It took no time at all for Theo to message me back. I relaxed just slightly.
Anytime, kid. I promise.
* * * *
When the guys came back with their groceries, I told them about having lunch with Theo. They both seemed overjoyed when I told them about the plan of Theo bringing a horse by at some point soon. I just…I loved Lake and River. They were the brothers I’d never had.
They handed me a bag of goodies, too. It had some of my favorite snacks, and a package of really nice, colorful Bic pens and a two-pack of notebooks.
Lake had gotten River some makeup palettes, and I couldn’t wait to see what Riv would do with them. He liked makeup a lot. Not to a makeup artist degree or anything, but he enjoyed using it at home or when they’d gone out before they “acquired” me. Apparently.
We had a really nice evening and when I went to bed later, I wondered if I could get Theo to bring a horse the next day.
* * * *
Lake had some stuff come up with Ruth’s agent. Apparently, she wanted Lake to finish writing her last book. Lake was conflicted as fuck, which I understood. Ruth, under her pen name, had been his favorite author. While he worked at a bookstore. And never knew his aunt even wrote anything. Yeah, I couldn’t picture any of that being easy.
He said that he needed to talk with Theo about it, because Theo had been Ruth’s closest friend and he had some interesting insights.
Except, when he did go to talk with Theo, something bad happened and I just…had no idea what to do with that. I hated when people fought, so I basically just hid in my room.
Later when I knew Theo was back from his drive—apparently he’d just left after the discussion, which, very mature but also understandable—and I’d given him more time to get back to work. I pondered on the situation.
If I’d asked if he wanted to bring a horse by, he still would’ve done it. Based on what I now knew, he was just that kind of guy.
Except I didn’t want to bother him when he was still upset.
So I did what any other teenager would do and texted him.I don’t think I’m ready today either.
Okay. Maybe tomorrow?he sent back.
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just…didn’t.
Later that evening, after dinner, Lake was really upset. River shook his head minutely when I exchanged a glance with him. Something was…really wrong. Lake wasn’t an upbeat person per se, but he also wasn’t…this.
As soon as I’d helped River clear up the kitchen and went to my room, I texted Theo again.
I don’t know what you did, but Lake is upset. Fix it.
* * * *
I guess things had been too good for a while. It was the cycle of life thing my grandma had once talked about after my mom died. Like how nature and the universe somehow knew how to balance things, and that good and bad were cyclical. That meant it was time for the bad stuff.
Nobody really talked to me about it, but I gathered from listening to the guys’ conversations that Theo had fallen into some sort of a depressive episode.
So, doing what he did best, Lake decided to take care of Theo. I could admit that I admired the hell out of Lake, because he was still so damn hurt and upset a few days from their fight, that I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d left Theo to stew in it.
Instead, he’d talked to Sierra and even Hudson on the phone, and they’d told him more about how Theo’s brain worked.
That’s when Lake emailed that cook guy to find out what Theo’s favorite foods were. It took him a bit to get back to us, but I guess he didn’t check his email often while somewhere on a yacht.
That led to Lake driving to get carrot cake ingredients from the grocery store. When he got back, he brandished silicone cupcake molds at us, saying that he thought they’d be most convenient.
Okay, so, I wasn’t much of a cook myself, but I could do some things okay by now. But this? The idea of decorating the cupcakes?
I felt the sort of enthusiasm I hadn’t in a while. Well, not about anything else but the horsey books.
“I’m gonna be the head chef on these,” I announced as soon as Lake came back from the office where he’d printed out the recipe he’d been given by the cook.
