“Didn’t even use it,” she replied. Erys was sure she was doing things to irritate him. For now, he’d let it ride. “You ready to eat and tell me about your suits?”
“I’m ready to go to sleep,” Ernie announced.
“I was planning on ordering something from the country club. I think we all could use some sleep,” Erys shared putting all the bags in the covered bed of his truck. “You good with that?”
“I don’t have a real bone in this fight. It’s whatever Ernie needs. If it’s a nap then it’s a nap,” Remedy spoke through a yawn.
Back at the house, Erys watched Ernie and Remedy from the patio. Side by side on the couch watching TV and gradually drifting off to sleep. Another moment caught in their continuum and another emotion chipping away at his armor.
“If I get used to this, I’ll need it every fuckin’ day,” he muttered to himself. “This shit is too much.”
13
Two o’clock in the morning and she’d been staring at the ceiling since putting Ernie back in bed for the third time. Now that he was sound asleep, she could hear every creak and settle of this massive house. Erys left a few hours after dinner to do something artist-related but she was only half listening when he talked. That was something she did on purpose. Listening to the cadence and timbre of his voice in its annoyingly soothing nature meant taking in every syllable like it were air. She’d done that before. She’d fallen before and that led her down a path that nearly killed her. She couldn’t afford the fall or what would happen to her again if the walls she’d built around her crumbled.
For Remedy, it was already traumatizing enough that she was so low. She was never supposed to be in a position to depend on someone else. So she stared at the ceiling, thinking about her run in with Eden. The hours where she was restless, she looked Eden up. Modeling agency, fashion consultant, brand strategist, wife and mother, a girl from Trae Way who’d built herself a beautiful life. One that didn’t come without the hardships of its own.
She paused the deep dive into Eden’s life because it brought back too many things she buried within herself. Too many missed opportunities. Too many blessings robbed from her. Too much darkness.
“Guess sleep won’t be happening for me,” she muttered into the darkness while throwing the covers off of her and swinging her legs over the bed.
On her feet, she led them out the room and down the hall. The coolness of the floor alerted her brain more than she needed it to. In true fashion, she peeked in on Ernie. Sound asleep, snoring like he hadn’t given everyone a run for their money during the day. Away from his room, down the stairs and her body needing something to tire her out. Remedy found herself in the kitchen wiping down surfaces, sweeping floors and mappingout Ernie’s seventy-seventh birthday. She’d need Desi for the main request he’d made.
Mid-jot, the chime of the garage door opening and closing caught her attention. Maybe if she ignored him, he wouldn’t find something to say to her. That was the hope that never made it past her thoughts.
Erys roamed into the kitchen flicking the switch to the lights on. Remedy groaned and squinted against the sudden brightness.
“Damn, my bad. Didn’t know you were in here,” he said before turning them off.
“It’s cool, I’ll go back upstairs,” she replied, wiggling off of the bar stool.
“Pops was up and down?” he asked.
She nodded. “Since you left. Looking for you, looking for Cherie. Trying to figure out where he is. I hadn’t slept so I’ve just been…up.”
“I get that,” Erys said, moving to his hidden cabinet above the stove. “Night cap?”
“It’s like two in the morning.”
“Three forty five actually,” he corrected, throwing a nod to the patio. “Come on.”
Remedy bit the inside of her cheek wanting the sting of it to tell her brain to tell her feet no. But they followed him anyway. The dusk of Waynesville midspring air was always her favorite thing to feel. During a part of her life she tried to erase from her memory, she woke up early just to feel this.
Around the far side of the pool, under the cabana, Remedy had a full view of a set of lights that came with stark reminders. She repositioned herself, fighting her eyes as they watched Erys open a bottle of whiskey.
“Need a chaser?” he queried.
Remedy shook her head no.
“Never thought I’d see the day where you were quiet. You good?” he asked, this time with those intense set of eyes on her.
Remedy pulled in a soft inhale and then pushed it out. The pieces of pinned hair coming out of her silk wrap from hours of tossing and turning. She pushed them back under her wrap before answering.
“Outside of my mind on a constant loop of the bullshit, I’m fine.” Erys poured her drink before pouring his own. “Don’t treat me like a little girl, Erys. Those two should be equal.”
Remedy studied the dimple pierce his cheek as he laughed softly. It was a beautiful smile. She could see that with her glasses AWOL. She could see all of him, blurry vision or not. White tee stretched across his chest. Dog tags hanging around like his neck like he was still property. Seemed like they were both holding onto something.
“There she goes,” he commented, making sure her glass looked like his. “You won’t finish that but knock yourself out.”
