Olivia
Aftertwohoursspentin the barn with Cole, and eventually Carter, I have the full picture. And, man, do I feel like a piece of shit. I tried to text Noah on my way home from Fishy’s, thinking maybe I could bypass his fan club and go right to him, but he didn’t answer. I even tried to call, and was sent to voicemail. He is taking my demands about never speaking again way more seriously than I need at this moment.
Once I finally convinced Cole to talk to me, I learned that Bec found the letters, and was reading them in the breakfast nook, tears streaming down her face when their mother walked in. Bec never heard her coming up the driveway, or even into the house. Since Archie is now living with Noah at his house, he couldn’t have even alerted her.
Their mom waltzed right up to Bec, asked what she was reading, grabbed a letter and the first line she read was,Graham, you have promised to leave your wife and wretched children for almost a year now, I'm starting to believe I'm the fool for believing our love was real.And that is when everything went to literal shit.
Noah was working a shift at the fire station, but it was a relatively quiet night so they were in the gym getting some additional training in when Bec came flying into the gym out of breath with some of the rest of the crew behind her. Through broken statements, Bec told them what happened and that their mom was on an angry rampage, ready to murder the women who wrote the letter. Who, all too, conveniently lived along the far side of the lake.
I'm glad she went the angry route as opposed to the catatonic one that happened when Mr. Kneland passed away. In reality, I’m angry for her and I want to jump right on the train behind Mrs. Kneland and rock someone's world. This entire situation would be nearly impossible for any of them to understand or even process in such a short amount of time. I can't imagine if Noah has to become a caretaker again.
Noah was able to get to the house before she absolutely lost everything and talked her down from the murderous rage ledge, but in the process Noah left his phone at the station where it later died. They then spent the next three days removing anything related to their father from the house and burned most of it. They experienced a mix of anger, sadness, and confusion and it wasn’t until he went back to the firehouse he realized he didn’t have his phone. But also when he saw my missed calls, and voicemail.
Noah did exactly what he’s always done best, dropped everything and showed up for the people he loves in a crisis. And what had I done? I had been so caught up in my own thoughts and feelings of reliving the past that I wasn’t even willing to hear him out. What does that make me? Certainly not a good friend, or a girlfriend.
I’m not sure where Noah and I stand but one thing is for sure.
I owe him an apology and it’s going to be a big one.
I just may need a little bit of help to pull it off.
Chapter 40
Noah
“Comeon,bro,youhave to go” Cole pleads with me trying to convince me to go to Fishy’s for drinks with the guys from work.
“I don’t want to deal with people today,” I say, which isn’t a lie, but in reality, I haven’t been to Fishy’s in the last two weeks because it brings up too many memories of Ollie, and I don’t want to make a stupid decision.
It’s been two weeks since I drove out to Milwaukee to explain everything, and she told me she didn’t want to see or talk to me again. It may kill me to do so but I'm going to do everything in my power to respect her wishes.
Cole looks at me with a disappointed, loving face before saying “You haven’t been out with us in weeks, you can’t hide in your house wallowing forever.
“I'm not wallowing.” I retort. He's right, I'm absolutely wallowing. I haven’t worked on the house in over two weeks. When I'm done at work I either run until I can’t stand or go to bed and don’t move until I have to get up for work the next day.
Cole just looks at me knowingly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go. But only for an hour and only ‘cause the whole crew is going, so I know if I don’t show my face I’ll never hear the end of it,” I finally say.
Cole offers to drive us to Fishy’s which is only because he is obsessed with his “new” beat-up red pickup truck. It was his grandfather's, who was recently told he wasn’t able to drive anymore so they fixed it up together and then Cole bought it.
I’ve always been envious of the Bennett children's relationships with their grandparents. Cole and his grandfather hang out regularly sometimes, he even brings him to the station to hang out with us, and we play cards. They tell each other everything. That was the same relationship Ollie had with her grandmother before she passed. Inseparable. Endless love. Bec and I have never really had a relationship with our grandparents.
Once my dad passed, his parents moved out of Wisconsin to Arizona to get away from the cold. Knowing what I know now, I personally think my grandparents knew my father was a cheating piece of shit and didn’t want to have to face the trauma he caused within our family. Which makes them just as bad, if not worse.
The sun is high overhead and it's one of those days where you can tell it’s just going to be a beautiful, hot day. There isn't a single cloud in the sky and the sky is this pale baby blue that you would envision in a coastal house.
“Damn, there are a lot of people at Fishy’s today,” I say as we pull into the large gravel parking lot overlooking the lake and the park.
“It's the start of the season, so not entirely surprising,” Cole says, getting out of his truck after checking his phone quickly.
The door dings as usual when opened, and I instantly stop in my tracks. There, on the opposite side of the bar stands Ollie, Caroline, Mason, and Savannah, all laughing and drinking. I stand still as they all cheer and take a shot of what looks like whiskey.
I turn to walk back out the door when Bec waves obnoxiously from a table with Cole and a few of the guys from the department. If there’s anything I hate more than hurting Ollie, it's disappointing and upsetting my sister. I shake my head, look towards the floor, and walk directly to the table.
“What the fuck?” I murmur to Cole, who hands me a beer and a shot of Jameson.
“Savannah and Caroline have never been to the lake and she wanted to show them, I didn’t think they were going to be here,” Cole responds innocently.
