“She flew. On an airplane. Twice.” Chief says.
“That doesn’t mean— She—” My throat is thick, and my palms are sweaty.
“It means she loves you, you dense boy.” Betty shakes her head. “It means while you’ve got some groveling to do, she loves you more than she’s afraid of her fears. And for Clover, that’s everything.”
I’m panting. I think I’ve cracked a few ribs trying to fill my lungs with air.
I almost threw this all away because I was too scared to stay.
A hot spike of fury cuts through the guilt. Not at Clover, not even at Terra, but at myself.
“The blueprints,” I say slowly, dragging all my focus to the future, and the steps I’ll take to ensure it. “Savvy will sell her side of the duplex?”
Chief holds up a contract. “Selling it to Clover for two hundred bucks.”
Two hundred dollars is absurd. I’ll ensure Savvy gets at least fair market value.
“And we gotta talk about the garage,” Pops says, pulling a rolled-up magazine out of his front pocket. “Now, I know the plans call for a two-car garage, but let me show you this.” He opens the magazine to showcase a man cave, complete with eight TVs and a pool table.
“You want me to convert our garage into a man cave for you?”
“Not just me,” Pops protests. “It would be for the R&R community. Very important for neighborhood morale ’cause it’s getting harder and harder for some folks to get to the Chug. And if you expanded?—”
I hold up my hand to cut off his ridiculous pitch and turn toward Chief. “Show me the rest.”
“Can’t,” Agnes says, pushing them forward. “Clover will be back soon. You’ve got something more important to do.”
Chief grumbles but gets to his feet. “Come on. The ladies want you to decorate the porch before Clover gets here. Something about creating a welcoming energy, and if you don’t do it yourself, you’ll end up with crystals in places crystals shouldn’t be.”
I have so many questions but decide to shut my mouth and follow Chief outside instead.
“Chief,” I say, when we arrive on the porch. “I—” Shit. This is harder than I thought it would be. “I owe you an apology too. I shouldn’t have left like I did.”
Lifting his chin, he sniffs the air. “You know, I watched her mail letters to you week after week with no idea if you were even alive. She never gave up on you.”
There’s a log in my throat that makes it impossible to breathe. “I know.”
“You ever gonna give up on her again?” He fiddles with a cardboard box he finds on the porch swing.
“No, sir. I’m not.”
“Don’t make her regret all that faith she placed in you, son.”
“I swear I won’t, Chief. I fucked up. I made a stupid decision, but I’m not a stupid man. I know what we have. I know when something’s worth fighting for. I just…”
“Got lost in your head.”
“Yeah,” I say, lowering my gaze.
“Don’t get lost again, Valen. Because if you do, I know places in these woods where they’ll never find a body. And I’ve got friends who’ll help me dig.”
I can’t tell if he’s joking.
I don’t think he is.
“Understood,” I say.
“Good. Now get to work.” He shoves a box into my hands as the squabbling of the older generation meets us on the porch.
