Why Now? (22 page)

Breadsticks seem to calm the savage beast that is Reilly, that or the wine. On the couch, Kacey sits on one side of me, and Heath the other.

It’s awkward; no lie. If I were in Heath’s shoes, I’d be pissed at me right now. This is the first time we’ve seen each other since Kacey gave him back the ring.

Reilly breaks the silence and ask Heath, “Who are you going to ask to marry you now?”

“Reilly,” Kacey gasps.

“Not cool, kiddo,” I murmur.

Heath just laughs but there’s a bitter quality to it that makes it clear he didn’t find her question humorous.

Finally, he says, “Not you, Reilly. You’d probably cut off my dick while I slept.”

She shrugs.

“How’s your mom doing?” Kacey asks, changing the subject.

He tilts his head left and then right. “Some days are better than others. She’s weak but that’s,” he stammers, “to be expected.”

Reilly sets down her bottle. “I’m such an asshole. I’m all focused on my own shit and not even thinking about the stuff that’s actually important.”

He gives her a small smile. “It’s okay, Reils. You’ve had a shit day.”

Catching Heath’s eye, I ask, “Will you come outside with me. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“No fighting,” Reilly shouts.

“Drink your wine, dork,” I reply as Heath nods and stands.

I follow him outside, closing the door behind me. “I know this is a dick thing to ask considering everything that went down with us, but can you keep an eye on them while I’m gone?”

His jaw tenses, “Is there anything going on I need to worry about.”

Leaning back against the door I look out at the parking lot. “People are going to say shit when I leave. That’s how things work here and they’re going to say shit to Kacey. I’d appreciate if you could buffer some of that bullshit.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Look, you’re the injured party in our situation. If you stand by her maybe people will think twice about spewing crap in her direction.”

He grins. “You’re really coming back, aren’t you?”

Turning my head, I look at him. His face is illuminated by the glow of lampposts from the parking lot. Warmth fills me at the thought of coming back to her.

“Nothing is going to keep me away from her.”

“We got a full price offer,” Reilly shrieks, phone in hand, as she runs into the kitchen.

My jaw drops and then I close the fridge and start jumping up and down.

She lifts her phone back to her ear. “Yes, we’ll accept it. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

She hangs up and sets her phone on the counter. “Will you go with me?”

Before Jake left, he gave Reilly authority to deal with any offers that came in on the house since Rich wouldn’t have been able to get in touch with him.

This is fantastic news. Frowning, I look down at my feet.

Reilly reaches out to touch my arm. “What’s wrong, Kace? This is good news.”

Sadly, I look up and meet her eyes. “I miss him. I wish I could call him right now and tell him.”

She moves closer, draping her arm around my shoulders. “Only two more weeks honey. Just think, you’re already halfway done.”

She’s right. The first week was the worst. Heath has been around a lot, though, which surprised me. Reilly thought he was trying to make another move on me since Jake was away but it hasn’t been like that at all.

He’s been nothing but a gentleman and hasn’t flirted or anything.

Still, I only had Jake, really had him, for a week. Why does his absence feel like a physical thing?

That week changed me. Every night before I fell asleep we would quietly share our days while he held me in his arms. He told me everything he remembered about the night I kissed him.

For so many years, I lived with this unrequited love for him. It embarrassed me, loving someone who I thought never saw me as anything other than the best friend of his little sister. To find out that he thought of me, was attracted to me, but never started anything because he didn’t want to hurt me, made waiting for him all of those years worth it.

For one perfect week
,
the stars aligned and it was like a dream come true.

It’s silly, but I haven’t washed the pillowcase he used since he’s been gone. He left me a tee shirt that I’ve slept in every night; wrapping my arms tight around myself and pretending they’re his.

Plastering on a fake smile, I say, “You’re right. Now, let’s go accept that offer.”

She gives me a squeeze. If she were in my shoes, she wouldn’t be moping around like a lovesick fool

When we get to Rich’s office, he explains the specifics of the offer. The buyers want to close as soon as possible, which is perfect since the house is vacant.

Reilly accepts all of their terms including their request for a home inspection. That’ll be scheduled sometime in the next couple of days and if anything comes up during the inspection Rich will call Reilly.

As soon as we’re in the parking lot, Reilly turns to me. “Now we’re going for a drink to celebrate.”

The last thing I want to do is go out but this offer is good news so I reply, “Where do you want to go?”

“What sounds better, Aho Jose’s or Brew Masters?”

“I want chips and guac,” I reply, suddenly all over celebrating.

She knows exactly how to cheer me up.

“Should I text Heath?” I ask and she raises her brows. “Oh, stop. You know it isn’t like that. I’m asking because he said he was going to stop by today.”

She pulls out her phone. “I’ll text him.”

He meets us twenty minutes later. Reilly is on her second margarita and I’m nursing a Corona.

Everything’s going great until some guy shouts, “Nice trip, see you next fall,”

Heath stands up and glares in the direction of the guy who shouted. “Real funny, asshole.”

Reilly waves her hand. “It’s cool. It was funny. I love being a gigantic joke.”

The guy walks away and Heath sits back down. “Is that still happening a lot?”

Reilly nods. “Every fucking day. I’ve gotten used to it.”

