“I hope you get that chance, Mateo.” The conversation fizzled out, and I enjoyed the calm, warm weather as my mind wandered to what was next. Lucy had already left, so my opportunity was definitely beyond my grasp. I wanted to go to Nevada, like Oran suggested, but I doubted my back could handle all that driving. Reaching to scratch my face, I rolled my jaw as an itch spread down my neck ravenously. “So, there’s a car dealership about two miles away. Did you want to walk, or . . . ”
“I don’t think I should push it right now.” My brother nodded, easily navigating his phone for an Uber or Lyft, and I inhaled sharply as I straightened to push against my thighs. The joints all up my back popped, and relief slumped my shoulders as that garbage I’d eaten flooded my body with a pleasant sludge. “The doctor says I’ll be on the antibiotics for my infection for another two weeks, and I need to get my stitches removed in, like, ten days. The cuts aren’t bad. They’ll heal up completely in a month or so, I guess. He seemed surprised I didn’t have any broken bones.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not gonna worry about the Italians anymore. When DadorderedCarlyle to storm their place when we figured out exactly where you were, he was so pissed. I’ve never seen him so mad.” A small smirk tilted my lips at the mental image, and I exhaled slowly before standing up to stretch my arms over my head. Wincing at the ever-present sting that flared in protest, I clasped my hands together to crack my knuckles, and Oran stood up himself with a chuckle. “So, what kind of car do you want to get?”
“Honestly, I haven’t even thought of it. I’ll see what there is when we get there.” That was going to be my only answer for everything from now on, and damnit if it didn’t feel good tonothave my life planned out. Oran smirked broadly, and I rocked back and forth on my heels to stretch my legs as I thought about that. Ever since I graduated college, Carlyle sent me everywhere he thought I wouldn’t make a mess, but I always managed to impress him anyway. He couldn’t get rid of me— he could only send me somewhere else. I’d been to a few places, but never because I wanted to.
But that was all different, now. Now, I was Mateo Turnin, Bachelor of MusicandBachelor of Science in Music . . . not Mateo Santino, snot-nosed little brother to the great, psychopathic Carlyle.
At least, starting over, I was able to keep my degrees. My father hadn’t given me a new identity, he’d just changed my last name, expedited by a hefty sum, of course.
“You know what’d be cool? If you renovated a bus—” Barking a laugh at that, I turned to Oran as he downright grinned, nodding furiously at his own suggestion. “Seriously, Mateo, don’t you think so? A home on wheels, and it could be a small bus, so you don’t need an extra license.”
“Yeah, that would be cool.” Agreeing with him just because, I rubbed my jaw and neck as a car pulled up on the curb, and Oran’s phone gave a shrillpingfor attention. “Let me know if you see a bus . . . but I still need a car.”
9
Lucy
“Thank you again for driving me all the way here.” Leaning into the window, I patted my hips for my wallet only to realize I had no money. I had nopockets, and I surely didn’t have my wallet on me. The guy in the driver’s seat smiled tiredly, a guilt warmed my cheeks even as he waved me off.
“Easiest, smoothest five grand I ever made.” I was definitely going to give this driver five stars; he didn’t ask any questions, just drove three states over to drop me at my mom’s house. I mean, yeah, it took fourteen hours instead of ten because of backroads and whatnot, but I could live with that. Stepping back onto the sidewalk, I ran my hands through my hair as he pulled off the curb, and my smile instantly died.
Slowly turning to my mom’s house, like that iconic scene in most horror movies when the monster is over the girl’s shoulder, my eyes instantly started to throb. I could already hear her bombarding me with questions, and none of them were ‘are you okay?’.
But I wanted my dog, and my mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so maybe I’d get lucky.
Walking up the path lined with little flowers, I reached above the door frame for the extra key to unlock the door. I could hear my dog’s nails scraping against the wood as he plodded his way over, and I pushed open the barrier before he smelled me. Marshal instantly started wagging his tail, his chocolate brown fur bristling, and he shivered as he bounced around on his paws. He didn’t bark, but he did smile that dog smile at me as he promptly peed all over the floor.
