“Honestly?Not sure, but I guess I don’t have much choice, do I?”
“Nope.”
“Yeah.”Austin took stock.The handrail shook under his grip.He doubted it would hold his weight if he tried to use it to pull himself up, so that was no good.He considered other options.His left foot, thank God, was on another step and solid.But was there anything to brace against with his right arm?
“Hey, Joe?”
“Yeah?”
“You have your phone, right?”
A pause.“Yeah,” he said slowly.
“Oh good.I left mine downstairs.At least one of us can call for help.”
“Do I need to?”He sounded nervous now.Austin wondered if his lack of panic was more that he’d gone far enough to go out the other side.
“Nah.But figured I should check before I give this a go.You know, just in case.”
“Oh.Okay.”
Austin braced his shoulder and his right arm against the wall, settled his left foot, and adjusted his grip on the old railing.Don’t pull, he reminded himself.“Okay.Here goes.”
He pushed.For a second, he thought nothing would happen.Then his knee shifted and he was all but popping up.He gripped the railing and mattress and panted, adrenaline spiking once more.
“Austin?”
“Yes.Out.I’m good.”
“Oh thank God.”He paused.“You’re not bleeding or injured or anything, right?”
“No, but the hole in the steps is gonna make this a bit harder.Also, I’m condemning these stairs.”
Joe sighed.“Yeah.I guess we better move replacing them up our list of repairs.Think we can buy that at Habitat?”
Austin snorted.“Don’t know, but now is not the time to figure it out.Can we focus on getting off these death traps for now?”
It took another five minutes of pushing, pulling, and grunting, but at last they got themselves and the mattress downstairs.
“I’m assuming that wasn’t the surprise you had for me.”
Austin snorted.“Definitely not.”
They didn’t go back upstairs.Instead, they went to Austin’s trailer to crack open a couple of beers, because if there was ever a day that called for alcohol, this was it.The goddamn house had tried to eat him twice in one day.Austin deserved so much beer.
Once they were settled into whatever seating they could find and Joe had taken a couple of long gulps, Austin let his curiosity take hold.“So, we gonna talk about the pachyderm your children dragged into the room and left behind?”
Joe snorted.“You mean my benchwarming?”
“Your benchwarming,” Austin agreed.“I mean, you don’t have to tell me squat, but I gotta admit I’m curious.”
“A while back I had a boyfriend.We worked together at a local nursery—uh, for plants, not children—”
“I figured.”
“—and we were at the permanent cohabitation stage.Found a house and everything.”Joe drank more beer.
“I’m guessing this doesn’t have a happy ending.”
