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Chapter 16
Nate was always surprised how quickly Houston recovered after hurricanes. People were resilient, and Houstonians had the grit and determination of Texans to get things right. Manuel wasn’t nearly as bad as Harvey, but there were still destroyed homes and flooded streets and lots of damage. But two days later, there was a steady stream of traffic flowing into the city as commuters went back to work.
Houston was also a friendly city, which meant that there were groups of people volunteering time and opening homes and churches to the displaced. Houston football star Roman Bennett started a fund by giving two million dollars and more money came from the city. Donations also poured in from all over the country, moved by Bennett’s actions. Nate, Todd, and Zane helped in local neighborhoods for a few days until the power and WIFI were back up at the office. There was less than a week until the conference, so they couldn’t afford to take more time.
As they worked long days, making sure that all the pieces were in place, all bugs squashed, and their presentation finalized, Nate couldn’t help wondering how Colby was holding up. He had finished her website the night power was restored in his apartment. He didn’t know if she would check to see, but he couldn’t email her to tell her. Maybe in a few days he could send a quick text, just letting her know it was ready. He had even created a spreadsheet in Google Docs to help her with keywords and content strategy to get the SEO working on the site. Even if she never spoke with him again, at least he had given her that gift. She deserved so much more.
Tech Start thankfully hadn’t been cancelled after Manuel. The organizers felt that bringing tech people into the city would only help the tourism and economy as the city recovered. Plus, there hadn’t been flooding in or too close to the arena where the event was being held.
“You doing okay?” Zane asked. He was working across the conference table from Nate. Alisa had stepped out for coffee.
“Just the same as I was the last fifty times you asked,” Nate said. “I’ve told you—I’ve got this under control.”
“I don’t mean the anxiety,” Zane said. He even seemed to have a hard time getting his mouth around the word. “You seem different since the hurricane. Did something happen?”
Nate sighed and leaned back at the table. It was nearing midnight, but Nate, Todd, and Zane would likely be there through a good portion of the night. It was the finish line and there were so many small and large things to be done. The table was littered with fast food bags and cups for coffee and sodas. An opened bag of Twizzlers sat between Nate and Todd’s laptops. Todd looked at him over the top of the computer, chewing a Twizzler.
“Look, if I seem off, it’s because during the hurricane, I stayed with Colby. And it did not end well. Now can we go back to work?”
Zane and Todd looked at each other with mirrored expressions of shock. If he hadn’t been so melancholy about the whole thing, Nate would have laughed. As it was, he simply looked back at his laptop, reading through lines of code.
“Wait a minute,” Todd said. “You need to back up about twenty steps and tell us how this happened.”
“Yeah, you can’t just drop that on us. Details, man.”
“Will you guys get back to work after?”
“Of course. But not a moment before,” Zane said.
Zane picked up a trash can and swept the fast food containers and cups into it. He picked up a coffee cup, took a sip, then made a face and threw it in too. He sat down at the now mostly-clean table and folded his hands.
Nate leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his beard, then up to his hair, tugging gently. “You know that I was talking with her on the app. The algorithm matched us up, but I knew it was her. Then my mail route had me delivering to the place she was house-sitting. Anyway. I was delivering her mail before Manuel and she clearly needed some help. I came back after my route, boarded up windows, brought food…and she asked me to stay. Nothing happened,” he said, watching both of their jaws drop. “Not like that anyway. We hung out, had a great time, I built her a website for her small business, and we rode out the hurricane together. Best night of my life.”
“Then how did you screw it up?” Zane asked.
Todd smacked him. “Shut up. What he means is, what happened?”
“She wanted to know why I stood her up. I couldn’t talk about it. And then she found out I was Napper. She jumped to the same conclusion I probably would have.”
“That you’re a crazy stalker,” Zane said.
“Yep,” Nate said. “She said goodbye, kicked me out, and now we’re done. The end. Happy?”
There was quiet for a moment and Nate returned to the code, appreciating the way he could get lost in it and have his mind wrapped up in the simple patterns. When he looked up again, Zane and Todd were still staring. He clapped his hands.
“Guys! Get over it. We’ve got a presentation in a few days. Eye on the prize. Let’s make all this work worth it.”
Neither said anything and all three bent their heads over their computers again. A few minutes later when Zane passed by to get a drink, he gave Nate’s shoulder a quick squeeze. The small gesture left him feeling oddly emotional. For as much as they drove him crazy, Zane and Todd were like brothers. Really, they were like the only family he had now that Nana had passed. Nate swallowed thickly.
Focus on the code. Eye on the prize.
Even as he said the words to himself, Nate felt like he had already lost the real prize.
* * *
If there was one thing Colby could be grateful for in the whole having-to-move scenario, it was that the temperatures weren’t crazy-hot. Often in Houston, the fall felt like summer minus about ten degrees. Though she didn’t miss cold weather, Colby did miss the trees changing colors, the rich scent of smoke hanging in the air, and the way the leaves blanketed the ground with their red and gold leaves. Late September in West Houston looked just like July in Houston. Except for the fact that people already had giant blow-up pumpkins in the yards. Even so close to the hurricane, most people had returned to life like normal.
Groaning, Colby started up the stairs to the garage apartment, wishing not for the first time that it wasn’t on the second floor. She might have great calves by the end of it, but it wasn’t worth the pain of the sore muscles from trips up and down the stairs. How did she even have this much stuff?
