“I grew up in California, but I live just outside of Phoenix.”
“You lied and told me you lived in another state.”
“I did.”
“Yeah, well, that’s fine, because I know more about you than you probably wanted me to, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”She turns her back on me, picks up the crowbar, and begins to work a cleat she’s got attached to the wall.I watch her struggle to get the tool beneath the edge of the wooden cleat.“Stupid wood glue.”
Raising my hand so she can see it in her peripheral view, I step closer to her, grasping the pry bar from her grip.“Let me.”
“Fine.You can try but I think I’ll need to get a Sawzall.”Releasing the bar, she steps backward out of the pantry.Waving defeat at the room, she mutters, “Have at it.”
So, I do.Or I try but I, like her, can’t seem to get the pry bar beneath the piece of wood.Glue oozed, then dried around the entire piece.“Jesus, woman.How much wood glue did you use?”
“The cabinets were heavy.The glass doors were a concern.I wanted to make sure they didn’t….”I glance back at her and watch her swallow.“I didn’t want them to get damaged.”And then a tear slips down her cheek.I’m to her in three steps.Wrapping her up in my arms, she slumps against me.
God, it feels amazing.Perfect.
Sniffling into my chest, I place my palm on the back of her head and stroke down her hair.“I’m sorry, honey.I’m so sorry this happened and I wasn’t here.”
“Why weren’t you?Where did you go?Why were you here in the first place?Did you come here because of Mona?”
I breathe in the floral scent of her shampoo.“What?”I pull back and look down at her face.“Mona?”
“There’s a photo of you with Mona.You’re shaking hands.”
“Can I see the photo?”
I watch as she retrieves her phone from her back pocket.She clicks around, then hands me the device.As soon as I see it, I know exactly what this captured.“We weren’t shaking hands.That was her dropping the coin into my palm.”
“You told me she stole it that day.”Lou growls.“She’s such a sneaky snake.”
I want to laugh but I’m on shaky ground.I need to play this right.
“None of this makes any sense, Chase.”She glares at me.“I mean, Ryder.”
“Call me Chase.It’s what I prefer.”
“Whatever,” she snarls, “That doesn’t make up for all the lies.”She stomps past me, picking up a hammer from the floor as she goes.Deciding to let her get her frustrations out on that piece of wood in the closet, I watch rather than get in her way, remembering I’ve already gotten one head wound today.
Inside the pantry, Lou raises the hammer above her head and swings it at the wall above the cleat.She repeats this move until there are holes running around the entire strip of wood, about four feet long.It’s hanging on by sheer will at this point, thanks to several sections still attached to the wall.“That should do it.”
Lou’s head slowly rotates until her glare is directed right at me.“I don’t need to hear anything from the peanut gallery.”
“Right.Gotcha.”
She takes hold of the wood and yanks it free from the wall.The plaster behind it cracks and disintegrates below her hand leaving a hole about two feet by five feet.“Great,” she snaps angrily.“Just fucking great.”
I’m a bit stunned when she picks up the hammer again and starts whacking away at the wall.“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting rid of this fucking plaster, Ryder.”
“Chase.”
Another glare lands my way.
She hits the wall with the hammer again, each time answering me: “I’ve.Got.To.Rip.This.Out.And.Replace.It.With.Drywall.”
By the time she’s finished with that sentence, most of the wall has been broken up.Stepping into the room with her, I reach up and tug on a piece.It falls into my hand easily.Lou does the same from her spot, and in no time, we’ve got the top third of the wall gone.It’s quite a satisfying feeling, but I’m not about to say that to Lou.None of this is satisfying to her, I’m sure.“Keep going?”I want to be sure before I pull off another piece.
