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“I know. It would be a lot easier to get a sofa up here. Not that I would know. My futon folded up nicely.” We’d reached the third floor by then. His apartment faced the street, while mine was against the alleyway on the other side of the building. From both angles we could see the mountains through the leaves of aspens that grew on either side of the building.
He unlocked his door and turned to look at me. “Thanks, really. So kind of you to watch out for me like this, but I think I can take it from here.”
“How about I come in while we wait for Breck?”
“You don’t trust me to take care of myself?” Darby asked, the corners of his mouth twitching and his eyes amused.
“I don’t really, no.”
“Fine, come on in. We can wait for him together.”
He held the door open for me, allowing me to breathe in his spicy scent as I passed through. How did he smell so good after a run? For that matter, how did I smell? The sweat had cooled by then, and I was actually a little chilled. After the summer’s heat, it was an unusual feeling. Labor Day had passed, though, and soon the mornings would be frosty and crisp. I loved autumn.
All these thoughts went through my head before I dug my phone back out of the shorts to see if Breck had texted back. He had, saying he’d stop by on his way home from dinner. He and Tiffany were having a meal at the grill but they’d come as soon as they could.
Breck was such a good guy. I’d gotten used to seeing him in the building a lot when he was dating Tiffany, but now she’d moved in with him. I missed having her down the hall but at the same time, I was happy for her. They were madly in love, and being around them made me wish for a coupling of my own. Fat chance of that, I thought. The only eligible bachelor left in town was standing in front of me, and he clearly wasn’t interested.
“What’s wrong?” Darby asked, drawing me from my thoughts.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” I told him Breck and Tiff would stop by after dinner.
He nodded, seeming suddenly exhausted, and collapsed into one corner of his futon. I’d been here many times before, but I took a second to look around the bare apartment. The living room had only the futon, a beat-up coffee table, and a cabinet that held rows of books. In the corner, an old secretary-style desk with spindly legs seemed wrong somehow, as if an old lady had left behind a piece of her furniture. Still, the old thing was cool.
I went into his small kitchen, a mirror image of the one in my apartment, and filled a water glass for him. “Here, drink this.”
He obeyed without protest, drinking thirstily until the entire glass was empty.
“Where’d you get that desk?” I asked, sitting next to him.
“I found it at a yard sale. The owner said it dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century, but I doubt that.”
“Why?”
“Because they wouldn’t have been selling it for twenty dollars if it were really an antique. My guess is it’s a modern knockoff.”
I got up to inspect it further. The details of the flower etchings on the front panel didn’t look like the workmanship of some modern knockoff. Mahogany wood shone under the lights. “You did a great job. I could see that kind of piece in the inn.”
“You could have it for a price,” Darby said.
“Really?”
“I don’t think so. What would I do without it? Open it up and you’ll see why.”
I pulled down the hinged desktop. Inside were cubbies, holding papers and books as well as what appeared to be piles of essays from his students, given the red grades that marked the top of the pages. Everything was neat and tidy, with a generous use of manila folders, all labeled, including one for bills, first period, second period, and so on. “You’re very organized.” I admired that quality, as I was somewhat obsessed with order myself.
“That’s where I keep my life,” Darby said. “It’s the only thing in this apartment that serves a true purpose. The rest of this junk could go.” He swept his hand over the futon’s cushion between us.
A knock on the door startled me. I’d almost forgotten Breck was coming over to check on Darby. I told him to stay seated and hurried over to answer the door. Breck and Tiffany stood in the hallway, carrying a large pizza box. “We brought dinner,” Tiffany said.
“You’re sweet,” I said. My stomach growled at the scent of basil and tomato. How had they had time to order this for us and bring it so quickly? “Wait, did you guys cut your dinner short?”
“We’d ordered a pizza and figured why not share it with you guys?” Breck asked.
Once inside, Breck went immediately to Darby and asked to see his wound.
While he did that, Tiffany and I took the pizza into the kitchen. Tiffany knew her way around Darby’s kitchen, as we’d had many get-togethers over the last few years. What had started out as casual acquaintances had grown into deep friendships. Darby had become close to Breck and Huck especially. Tiffany, Stormi, and I were tight as well. Although Darby and I were the only single ones left, it hadn’t started out that way. We were the only soldiers still standing.
“What’s going on?” Tiffany whispered to me. “Did you guys go running together?”
