AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Trenton moved to the kitchen, taking out the fixings for breakfast. He wanted to make her another of his smoothies as thanks for all she’d done that week. He’d purchased a coffee maker and coffee, but it remained unopened in the corner. Instead, the glass for the smoothie he left her each morning was rinsed out and put away. It made him happy.
There was a click from her bedroom door, though she disappeared into the bathroom right after. Knowing she was awake and wouldn’t be disturbed, Trenton turned on the Bluetooth radio, humming along as he worked. When he turned on the blender, it added an additional hum in the background. When Celia had started sleeping in, he’d found he was thankful Emily had forced him into buying the quieter model years ago.
Celia padded into the living room, sitting at the counter opposite the kitchen as he worked. “Morning,” she said with a yawn.
Trenton smiled at how she propped up her head with a hand. He’d nearly forgotten how tired she looked in the mornings. “Good morning. You could have slept in longer if you wanted.”
She shrugged. “I’m working a double today, so I wanted to make sure I woke up fully well before lunch. Besides, I was curious what all you put into those things.” She nodded toward the blender.
Pleased, Trenton launched into an explanation of the ingredients. Each one had been picked for the particular vitamins they added. He’d had to tweak it along the way, since it was the worst thing he’d ever tasted at first. He laughed as he told her that. “I’d been making it for Emily at the time, and she gave me an earful.”
Celia paused in reaching for the glass he’d placed in front of her. “I thought you were the health nut. So it was your wife that got you into smoothies?”
“Yes and no.” Trenton’s smile faded as he poured the additional helping for himself. He took a sip, the flavors complicated but somehow balanced. The perfect blend of wake-up vitamins. “I started looking into it after she was diagnosed. I’d been reading into things to help, and diet came up over and over. Emily was never the type to watch what she ate, so it was hard for her to change. Me encouraging her and matching what she ate, even instigating, helped.” He smiled again. “As long as it tasted good.”
“I’m not sure good is the right word,” Celia said, but she lifted the glass and took a sip. “But it does somehow grow on a person.” She stared down into the green liquid.
“So you really have been drinking it. A part of me was convinced you poured it down the sink each morning,” Trenton admitted.
Celia let out a soft smile. “I admit, I was tempted to the first day. But I was also desperate with no coffee.”
He nodded toward the things he’d bought for her. “It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you succumbed to your caffeine addiction.”
“How could I?” Her eyes lifted to meet his, and there was something lighter within the dark brown. “It’d be rude after you put the effort in to make me one of these each morning.” She lifted the glass in a quick salute to him, then took a longer drink.
“Maybe that’s why we’ve settled in well. You think about others like I do.” Trenton watched her smile fade before she turned away, slipping off the barstool and crossing to the couch. He considered his words, but couldn’t imagine what he had said to offend her. When she curled up on the couch, he saw her scabbed-over knees. She’d taken off the bandages a day or so ago, and the scrapes seemed to be healing well.
He took a gulp of his own smoothie before cleaning up all the ingredients. There wasn’t much to put back in the freezer, which was typical for the weekend. He always restocked on Sundays, chopping and bagging everything he’d need for the week. He made a mental note to ask her what she’d like to add to the grocery list. Trenton glanced back to where she sat in the living room, happy to see her glass already half empty. He didn’t really ever see her eat. She looked so capable most of the time, but there was a gauntness to her that worried him a bit.
Emily had looked the same a couple of months after her diagnosis, though that didn’t mean anything. The two of them weren’t very similar. Emily had been open to a fault, without the social cue most had to know when she was talking too much or said something thoughtless. Trenton smiled as he remembered the very beginning of their relationship. They hadn’t gotten along at all. Before he had understood her, he’d thought she was purposefully rude. It took him a while to understand there was no malice behind her inept conversations. A part of him wondered if somehow she’d always been in such a rush to live more in the years she had.
Of course, she had initially thought he was boring and shy. Which had been fair. He was.
Celia looked up at his laugh, tilting her head as she studied him.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about something,” Trenton said, grabbing his glass and joining her in the living room.
She eased back against the couch cushions, pulling her legs in tighter. “Your wife?”
“Actually, yes.” He sat in Emily’s favorite armchair. She’d liked the way it rocked, never one to sit still. He’d been thrown off at first to notice Celia preferred his usual place on the couch. “I was remembering how she thought I was boring. You must think the same.” After all, she’d taken exception when he’d compared them.
“No!” Celia said, and Trenton’s eyes widened at the vehemence in the word. She bit her lip, leaning forward to set her glass down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout at you.”
“It’s okay.” He smiled at her, though she didn’t see it since she’d ducked her head in embarrassment. At that angle, her brown hair had a sheen of red from the sunlight coming through the curtains. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I thought that might be why you seemed bothered when I said we were alike.”
Her shoulders hunched forward, and he wished he hadn’t said anything. “That’s not it at all,” she said quietly. “You are kind, putting others before yourself all the time. The way you took care of me, and then that woman in the courthouse.” She shook her head, finally lifting it. Her eyes were those dark pools again, ones he wished he could change back to what he’d seen earlier instead, for just a moment. “I’m nothing like that.” Her fingers found the rubber band on her wrist.
The chair squeaked as Trenton sat forward. “I don’t agree. You brought my lunch the other day, after I’d forgotten it. That was kind.”
She was already shaking her head. “I did it so we’d be even.”
“Even?” He blinked at her, completely lost.
“You’d taken care of me, and it made me feel like I should do something to even the scales, that’s all. It’s important to not give or take too much. Otherwise, people get attached.”
Trenton was without words for once. He stared at her clenched hands.
“That’s why I also wanted to talk to you about the rent.”
