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Barrett had to stifle his laugh. Even sleep deprived and worried out of her mind, Val was still his foul-mouthed sister. “Val.”
“Bear.”
“Come on, Val. You gotta sleep.” He dropped his voice and put his hand on Dandi’s massive head. She nudged him in the leg and he stooped, angling the phone so Val could still see him while he scratched the dog’s ears. “You can’t be there for him if you’re depriving yourself.”
“I know. Bea’s coming over to stay with him.”
That was a relief. Bea was Val’s oldest friend; so much that they were sisters in every way except by blood. He remembered little Beatrice, bright-eyed and always talking, following them around when they were kids. But she’d grown into a hell of a person, smart as anything and now a biochemist in something Barrett had no way of understanding. And on top of all that, Bea was Forrest’s godmother. “That’s good. Shower, eat, sleep.” He looked at her through the phone, dead serious. “One day at a time. And Jacques already knows I gotta be able to drop everything when you call.”
“You don’t need to -”
“Yeah, I do. Don’t argue, Hopscotch.”
She laughed. “You haven’t called me that in years.”
“Don’t make me bring out the other names.”
“Okay.”
“Okay. I’m headed back now. If Ken shows his fucking face -”
“I’ll let Bea handle him.”
And with that, the tendrils of worry that had wrapped around him loosened a little. Enough to let him suck in a deep breath. “You call. For anything.”
“I will. Love you, Bear.”
“Love you too, hopscotch.”
They hung up and Barrett was left with a dark phone screen and two big doggie eyes staring up at him. “Fuck.Fuck.” He wanted to sit down and just…be. But he couldn’t. He’d made a promise and Dandi needed looking after. “Come on, Dandi. Let’s go home.”
Barrett drove it straight through, the long road full of potholes that ate tires and Dandi snoring on an old blanket in the seat next to him. Some classic rock station droned on as the miles passed and he couldn’t even spare the brain cells to hum along. He wanted to get the dog sorted and sit in the quiet for a minute before sleeping in his own bed.
He knew it was unfair, that desire for peace and silence, when his nephew was in the hospital and Val was watching over him and the kid’s dad off doing fuck all. But his skin crawled in that too-dry way it did every winter; even his scalp prickled. And there was no cure for unrest like home and one’s own bed and the creak and shudder of familiar floorboards.
It was late afternoon when he pulled into his drive. It wasn’t hard to notice another car, parked pin straight behind Ambrose’s. It was a nice car, too, with a flashy brand name and likely high end leather seats and a heated steering wheel. But whoever it was….it wasn’t any of Barrett’s business.
And then that not-his-business was racing out behind Ambrose as his neighbor pointed at the flashy car and yelled, “Get the fuck out of here, Preston! You don’t get to do that after -”
Ambrose stopped short, pulled up by the sight of Barrett angling out of his truck. Or maybe he was staring at the massive Great Dane lumbering out behind him. Either way, it brought Ambrose and the tall, lean man with him to a full stop. Barrett’s red flag meter was going off strong. Ambrose looked rumpled (not unusual) and upset (very unusual); the ever-present dark circles under his eyes nearly obliterated by red, puffy skin. And as much as he hated himself for it, Barrett was instantly checking the man over for bruises or scrapes.
The other man, this Preston, was glaring a hole through Barrett’s forehead. “You must be the neighbor,” he said, voice smooth and low and almost too perfect to be real. “Ambrose actually talks about you like you’re a friend. Says you rescued him.”
Dandi stopped twirling in a circle to stare at Preston, making Barrett put a hand on her head. “I did. And we are.” His gaze caught on Ambrose. “Friends. Was going to introduce the newest one to Ambrose here before I headed inside. If y’all are done, that is.”
A solid, almost bland statement. But Preston was clearly smart enough to read the murder in Barrett’s eyes, because he started to back up to his car. “Think about what I said, Ambrose. It’s for your own good.”
The ferocity with which Ambrose wheeled on the other man nearly made Barrett step back. Dandi growled softly under her breath and Barrett hooked three fingers into her collar. He didn’t stand a chance against a dog that size but he could try. Fuck, her leash was in the back of the truck and he should have had it out, ready to go.
“Nothing,nothingabout what you think is helpful is what I need, goddammit.” Ambrose was swift, his quick steps putting him face to face with Preston. Barrett’s stomach churned. He shouldn’t be watching this, but he couldn’t leave either. An unwitting bystander to some kind of domestic dispute. But Ambrose wasn’t done, and so neither was he. “You and her, you’re both so alike.That’swhy I left you. Not the cheating, not the bemoaning my nature even when I tried to fix things.”
He was so close to the other man, close enough to kiss him or spit on him or punch him. Barrett wasn’t sure what to brace for. “As usual, you’re here for your own agenda.Fix Ambrose, make him better. Make him less grumpy, less solitary, more interesting. I don’tneedsomeone to fix me into a ‘better version’, Preston.” Ambrose flung his hands into the air and Barrett was horrified at his own fascination as he watched those long, lean fingers spread wide. “I moved out here to get away from every single person who has wanted tofix meinstead of loving me as I am! Goddammit, I am not perfect but I’m not a monster.”
Preston, for his sake, looked crestfallen. He reached out. “Ambrose -”
“No, Preston. Don’t.” Ambrose jerked away like he’d touched a flame. “Don’t touch me.”
But Preston tried again, even when Ambrose dodged. Barrett stepped forward. “I think that might be time to move on.”
