervise. I need to stretch my legs, anyway.”
The right corner of his mouth quirked up to a sharp point. “Sure. See you in a few,” then he departed.
“I hope the loaf isn’t dry.”
I rolled my eyes back in his direction, “Shut it, David. He doesn’t have to feed you, you know,” with a little heat but an unserious tone.
He held his hands up in surrender, brows high, eyes big. “Okay, okay. Jeez, when did you turn into such a protective daddy?”
I groaned, putting a hand over my face, “You are insufferable,” wanting this to end immediately.
“Thanks, buddy. It’s a true talent, so I appreciate the compliment,” sarcasm gushing out of him.
I shook my head, “Come here, move closer, so I can smack you.” Both of us laughed, making my back tink in pain, but I didn’t care. The laugh and positive energy felt good. And there is only one person I could really thank for that, and he was downstairs, instead of in my arms.
twenty-two
Welcome To The Jungle
Charlie
For our meal, we were squeezed into Jim’s little two-person table, with me on my knees since he only had two chairs. Jimmy tried to make David kneel so I could sit instead, but I quickly shut that down and said it was fine. I didn’t want David to have another negative reaction towards me.
Dinner was good, but the company was awkward for me. David and Jimmy get along like bandits. They were so different from one another, but it’s complimentary. David is so loud, all the time, and uses his hands to talk and gesture, while Jimmy is more on the reserved side, letting David have the spotlight. It’s actually a little funny watching them have a one-sided conversation involving two people. Jimmy does contribute verbally sometimes but mostly it’s silent answers with his facial expressions.
Jimmy tried to involve me, but between him being on the quieter side when others were around, even his best friend, and trying to get a word in between David’s nonstop verbal spew, it was hard. It was fine, though. It was nice to see their friendship away from the mine, authentically. It actually helped me understand Jimmy more by showing the kind of person he really was.
