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He turned to me with a smile and a heavy sigh. “But it won’t be the same, Holls. Not if youletme hold it.”
I let out a laugh. “Fine, we can fight over it. Then you can raid my most-likely-to-be-empty fridge.”
“Promise to at least have a crusty jar of mustard in there,” Jude chimed in. “I’ll bring one of ours by next time.”
“This will never truly be a home without one. I appreciate it and I love you guys for letting me crash with you for so long.”
“We love you too, Holls.”
“And, uh, you can come back to our place any time.” Levi’s offer was somehow both earnest and hesitant. “You know that, right?”
“What?”
“You can come back and stay with us. Whenever you need to, and it doesn’t matter for how long.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why do you think I’ll need to?”
“Because of, you know, all that happened before you came back. All I’m saying is you can call one of us, and we’ll pick you up. Or we can crash here with you. That’s all I meant.”
“Oh, okay.” I mulled Levi’s words over. “You don’t think I can be alone here?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m throwing it out there, just in case.”
“All right.” I wasn’t offended. They knew some of what had happened to me. They probably noticed how I slept with the living room lights on too. How could they not? “I’ll keep it in mind. I really want to move past what happened though. I’ll be okay.”
“Of course you will.” Jude said, shooting Levi ashut-uplook. “Let’s get you settled in upstairs.”
They exchanged yet another look as they opened their doors, though I couldn’t decipher it. I clambered out of the backseat of Jude’s truck, suddenly remembering Liam’s hint that there was a surprise waiting for me here. God, I hoped it wasn’t a party. There were no cars around, the lights were off, and we’d just left everybody at Sunday dinner, but I still wondered what was up. Maybe there would be cake in there somewhere. Then I’d at least have something to eat for breakfast. Damn, I sucked at adulting. I should have had them stop at the grocery store.
I pulled the key Liam had given me from my pocket along with the paper with the alarm code. Ready or not, I was about to become a real grownup. No more running from place to place, no more flitting from idea to idea, and no more jumping into things headfirst.
“Well, here goes nothing,” I muttered.
“You got this, Holly. I shouldn’t have said anything in the truck.” Levi pulled me in for a side hug.
“No, it’s okay. I appreciate it. I think I’ll be okay but I’m glad to know I have a place to go, you know?”
“We’re cool then?”
“Always.” I unlocked the door; Jude flicked the lights on as I entered the alarm code.
“That door is good,” he murmured as he stepped inside. “Solid.”
It was clean with a fresh coat of paint covering most of the walls. The gross shag carpet had been removed. “It looks nice.” The area where Luke and Liam had removed the wall was where the sales counter would be set up. More work would be needed back there, and I was excited to go over the plans with Luke and Gram.
“Let’s get these boxes upstairs.” Jude suggested.
I followed them up the two flights, then the spiral staircase leading to what would be my cozy little escape from the world.
I stopped dead in my tracks at the top stair. “You guys...” I breathed. “What did you do?”
“We all chipped in,” Levi answered. “We couldn’t let you live out of boxes and use a sleeping bag on the floor, Holly.” He scoffed and put his hand over his heart . “What kind of siblings do you think we are?”
Tears filled my eyes.
The fucking best, that’s what they were.
I spun in a circle taking it all in. There was a bed and a side table, just like I’d envisioned in the turret room. The big bed was covered with one of Gram’s quilts. I let out a sob when I flicked the light on to find a few of her paintings hanging on the wall and curtains that I knew my mother had sewn long ago covering the windows. “You guys...” I repeated.
