Best Laid Plans (Garnet Run 2)

Ramps a little below the ceiling, yeah. Cat-sized holes between the rooms so Marmot could sneak attack. Maybe some textured places for her to rub her cheeks or scratch her back on. Steps leading to a platform with a cat bed, or a scratching post, or her litterbox.

Rye smiled. Yeah, the kids would definitely get a kick out of it. And River loved animals; they’d said so several times. Maybe they’d like to help build the ramps and things. Or probably they’d just really like to play with Marmot. And Jane. Any cat, probably. They should try and get a job at an animal shelter—that would be ideal for them.

Rye googled animal shelters in Garnet Run only to see that there weren’t any. He widened his search and found no shelters or pet adoption locations anywhere nearby. Shit. So much for that idea for River.

Rye shoved the phone back in his pocket and drew his knees up. He closed his eyes again and let a vision begin to form in his mind. It started off hazy, but as more and more pieces fell into place Rye wondered if maybe he was onto something.

The sound of tires crunching on dirt yanked him back to attention. A moment later a human-shaped bulk slightly darker than the darkness outside was silhouetted in the doorway.

Charlie.

Something leapt in Rye’s stomach, dolphin bright and joyous. Then he cringed farther into the corner as the beam from Charlie’s flashlight shone directly in his eyes. Rye threw his hand up.

“Dammit, Charlie.”

The flashlight beam dropped and Charlie walked over to him. He loomed, then he sighed, then he lowered himself to the floor beside Rye.

“I thought you’d go to Jack and Simon’s.”

“Didn’t want to make Jack feel bad for turning me away.”

“Jack wouldn’t have turned you away.”

“You’re his brother—he should have. You’ve got dibs on him in a fight.”

“Doesn’t work that way,” Charlie said softly. “Not anymore.”

Rye’s joyous dolphin, dormant since Charlie had sat down, gave a little quiver and popped its nose out of the water.

“So how does it work, then?”

“Jack’s your friend. He’ll be there for you,” Charlie said simply.

“Oh.” Rye couldn’t tell if Charlie was happy about that or not.

Charlie sighed audibly, his large shoulders rising and falling in a motion that seemed like surrender.

“Jack wants me to be happy. I want you to be part of my life. So Jack would be there for you.”

“Oh.”

Want. Want, present tense. That was something.

Even though it was warm during the days now it still got chilly at night and Rye wished he’d brought his coat. Or that they weren’t fighting so Charlie could wrap his arms around him. Charlie was always so warm.

After an awkward silence, Rye said, “They won’t burn down the house.”

Charlie tensed, but Rye wasn’t trying to fight.

“Just listen. Charlie, I know those kids. I was those kids. They’re gonna treat the place with care because it’s the only place they have that’s just theirs. If they just wanted to smoke weed or hang out they could go anywhere. There’s, like, nothing here. They could sit in any field or clearing. But they wanted someplace that felt like home, that felt safe. Private. So they’ll be careful. I know they will.”

Rye could feel Charlie’s eyes on him even in the dark.

“You wanted a place to escape to.”

“Hell yeah. I wish I’d had a place like the Crow Lane house.”

“Where’d you go instead?”

“Oh, uh. Bad places.”

“That’s ominous.”

“Just places I shouldn’t’ve been been. When you’re thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and you don’t have any money, the only places you can hang out are places where, like, anyone can hang out, you know? And lots of the people I met were great. But some of them weren’t.”

Charlie didn’t need to hear these stories right now, though.

“When I was a kid I thought I was so tough,” Rye said. “I did stupid shit to seem grown up and invincible. It’s just better if you have someplace to go that’s safe, where you don’t have to do those things.”

Charlie frowned.

“Charlie. Jack isn’t the only teenager who deserved someone to step in and take care of him. You cared for him because he was your brother. But what about everyone who isn’t lucky enough to have someone like you?”

Charlie’s frown deepened, but he turned toward Rye in the dark and reached for his hand.

“I...haven’t thought about it before,” he said slowly. “I never thought about a connection between taking care of Jack and taking care of other teenagers. It’s... I don’t know why I didn’t make the connection.”

“I get it. You were totally focused on just making sure you and Jack made it day by day.”

Charlie cleared his throat.

“Back then, I tried to do what I thought my parents would do. Be the kind of parent they were. They were generous.” His voice sounded tight. “And I thought that I was too, I guess. But... I guess there are ways that I’m really not.”