Page 12 of Their Stormy Reunion

“Hmmm, like you’d take away my chocolate chips?”

“No, you’d have to give me a dollar for each swear. Uncle Drake has needed the most consequents. Uncle Aiden needs a lot of help too. But Aunt Zoe needs more help than Uncle Zarek.”

I burst out laughing. “Hopefully I won’t be as bad as your Aunt Zoe.”

“As long as she never hears you talk about Michael,” Maddie muttered.

I looked over my shoulder and glared at my friend. “I don’t know what you’re freaking talking about.”

Could I have fucked up any worse than I had five days ago? I was still busy kicking my own ass. Of course, how was I supposed to know that Fallon’s parents were going to be such assholes to her? How could they not see what I saw?

I squeezed my eyes shut as I cut up the carrots for the beef stew I was making the crew for dinner.

“Damn!”

I looked down at my bleeding thumb.

“Dumbshit.” Zarek shook his head. “I saw you close your eyes. Are you going for a Darwin Award?”

“Look who’s talking.” I turned on the cold water and ran my thumb under the tap. I’d only nicked it. Still, I could have cut the fucker off, considering how sharp we kept the knives here at the firehouse.

“I admitted my mistake, can’t we drop it?” Zarek bitched.

“Only if you promise that it’s not going to happen again. Is Chloe home yet?”

Zarek gave a deep sigh. “No. What’s more, Evie is due to come out with her kids pretty soon, and now Chloe is talking about renting a place in Gatlinburg or Knoxville.”

I winced, thinking back to when the Rankin’s first brought me home after two rocky stints with foster care families. It hadn’t been easy – for them – or me, but they saved me, literally saved me. I could have ended up being a man like my rage-filled father had been, but I wasn’t.

And it wasn’t just them, Chloe and Zarek had played a part in that, too. I’d never been to school before the Rankins took me in; my father wouldn’t allow it, so I didn’t know how to talk to kids, let alone make friends. But between Dale and Melissa’s patience and Chloe and Zarek’s friendship, I’d learned how to be someone different, someone better.

Now here I was, talking to Zarek about the possible end of his marriage to Chloe. I’d been an usher at their wedding, eleven years ago. No, it wasn’t possible for them to divorce. It just wasn’t.

I turned off the faucet and dried my hands. The bleeding had stopped. “There’s not a chance in hell that she would really leave you. You two were meant to be together. It’ll all work out,” I assured my best friend.

I could see the torment on Zarek’s face. “It’s not that. I’m really worried about her. She needs to be talking to someone. A professional. She took this last miscarriage hard.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “What is Zoe saying?” I asked, referring to Chloe’s twin sister.

“Zoe won’t say much to me. She said it’s the sister code. But she said that she and her sisters have Chloe covered. I sure as hell hope so.”

“If they’re saying that, you’ve got to trust them. Those Avery sisters stick together.”

“Enough with me. What’s got you ready to cut off your hand?” Zarek asked.

“Fallon.”

Zarek nodded slowly. “I figured. Zoe mentioned that Fallon had her hands full with her dad. He’s always been an onery bastard. But her parents have always loved you. Have you checked in on them?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. I turned back to start chopping up vegetables again. “That’s why I slipped with the knife. I screwed up the other day. I helped Fallon get Bob to a doctor’s appointment.”

Zarek grinned. “I’m surprised that Fallon called to ask you for help, but the fact that she did is great news.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “That’s not the way it went down. I happened to be outside their house when I saw her trying to heft her dad to her SUV, and she was having a tough time, so I got out of my truck to help. Let me tell you, she was not happy.” I picked up the knife, lined up some carrots on the cutting board, and started slicing.

“What in the hell were you doing outside her house?”

I finished up with the carrots and threw them into the crockpot, then I started in on the baby new potatoes. I always got those because I didn’t have to peel them.