She says that but it’s a lie. Last Friday she went out with some of her coworkers from the station and started talking to a cute guy at the bar. She liked him and thought he was nice. His friend showed up and recognized her from the video. He showed it to his friend while she had to stand there and pretend like it didn’t bother her.

After the guy she liked laughed at her falling and asked his buddy to replay it, she left. Reilly isn’t a crier but her eyes were red. She tried to play it off like she had something in her eyes.

“Do you want to leave?” I ask.

She slurps down her drink. “Nope, I’m fucking celebrating and I need another drink.”

Heath keeps her in margaritas and me in chips and guac. He deserves a medal. Since I only had the one beer, I drive us home.

After following us home from the bar, Heath helps Reilly stumble into her bedroom, leaving us alone in the living room.”

Tilting his head in the direction of her room, he asks, “Should I be worried?”

Motioning for him to sit, I reply, “I wish that video would go away. We were having a great time until that guy said that.”

“People are going to forget about it. It’s only been two weeks,” he says.

“I hope you’re right.”

He grins. “Want me to go back and kick that guy’s ass?”

I laugh. “Would you?”

Reilly shouts from her room, “Yes, please.”

Heath stands. “I was joking.”

He follows me to the door and I watch him cross the parking lot to his car. When he reaches his door, he looks back at me and lifts his chin.

“Kacey! Kacey, wake up!”

Blinking, I look up and see Reilly hovering over me. “What?”

“There’s.” She croaks, her voice breaking and covers her mouth.

I bolt upright. “What?”

She shakes her head and lowers her hands. “There’s been an explosion on Jake’s rig.”

Scrambling out of bed, I follow her into the living room. There, on our TV is a smoking oilrig with a helicopter flying around it.

Covering my mouth, I gasp, “Oh my God. Have you heard anything about Jake?”

She shakes her head. There’s a banner running across the bottom of the screen. It reads there are causalities confirmed, number unknown.

Causalities confirmed.

The sound of the TV reporter penetrates. “This is footage from a Danish owned oilrig located off the coast of Santa Barbara. We have been told there are causalities to what appears to have been an explosion. We have been unable to confirm the number of causalities at this time. Local environmental experts are reviewing the scene to determine the impact of this explosion. As you can see from the footage, there appears to be some oil on the surface of the water. We haven’t been able to confirm exactly how many gallons. Stay with us as we will be covering this explosion and providing live updates as they happen.”

Reilly picks up the remote and mutes the TV.

“What if they have an update?” I hiss.

She turns to me. “I’m going to go into the station. I’ll be able to find out more there. Do you want to stay here or come with?”

My eyes fill with tears. “What if something happened to Jake?”

She reaches up to grip my arm. “Now is not the time to fall apart. We don’t know and we might not know anything for a while. We need to hold it together.”

“You’re right. Shit, you’re right. Shit. Okay, let me throw on some clothes.”

It’s then that I notice she’s also still in her pajamas. “How did you find out?”

“Eddie texted me. He knows, crap everyone knows Jake works on a rig. He just didn’t know which one. He texted me because he knew I’d want to know one way or another.”

Eddie is one of the morning producers at the station where she works.

“Are you sure it’s his rig?” I ask, hope blooming in my chest.

“As far as I can tell, his is the only Danish owned rig off Santa Barbara.”

Shit.

“He’s fine. He has to be,” I say, more for myself than for her.

She goes to her room and I hurry back into mine to change. We meet back in the living room.

“I’ll follow you there,” I say, grabbing my keys.

She nods and we leave. The station isn’t far from where we live but it’s not close enough to walk to. Reilly could have driven me. She would have let me take her car and caught a ride home with someone else if I needed to leave.

I needed the time by myself to process. He has to be okay. The world wouldn’t be so cruel to finally bring us together only to separate us like this.

“Please let him be okay,” I whisper. “Please. I need him. There’s no one else for me. Please let him be okay.”

My eyes mist and I have to blink away my tears and focus on Reilly’s taillights. God, Reilly. If anything happened to Jake that would be it for her. She’ll have no family left. No, stop thinking like that Kacey.

He’s okay. My heart is still beating. Surely, if something happened to him I would sense it. Wouldn’t I? It doesn’t seem possible that you could love someone for most of your life and not know if something bad happened to them.

Reilly parks and I pull into the spot next to her. Together we walk into the station. There’s a lobby area with dated chairs but Reilly walks past it to a door with a page sensor lock on it.

The main filming area of the station is closed off behind wooden doors. There’s a red light above them that’s turned on to warn people that they’re currently filming.

That isn’t where Reilly’s going, though. She’s looking for Eddie, the morning producer. She holds a door for me and we enter what I think is called the control room. Reilly’s told me a hundred times but I always forget.

“Eddie,” she says, crossing the room to hug an older black man wearing a baseball hat.

People in the room turn to watch them.

“Is Stan here?” She asks, taking a step back.

Eddie nods toward an office with “Station Manager” stamped on a plaque. He’s in his office.”

“Has he heard anything new? I listened on my way in but they weren’t reporting any updates to what we already know.”

“Nothing new. Stan has been on the phone with an affiliate in Santa Barbara.”