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“Hey, you okay?” She answers quickly.
“Does your offer still stand for me to sleep on your couch tonight?” I ask, as I walk through the front door of my Oklahoma City home for the last time.
Chapter 10
“Auntie Tylerrrrr…. Time to wake up.” Avery sings from across the room, stirring me awake.
I open one eye and find Juliet hanging onto the couch, inches from my face, drool dripping from her face and hands.
“Hi sister.” I say to the sweet smiling baby in front of me.
She smiles in return and then grabs a handful of my hair with an adorable chuckle.
“Okay, I’m up.” I say, wincing. I gently untangle my now drool covered hair from her hand before sitting up on the couch. No wonder Avery gets no sleep. Avery moves to scoop her up just as I shuffle to the bathroom. Moments later, I’m settled back on the couch with a coffee, holding it close to my chest when Avery and Juliet reappear. It’s just after 7:00 am.
“Morning,” Avery says as she rounds the corner and buckles Juliet into her car seat carrier that’s sitting on the floor.
“Good morning.” I reply with a yawn. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair and off your couch soon. I just didn’t have the energy to go to my parents’ last night. I needed at least a night before telling them that my life is a complete shit show.”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want and you know that.”
“I know and I love you, but your couch is terrible.” I smile.
“That’s for a good reason.” She says, “It keeps the amount of company down. At least until I can get the moat built around my property.”
I stop and picture Avery’s house surrounded by a moat full of alligators with a drawbridge, right in the middle of Fawn Creek. Honestly, it sounds like an introverts dream. Really, it’s more something I would enjoy that she would. She loves to pretend to hate people, but she can’t stand to be home in the quiet for more than a day. “You’re a genius. I’ll remember that for my next place.”
She taps the side of her head and winks.
“Really.” I say, “Thank you for letting me crash here last night.”
“It’s no problem at all.” She shrugs as she throws Juliet’s bag over her shoulder. “Let me know how it goes with your parents, though.”
“Will do.” I nod and take a long sip of my coffee. I need to get that done sooner rather than later. If I hurry, I can catch my dad before he leaves for work.
* * *
I lean forward and press my parents’ doorbell, anxiety coursing through my veins. I feel like a child knocking on a stranger’s door, anxiously waiting for them to answer so I can retrieve my baseball from their backyard. If they knew I was coming, I would just walk in, but the last thing I want to do is walk in and scare them. Or find my dad walking around naked. I shake my head, frantically trying to clear that thought from my brain. Living here with them again is going to be terrifying to say the least, but hopefully Avery is right and it’ll just be through the summer. My breath hitches just as Mom swings open the screen door.
“Tyler! What are you doing here? Are you okay?” She looks worried and I’m sure my tear-streaked face doesn’t help. My mom’s expression seems to give my body permission to let go and I do.
Immediately, my face is covered in a steady stream of tears. Mom holds the door open wider and motions for me to come inside. “Come here. What happened?”
I follow her inside and plop down on the couch, pulling a throw pillow into my lap and clutching it to my chest. “Is Dad still home?” I ask between sniffles.
Within minutes, the three of us are settled in the living room with a box of Kleenex in my lap while I tell them all about my weekend from hell.
“I don’t know what to do. My entire life has turned upside down in the last 24 hours and I feel like a failure.” I breathe out heavily. “Everything was under control and just the way I wanted it, but now it’s just… gone.” I bury my face in my hands. The tears are flowing faster now and my breathing is more labored. “I’m almost thirty, single, and homeless.” Slowly, I turn towards my parents. “I know you guys enjoy being empty nesters, but can I stay here until I figure out what to do next? It won’t be long, I promise.”
“Actually.” My dad begins. “I think I have a better solution.” He says, before getting up from the couch and moving towards the kitchen.
I turn to face my mom. “What is this about?” I ask, almost afraid to find out.
Before my mom can respond with anything more than a wink, my dad reenters the room. “Now Tyler, of course, you are more than welcome to stay here with us if you want to. We love you and would never turn you away. However, last week we picked up some paperwork from Hazel’s safe deposit box. Last night, we finally had time to sort through it when we found she named you as the person to inherit her house, as well as half of the money from her estate. The money will take some time to travel through legal hoops, but really there is no reason you couldn’t move into the house now.” He says with a smile. “The house isn’t much, and it could use some updates, but with a fully paid off mortgage, I bet you could make it work.” He ends with a wink.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand. Why would Hazel have left the house to me?” My eyes brim with tears once again. I haven’t lived in Fawn Creek since I graduated from high school. Hazel was very familiar with the fact that I had no intentions to come back to my hometown. It made no sense for her to leave it to me to deal with, instead of leaving it to my parents who live right down the street.
“Maybe she was hoping you’d come back to Fawn Creek one day.” Mom offers. “Hazel always wanted nothing else than to see you live out your dreams and be happy.”
