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“Over here, boys.” Wren called, coming out of the office.
She walked out onto the asphalt and Gavin broke away from us, crossed the parking lot, and hugged her. King excitedly wagged his tail next to them, but Gavin didn’t let her go. He stooped down to hug her tight, and I could see the way her hands fisted into his shirt.
I had met Troy and Gavin first, befriended them first, but I was witnessing a friendship that I wasn’t familiar with.
“We all thought you were dead.” Troy leaned back, looking me over.
I didn’t know what to say or how to explain things. I had my suspicions but I wasn’t ready to tell others yet.
“Mix up in the paperwork,” I stated, exasperated. I was exhausted. I was tired of being angry. Tired of not having the answers.
“That’s one hell of a mix up, man, but I’m glad it was a mix up.”
Troy looked to me, slapping me on the back. “This is the best fucking day ever.”
King ran over then, and Troy crouched down to pet him. “Hey, buddy.” He whined and licked him on the face, his head dropping low to sniff my leg.
My attention went back to Wren and Gavin. She was wiping her face and Gavin was shaking his head, bringing her in again for a hug.
“It’s been a few months since we’ve seen her,” Troy said from the ground. “She doesn’t come out that often. This is the first time she’s been here during the day in years.”
“What happened?”
Troy sighed heavily. “She couldn’t handle being around anyone for a while in the beginning. Tried to quit working for Dan, but they figured things out so that she could come in for payroll early in the morning. She gets to come in and have the place to herself, get her work done, and leave before anyone else gets here.”
“She’s been alone most of the time?” I asked. Wren seemed put together on paper. She had a routine, met up with friends on occasion, was at the gym twice a week, sometimes more. But that was just on paper.
We both turned and watched her with Gavin.
“She was lost for a long time. We took shifts after your. . . you know.” He sighed. “Made sure she had food in the house, cooked for her. There was a time when. . .” He trailed off.
“When what?”
“We thought we were going to lose her. She would wake up in the middle of the night and no one could find her. We would search the entire house until we found her standing out on the dock, looking out into the lake.”
I couldn’t hide the panic on my face.
“It freaked us out for a while, I don’t think she was actually going to jump in. Gav and I got her the pups shortly after that and she was easier to find ’cause they wouldn’t leave her side.”
“Thanks for looking out for her.”
“Always.”
Wren headed back inside, giving me one last look over her shoulder before she went inside.
“So, Alex. Did you just eat spinach and work out the entiretime you were gone?” Gavin asked, bumping his shoulder into me as we walked back out into the parking lot.
I chuckled, “Bout all there is to do.”
Wren
I pulled back from Gavin, giving him another reassuring squeeze, then went back into the office with King.
If I was coming into town for some errands, I normally brought King with me. He was the best-behaved out of the two of them. Queen was more territorial and aggressive to what she deemed hers. The car being one of them.
I would never discourage the behavior though; that was the reason I had them.
I sat at my desk with a fresh cup of coffee, turning on the computer and loading the programs. While the boys were outside, I ran through the time cards and made any adjustments I needed for overtime or for people who took time off before hitting submit on everyone’s paychecks.
