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“Hopefully that helps,” she said. “I can make you a bed, too. We’ve got room.”

“Oh, cool. If it’s not too much trouble I⁠—”

“It is less trouble to hand you some pillows than to go searching in the dark. Order a pizza and let’s get stoned.” Chloe unlocked her phone and handed it to me to make the call.

I had gotten stoned at college a few times and I didn’t usually think about the stuff but now the idea of eating myself to death while on an edible appealed.

“So, I know you’re not a stoner,” Chloe handed me half a gummy. “Start here.”

“How do you know?”

“You said, ‘do weed.’ No one says do weed,” Chloe giggled, popping her can of Coke. “You’re like… that doesn’t work for you.”

“I’m not a stoner and I’ve never tried edibles at all.”

“Ever?”

“With whom? My ex? She’d never do it. And otherwise I’ve got a kid attached to me most nights. I cannot just leave her in the car at the dispensary.”

“I always forget Piper is still a kid. She acts so grown sometimes. She’s got chutzpah. Hey, does she need a pedicure? Maybe we could go as a girl’s day.”

She bounced from one topic to another, despite appearing sober—and all in this dress that did everything for her ass and tits! I shouldn’t look at her. The whole thing was messy. I wore a robe that I assumed belonged to her ex as I stood around waiting for the cherry-flavored gummy to kick in.

“You should text her,” I said. “I bet she’d say yes. You’ll have to drive her. We head for Tulsa on Wednesday and I’ll be busy packing the new rig. Send prayers since it needs new plates”

“Ooh, that sucks,” Chloe said.

Yesterday, I’d landed a new-to-me four-horse slant load with a tiny living quarters. It would work for this trip even if it never matched the custom one we'd lost.

“It’s fine. Piper is better off far, far from the license branch.”

“She has to learn, Cole!”

“I know. I bought her private driving lessons for her birthday. They had a special going and I thought ‘what the hell’. She’ll flip. And if the check comes in, I will be able to buy her a car of her own at some point.”

“Fingers crossed.”

The look of sympathy on Chloe’s flawless face annoyed me.

“We’re not… poor,” I said. “Liquidity is a challenge right now, but that’s just the way it is. And it was much better for us than most people, okay? The thing is, I used to have a big job. I retired at forty-eight to take care of my kid and catch up on lost time. And, stupidly, I decided to train horses until my barn was blown over. I made money in real estate—probably just like a lot of the fancy people at whatever party you fled.”

“It was the one my mom threw,” Chloe said. “And I didn’t think you were poor. The Lucchese’s you wear are like $800 a pair.”

Somehow, I knew only Chloe would know that bit.

“I just meant that losing a house was a traumatic event, but moving like 3 times in a month and losing all your personal effects didn’t help. Now you gotta go to the DMV!? Like, that's insult upon insult, man!”

I relaxed. “Yeah. It fucking sucks.”

“One sec. I think I might have something else to help.”

Chloe disappeared, leaving me to enjoy a slide into the comforting arms of Lady THC as I checked the dog camera Piper bolted onto the fridge. Brownie lay undisturbed on the couch, her legs in the air in what Piper described as “upside-down reindeer”. I chuckled. By the time Chloe returned, I figured the pizza must be right around the corner. I was now completely stoned.

“Not sure if these shorts will fit, but they were in my box of shit to light on fire and here’s the biggest t-shirt I have ‘cuz like I wear it as a night shirt. But you can borrow it.”

We were both stoned. Chloe’s vocal fry intensified with a silliness in contrast to how I saw her every day. She was carefree, but business savvy enough to afford this house and that barn in her thirties. Her new persona further relaxed me. We weren’t at work anymore.

I left my phone and took the clothes from her hands.