Once Atlas has laid out her blankets, she walks over to Chase and reaches to take her from him. He holds out his hand, stopping her, and I see Atlas’s eyes shoot up in defense.
“I can lay her down,” Chase tells her before walking around her and bending, one hand behind her head, the other behind her knees, and she lets out a sigh when she’s flat in the pack and play.
“Thank you,” Atlas says quietly, and walks out of the room.
We all follow suit, quietly closing the door before heading downstairs.
Downstairs, the guys have already started bringing boxes in since Ember meticulously labeled everything with which room it should go into.
Ember and Atlas head to the kitchen and I hear cabinets opening and boxes ripping in no time. I’m on my sixth trip back out to the U-Haul when Charlee’s car pulls in behind Atlas’s. I see Rawley in the back seat, and a man in the front, who must be Theo.
I lean in the house, both hands on the door frame. “Ember! Charlee and Theo are here.” Then turn back and head down the steps.
“Coming! I’m coming!” she yells from the kitchen.
Charlee comes up, Theo by her side, Rawley trailing behind them. “Harley, this is beautiful!” she says, pulling me into a hug. “This is Theo, my husband.” He has dark brown hair, and a strong jawline.
He sends his hand out to shake my hand and I take it, giving him a nod. “Good to meet you, man.”
“Yeah, it’s awesome to meet you too,” I tell him, “Rawley was telling me about you guys putting in the time on that game.” I laugh, trying to make him comfortable.
Just then Ember comes out of the house, wiping her hands on her leggings. A smile stretches across her face when she sees Charlee, and it makes me so happy they’ve become friends.
“Please come in!” Ember opens her arm, pointing inside the house. Charlee walks in, stopping to give Ember a big hug.
“Congratulations, Ember. It’s beautiful,” Charlee says before her and Ember walk into the entryway.
“Ember, this is Theo,” Charlee says, and there suddenly feels like there is tension in the air, and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. I look over at Ember and she’s clearly nervous, but looking at Theo, he seems nervous too.
“Theo, it’s good to meet you.” She softly places her hand into his and shakes it, giving him a small smile.
“It’s good to finally put a face with the name.” Theo smiles before he drops his hand. I can tell there’s a few meanings behind his words. He looks at me with a tight smile and I return it and give him a nod.
“Hey Rawley, how’s it going?” Ember asks him, and all eyes land on him. I just now notice that he’s got something in his hands, a baking dish.
“Oh it’s going.” He shrugs, like any fifteen-year-old would. “Here, my mom made lasagna for you guys, so you had something to eat.” He offers the dish up and Ember takes it from him with a smile.
“Rawley, can you lift boxes?” I ask, trying to help Ember because I know she’s still trying to figure this whole thing out.
“Yes sir, just tell me where it goes.” He smiles and we head out the door, Theo following, and Charlee and Ember heading into the kitchen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
EMBER
Charlee followsme into the kitchen. “Look who’s here!” I tell Atlas, who’s unpacking my dishes into the cabinets.
“Charlee!” she yells, rushing over and hauling her into her arms. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Hey beautiful, how are you?” Charlee asks her, still hugging her, but leaning back to look at Atlas’s face. Atlas pulls away and heads back to where she was unpacking dishes. Just then I watch Charlee pull out two bottles of wine from her purse. “Have you unpacked the wine glasses yet?”
I look over at Atlas and a laugh rips through my chest, she’s my kind of girl for sure.
“You guys can go for it.” Atlas opens up the cabinet next to the sink. “But I can’t,” she says with a small grin before going back to unpack plates in the other cabinet.
“We can take you home, so you don’t have to worry about drinking and driving!” she assures her safety. “We’ve got three rows, so plenty of room.”
“It’s not that, Charlee.” Atlas looks at her, eyes finally meeting hers, and it takes Charlee no time to understand.
