Page 153 of Before We Break

I shrug. “We could sneak back there and dig it up. Nobody lives there now. It’s been on the market for like a year now.”

“Isn’t that bitch Karen the listing agent? I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Emma muses.

“I’m already on her bad side.”

“True, but I’d rather not give her a reason to call her husband to arrest you. I just got one brother out of jail. Let’s not make this a family thing.”

“I could buy the place.” The words come tumbling out of me without an ounce of forethought. Jonah and Emma’s heads snap up, and they stare at me expectantly.

I look between them. “What?”

“You want to buy our childhood home?” Emma asks curiously.

At first, it was a fleeting thought, but it’s starting to grow roots the longer I think about it. “It has a big yard for Auggie to play in. We could fix up the old treehouse for him. Give him some stability… We could get a dog. Cli⁠—”

Emma gives me a sympathetic smile and finishes for me. “Clio always wanted a dog.”

“How did you know?”

“She mentioned it that night at her apartment when we were watching Bluey with Auggie.”

She was in so much pain that night, she could’ve said she was training to be an astronaut, and it wouldn’t have registered. There was another night, just the two of us, where she talked about a home, a dog, and putting down roots in Willow Valley. I remember because it terrified me at the time—not the idea itself, but how badly I wanted to be a part of it.

“She texts me every day, you know? Checking in on Auggie… and you.”

My heart skitters to a halt, and I can’t catch my breath. “She does?”

Emma nods and sets her origami napkin in the middle of the table. “It’s not too late to win her back.”

“She’s not a stuffed animal at the county fair. I can’t just throw darts at a wall and hope one lands.”

“It’s not about the darts. It’s about the effort. Even if you miss, at least you can say you tried.”

Not a moment too soon, Ben arrives, looking extra disheveled with three orders on a tray. He sets them down and swipes the back of his hand over his forehead. “Sorry for the wait. Tony up and quit on me this morning, so I’ve been pulling double-duty.”

Jonah pauses with his sandwich halfway to his mouth and a curious expression on his face. I subtly nod toward Ben, but Jonah ignores my encouragement and takes a generous bite instead. If he’s not going to do it, I will.

“So, Ben. What’s your policy on hiring almost felons?”

Jonah chokes on his sandwich, coughing and pounding his fist against his chest. “Jesus, Noah.”

“You looking for work?” Ben asks, turning a scrutinizing gaze on Jonah.

He nods. “Kinda hard to get a job in a town that knows all of your secrets and thinks you might have killed your former partner.”

Ben clamps a hand on Jonah’s shoulder. “You’re hired. And for what it’s worth, I don’t listen to half the bullshit this town spews. It’s good to have you back, man.”

“You don’t want my resume? References?” Jonah smirks. The three of us, along with our friends, Jaxon and Ryan, were thick as thieves back in school. When Ryan died, we all drifted apart. Jonah drifted farther than any of us, so when Ben says it’s nice to have him back, he means it.

“You know how to read a recipe and follow instructions?” Ben asks.

“Yeah.”

“Be here at six a.m. tomorrow, and we’ll start your training.”

Ben leaves, and I turn my attention to my meal. Turns out, it’s not easy to eat a large Italian sub one-handed. Half of my toppings end up back in the basket and down the front of my shirt.

Jonah laughs. “You’re worse than Auggie.”