AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Janie used a spatula to transfer hot cookies from a pan onto a waiting cooling rack.“Not yet!”she barked kindly as Wyatt reached for one.“The chocolate is too hot, and you’ll burn your tongue.Aaron, why don’t you get you and your brother a cup?Wyatt, grab the milk out of the fridge.”
Both boys obeyed without argument, and even though I still couldn’t grasp the dynamic of the house, I was thankful that Teresa had Janie.While the boys’ backs were turned, Alex’s wife kissed her girlfriend’s temple.
“Thank you,” she murmured, lightly squeezing her hand.
“There’s no need.”
The women shared a heavy look, one of understanding, pain, and love.
Envy stirred inside me, and I turned away to help the boys.
“I got it, Uncle JJ,” Aaron stated with assurance, so I retrieved three mugs for the adults and made for the coffeepot.
The steam of fresh joe filled my lungs once I sat with a cup.Bitter and black, the warmth slid down my throat, hitting the spot and perking me up.Add in the sugar from the cookies, and I felt revived after the drag and exhaustion of spending almost two full days in the hospital.I was running on near empty, but now that Alex was home, I had to make things right with Kellen.Then I could rest.
“You baked these?”I asked the boys, and they nodded, faces full of pride but both mouths too stuffed to reply.“Best cookies I’ve ever tasted—even more delicious than your mom’s.”
“Ooo!”Teresa exaggerated her disappointment while glancing at her sons.“Hear that?You’re better bakers than me!And I’m the one who taught you!”
“Itaught them, thank you very much,” Janie said with the first smile I’d seen in a long while.
Teresa’s arm moved beneath the table, probably grasping the hand of the woman beside her out of sight where the boys wouldn’t see.
The puppy for Aaron’s birthday had been forgotten after Teresa had brought home a kitten.A pet, she’d stated, that wouldn’t behave like another toddler for her to look after.Mr.Gibbles, aka Mr.Shithead according to Teresa, rubbed against my ankle, meowing and begging for food like any dog would do.
He was a cute little thing, a fluff ball who left long, black hairs on my gray sweats before he sauntered off toward another human who would give her what she wanted.
A loud thump sounded overhead, and I looked toward the front entryway and stairwell on instinct.
No other noise rose, no call for help, and I glanced over at Teresa.
“I’ll go.”She patted my hand.“Finish your cookies.”
“So, your mom said Mr.Gibbles likes to climb the curtains,” I said, biting back a smirk as the boys tried to not laugh.
“He’s naughty,” Wyatt said.
“Yeah, Mom tried to put him in a time out, but cats don’t listen,” Aaron tacked on.
I chuckled, sharing a smile with Janie.
Teresa shrieked from upstairs, and I bolted from my chair.
“Stay put!”I ordered the boys.“Janie, keep them here.”
Taking the stairs three at a time, I cursed.
No, no, no…
“Alex!Please, God.Alex!”Teresa’s low voice sobbing told me what happened before I even rounded the corner into their bathroom.
Same as fifteen years earlier, I found my best friend sprawled on a tile floor, eyes rolled back.But we weren’t alone in his stupidity.Teresa cradled his head on her lap.
An empty pill bottle lay a foot away, a fact that didn’t surprise me one fucking bit.My stomach turned to granite, same as the muscles in my jaw.
“Goddamn you, Alex.”I dropped to my knees and felt for a pulse in his neck, wondering if his overdose had been accidental as it had been the first time.
His heart rate was too damn slow, and he wasn’t responding to Teresa’s gentle slapping of his face.
