His lips pull up into a grin. “I’m not surprised. I saw him watching us at Oz’s that time. If looks could kill, I’d have been a dead man, especially after we started discussing wedding venues.”
Marcus is kinda funny; I’d forgotten that about him. I spent less than an hour with him; it was just one time, forever ago, and we only talked, laughed, jokingly discussed china patterns and six-slice toasters. But a woman knows when a man is in love, when he’s talking to you to be polite, but he’s actually scouring the party and hoping his real love would walk through.
Lindsi, drunk and silly, tried to set us up, but our wedding plans came crashing down within three minutes once I saw the longing in his eyes – the same kind of longing Riley had in his sometimes.
Then I ruined it.
“Andi?”
“Huh?”
He grins. “You and Cruz?”
“Yeah…” I clear my throat. “We’re not together, but we hung out for a little bit. We had fun.” I shrug. “We had a fight a few weeks back, which was super shitty timing, because the next night, he got hurt. I didn’t find out until yesterday, and now…” I shrug and pretend the quiver in my voice is normal. “Now, he kinda hates me.”
His smiling eyes dim. “He doesn’t hate you.”
I scrunch my nose like this is a joke. It’s not a joke to me, but if I don’t laugh, then I might cry. And if I cry any more, I might kick my own ass. I’ve had my minute to feel sorry for myself – it was during the drive over – but now it’s time to take care of business. It’s time to think of the practicalities, so Riley can transition back into his home as seamlessly as possible. “He kinda does, the kind where the cops had to pull me out of his room, and the last thing he said to me was to fuck right off and never come back.” My voice cracks. “There’s no room for miscommunication there.”
“I said something horribly similar to Meg at one point. I was in a lot of pain, so I lashed out at her and got really mean, but I swear, I didn’t mean it. I was saying one thing out loud, but in my head, I was screaming for her to come back. Just because he said that out loud doesn’t–”
“It’s fine.” I rest my hand on his forearm for a brief moment. Long enough to stop him in his tracks, but short enough to not disrespect Meg – the woman that gave birth to his son not so long ago. “The thing is; I don’t even blame him. I was a jerk. Like, a super douche that deserves to be called mean names.But… I never was any good at listening, so I broke into his house and called in the troops to clean it up.” His lips twitch. “I’ll make sure everything is clean and safe, then I’ll figure out my next move once he’s out of the hospital. It’ll work out in the end,” I murmur. “Always does.”
He chews his bottom lip in thought. “You’re staying with Lindsi and Oz, right? When do you fly home?”
I shrug. “I only got here today, so I’m not stayinganywhereright now. But Benny gave me direct orders to be at his place at seven for dinner, so… I guess I’m staying there. I don’t know when I’m flying home yet. I bought a one-way plane ticket last night on impulse, slept at the airport, brought a couple pairs of jeans, a stick of deodorant, and Nacho’s leash. The rest will come as soon as we get Riley’s house clean again.”
He tilts his head to the side. “Nacho?”
“My pet pig.” Strangely, emotion surges through my blood and materializes as a nervous giggle. Speaking of home, of flights, and living out of bags makes my stomach jump. But thinking of Riley and the horrible journey he has ahead of him; healing, accepting his new reality, learning crutches, then a walker, then a new leg; that makes my stomachdrop, because through it all, he’s going to fight it. He’s not going to gracefully accept this new life, because I just know this wasn’t the reality he ever expected for himself. He was going to climb mountains, run races, and swim oceans. Riley wants to be outside, he wants to be active, and he wants to be unrestricted.
Now, he won’t ever be able to jump up and run out the door whenever he wants. Of course, he’ll be able to regain most of what he lost; amputees have climbed mountains before, they’ve swum oceans, and run races, but it’ll take a lot of work, and time to heal, time where he’ll have to be patient.
“Andi?” Marc’s hand on my shoulder snaps me back to the yard. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I draw in a long sniffle and prove I can’t be a demure lady, no matter how many etiquette classes my parents signed me up for. “I just really want to get this house done for him. How are the ramps out front doing?”
“Almost all done. We tacked them on, made them look like part of the original porch, but we can pull them down again when you say we can. The guys are finishing up out front, then we’ll start on the back.”
“Okay…” Lifting the pressure washer, I move it back against the wall where I found it and make sure the cords and hoses stay tucked in neat. “Thanks for today, Marc. I appreciate what you guys are doing.”
“It’s okay.” He stops me with a hand on my shoulder before I rush out. “Meg would love to hear from you while you’re in town. If you find yourself in need of some company, I know she’d love to shoot the shit for an hour. She’s home with the baby right now, and the alone time is making her crazy, so a little girl-time oughtta do her good. You and Meg were always good for each other; two pains in the ass in one pod.”
Laughing, I smooth a hand over my shirt and nod. “I’ve got her number. I’ll text her later.”
“Good deal.” He takes a step back, then another. He watches me with wary eyes, but when he can’t stretch it out any longer, he tips an imaginary hat and goes back to the front yard to help Jimmy finish up the ramps.
I stand in the garage a little longer and count a full minute of calm breathing.Pull yourself together. Riley was your hook-up, not your man, and just because your heart went and got involved doesn’t mean he’s obligated to feel the same way.
Pushing my shoulders back and straightening my spine, I head back toward the house, jog up the back stairs, and step inside. The scent of pine cleaner andnotcat shit hits me first – so much better than what I was met with a few hours ago. Nacho sleeps in her pouch on the floor while Tina mops around her, and Tink scrubs the guest bathroom clean until every inch glistens.
I pass the now fresh kitty litter, and make a note to grab another for Nacho before the stores close today, then I move down the hall to the room I know belongs to Riley. Memories wash over me when I inch the door open. This room isn’t trashed, it doesn’t smell; the door was closed the last three weeks, and opened only when I came through two hours ago to air everything out.
Riley’s massive bed is made, but I make a plan to pull the sheets up tomorrow, put clean linens on for him to have something fresh to climb into when he’s home. He won’t notice these things when he’s released. Fresh linens and a sparkling toilet won’t even register in his mind, but deep down in his soul, he’ll appreciate them.
I walk through the room toward the master bathroom, trail my fingers over his tall chest of drawers, then study the glistening master bathroom; Tink’s already been here.
Poking my head into Riley’s walk-in closet on a hunch, I finally meet Ninja’s golden eyes and release the worry that had lodged in my chest. I worried she’d run away now that the doors were open. I was scared she’d never come back, which would add another level of heartbreak for Riley when I’d have to tell him I lost his cat, but now she sits on the bottom shelf, hidden at the back behind piles of jeans.