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I looked into my lover’s light brown eyes. Between the business, the eviction, his sick mother and paying for school? It looked like he was carrying the weight of the world.
“We’ll fix this,” I said, pointing down to the floor. “You know that, right? There’s four of us now, all working together. We’ll come up with something. I promise.”
Warren took a half-step back, holding me at arm’s length. His expression wasn’t worry or fear or agitation. It was warmth. Happiness. Love.
“I know it seems on the surface that things have only gotten worse in the last few weeks,” he started, his eyes softening as they found mine. “But that’s not true.”
He embraced me even harder than before, hugging me tight again.
“Everything’s better since you got back here.”
Forty-Three
KAYLA
The official eviction notice showed up the same day Adrian’s father came home. It arrived via a young process server, who handed it to Warren just as he was taking a car down from the lift. It was all Luke and I could do to keep him from strangling the guy.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Luke cut in. “Don’t shoot the messenger, right?”
His words weren’t exactly comforting, but they were enough to finally make Warren let go of the poor kid’s collar. Whatever they’d paid him to deliver the paperwork, it wasn’t enough. He drove off rattled and wrinkled and white as a ghost.
By the time Adrian returned later that afternoon, we’d already closed up shop. It was just about dusk, and tensions were high. Everyone was still wound up.
That’s when Luke pulled his truck around from the back, a bright blue cooler that hadn’t been there before strapped tightly into the bed.
“Get in,” he said, kicking open the passenger door. “We’re going for a ride.”
Warren sighed and rolled his eyes. “I really just want to go home,” he complained.
But Luke shook his head. “No way. Tonight we all need a mental health break.”
Adrian took the front seat without a word, while I urged Warren into the back. A few minutes later we were outside of town, rolling past trees and fields. It was unseasonably warm again, as if the fall weather couldn’t make up its mind.
“Your dad okay?” I asked Adrian. We’d all offered to come with him for the pick-up, but he’d insisted on going alone.
“Yeah,” he responded, staring ahead into nothingness. “Settling in.”
“Must be weird as hell,” Luke offered, “being back after all these years. Having all the freedom to do whatever you want, without anyone telling you what to do.”
Adrian said nothing much as we rolled along. He didn’t speak again until the ground began winding its way downward in familiar fashion.
“This road goes to—”
“Yup,” Luke nodded.
We pulled up to the cabin, which seemed to perk Warren up. He’d helped Luke with a few of the finishes, but the project had mostly been his. Adrian however, had never seen the place.
“What the hell is this?”
“It’s our cabin,” Luke said, slamming the truck’s door.
“Ourcabin,” Adrian repeated. “As in you rented it without telling us, or—”
“Just shut up and help with the cooler,” Warren finally grinned.
It felt good, doing something that wasn’t work. Being able to laugh and joke around a little, as Luke used some old newspaper and kindling to start up the fireplace. The cooler contained enough beer to get us all buzzed, but still let us drive home. It also contained something even more important: a bucket of fried chicken from the best chicken place in town.
“Alright then,” Warren grunted, grabbing a drumstick. “You officially redeemed yourself.”
