Chapter Nine
EMIL KNOCKEDon the door when Makai was still drinking his coffee. He walked to open with a mug in his hand, probably looking sleep mussed to boot. Oh well.
“Hi, I… uh, I had Mom drop me off before she went back to her baking.” Emil was fidgeting, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and not looking at Makai.
Makai realized he was nervous. “Come in. Do you want coffee?”
“Yeah, sure.” Emil followed him into the kitchen.
Something between them was a bit… off. Well, not justsomething, Makai knew he’d made this happen by asking for the break.
Once they both had more caffeine, they went to sit on opposite ends of the couch.
“Look, it was a lot,” Makai said thoughtfully. “Talking about it all was…. It made me feel more than I thought I would, afterward. More memories popped up. Nightmares.”
Emil was frowning at his mug. “Maybe this isn’t—”
Makai’s heart started to beat faster. “No. Emil, no.” He waited until Emil finally looked at him before continuing. “This is worth it.You’reworth it. It’s going to be a learning curve, but I want to have a chance to be us.”
Emil’s lower lip somehow ended up between his teeth and Makai wanted to tug it out. The silence took forever, it seemed. He was beginning to think that maybe Emil had thought of it, and despite their sporadic texts, he had changed his mind.
“Unless you don’t—”
“No!” Emil looked at him, eyes wide and apologetic. “No, Idowant this. I guess… I guess there’s a whole lot of shit we need to deal with.”
“But we have time, right?” Makai hoped so, so much they had time.
“Yeah, we do.” Emil looked at him and smiled shyly. Then he seemed to deem the subject done for now. “So, what do we need to do to prepare for the horde?”
MAKAI RUBBEDsalt and pepper on the steaks he’d promised to grill for the people currently working down at the boat shed.
A huge dumpster dwarfed his little parking space, and he’d parked his truck halfway on the grass by the side of the house. All the people who’d come over had shared rides, so there were only three other cars neatly parked on the side of the dirt road leading to his place.
He’d been introduced to the deputies—Erin, Jason, and the guy who had grunted his name was Mark—and the couple of firefighters who had apparently been there during the rescue mission—Lucas and Gray. Sheriff Newman was there, too, overseeing the whole thing.
Emil’s mother, Nora, was going to drop by, and Erin had warned that her sister, Emil’s therapist, Evy, was going to come by as well. Then Emil had added that Lotte and Joie would probably come by, too, and Makai had started to feel claustrophobic.
He appreciated the help, he did. He knew it was the right thing to do to let them help, and cooking for them was easy. He’d grilled enough with his dad that he hadn’t forgotten how. There was chicken for those who wanted it and steaks for the rest.
Emil had offered to help with making huge bowls of salad—bowls on loan from Mrs. Newman—and Makai expected him to come to do all the chopping soon.
Silence reigned over the yard with everyone down at the boat shed but for the occasional chatter of people going back and forth to the dumpster with a wheelbarrow filled with rubble carried through the open window.
Emil was making sure everyone stayed hydrated and there were enough water bottles in the huge cooler Jason had brought for them to use. Mouse sat on the kitchen counter, because the window was the only one where she could see what was going on in the yard. Makai let her stay there for now, knowing she’d go to the babies soon. She wasn’t interested in treading on anything, more like she looked offended whenever Makai moved something too close to her seat.
A happy, high voice came from the yard, and when Makai looked out, Joie walked toward the house with their mother and Emil in tow.
Makai washed his hands and put the steak plate in the fridge just in case Mouse got adventurous and went out.
“Makai!” Joie ran to him, then hugged him hard. “I missed you!”
The feeling that bowled over Makai surprised him with its power. He felt choked up as he hugged Joie back. “Missed you too, kid,” he admitted, and when he looked up, he saw Lotte and Emil looking at them fondly.
“Mom and I made ice pops!” Joie—or Joy, now that Makai got a closer look at what she was wearing—said and pointed at the small cooler Emil was holding.
“Ice pops, huh?”
“Yeah, we’re gonna take them to everyone, but Mom said I need to hold someone’s hand when we go there.” She spoke in a serious voice now, then looked up at Makai. “Can I hold your hand, please?”