Guilt clawed at my throat, and I crouched down to gingerly pet Marshal’s head as tears welled in my eyes. My chest tightened, and he licked and licked as he tried to get as close to me as he could. He was so careful about it, not jostling his body to knock me over, but to buffer against me, and I sniffled harshly.
“Let’s get out of here.” I was a few hours early, and the morning sun and heat stifled my words and dried my mouth. Without bothering to clean him up, I reached around to lock the door and stood up, and Marshal hugged between my legs and licked my hands and fingers. My house was a block away, and, at the very least, I was glad I had forgotten my purse that day and didn’t come back to get it.
The perks of working so close to home.
“I’m sorry for disappearing on you, Marshal.”If I can just get home, I can sleep this pain away.My dog calmed at the sad, slow lilt in my tone, and I shuffled along the sidewalk as he headbutted my crotch. The only thing keeping me standing, now that I was here, was Marshal, and dread gripped me at the knowledge that things were about to get really complicated. I had to call Mikayla first before anyone, and then I had to call Seth.
Glancing down at the ugly, block-shaped ring on my finger, I grimaced darkly, and Seth’s face popped up behind my lids when I blinked. He was handsome, sure, but he was also a bit of a jerk, and his dimples and cleft chin didn’t make up for that. Seth tolerated my dog, and I reached to pet Marshal as I let my mind wander to my declaration to break up with him.
Truth be told, I’d thought about it a few times before, but I never worked up the nerve to dump Seth. My friends and family loved him- his family loved me- we got on well if his penny-pinching ways and general disdain for my garden wasn’t in the equation. I just lost that spark about seven months in when Seth made me pay him back for something I didn’t even buy.
It was a blanket, a throw blanket that he left at my house and had never taken back.
I turned a corner and my house came into view, the small, two-bedroom, single floor house that my granddad bought for his only grandchild. The pale siding was painfully familiar, and I could already see weeds growing in the front garden. My fingers itched to rip everything out and start over again, but it was a little late for that.
I’m gonna have to pick some stuff, though.Being gone a week was a long time to go without harvesting, and I frowned as I came up on my house just one lot from the corner. The walkway was covered in dirt because I hadn’t been around to sweep it, and it was plainly obvious that no one else was going to take the time.
My heart squeezed, and I opened the screen door only to find the front door locked. Sniffling harshly, I shuffled down the path skirting the house toward the back, and I pulled my hair back to tie it around itself. The breeze cooled the sweat coating my neck, and I sniffled harshly as a dense lump formed in my throat.
Marshal slithered out from between my legs, and I paused to watch him run through my garden. A surprise squeak echoed through the air, and Mikayla jumped up with clumps of weeds in her hands. Her bouncy, blonde curls held back in a tight bun under a wide-brimmed sun hat, and she whipped around to squawk at the sight of me. Everything happened in slow motion as she dropped her handfuls, and I crossed my arms over myself as my best friend rushed through my garden, most of which was weeded.
“You weeded my garden.” Mikayla threw herself at me, rocking and squeezing and crying loudly, and I tensed as she knocked the air from my lungs. The smell of her was so good, and I wrapped my arms around her waist to hold her as her heart rampaged against my chest. “Sorry for worrying you.”
“Lucy, oh, man, I missed you. I wasso-oworried. I thought you got kidnapped or something!” Scrunching up my face at that, my body wound tighter when she suddenly snapped back, grabbing my face in both her dirt-caked hands to glare at me. “Your mom said you went to a casino and blew ten thousand dollars! What the hell! You couldn’t invite me!”
“What? No. Iwonten thousand dollars. I . . . ” We’d been friends since kindergarten, and Mikayla’s eyes narrowed on me before I could even start reciting my lies. “I . . . I’m not allowed to talk about it, Mikayla. Seriously, it’s better to just not ask. I just need you to- to back me up. Right?”
“Um, okay. Why can’t you talk about it? You can tell me that, at least, right?” Gnawing on my bottom lip diligently, I inhaled deeply, and Mikayla’s light gray eyes scanned me from top to bottom. “Why are you wearing scrubs?”
