"We brought you some stuff to eat," Charlotte says, handing me the brown bags.
"You didn’t have to,” I say, looking at the brown bags and knowing they’re filled to the brim with food. "Thank you."
"It’s the least we could do," Billy says, and Charlotte just looks at him and crosses her arms over her chest. I laugh at her. “He used to come and see us," Billy starts. “Every single time he got a new picture of Sofia or when you sent him something of her, he couldn’t wait to show it off." I roll my lips now as he looks at Sofia.
"We should go," Charlotte says. She comes over and takes me in her arms. “If you need anything, dear,” she says, “you don’t be shy."
"Thank you,” I say. Billy comes to me, and when he hugs me, I close my eyes. The tears run down my face and soak into his shirt.
"You need us,” he says, “you call."
He turns and waits for Charlotte to walk out before heading out the door. "Wait,” I say, stepping forward. He turns now to look at me. “I have a couple of things to look through, but I was wondering if maybe you were looking to buy more property." He looks at me. “From what I was told, it’s not going to be long before the bank takes it over. I know he would want you to have it."
"I’ll have Casey come over with me on Monday,” he says. “We’ll figure it all out."
I just nod at him, and he turns and walks out of the house, closing the door softly behind him. Only then do I let go of the breath I was holding.
Chapter 7
Reed
"We’ve been hit." I heard the screaming all around me. “We’ve been hit." Opening my eyes, I was on my back. The sky above me was filled with gray clouds.
"Is everyone accounted for?" I mumbled as I tried to get enough energy to keep my eyes open. I heard a buzzing in my ear as I turned my head, feeling the blood drip off my forehead.
Shards of glass were all over me, and when I lifted my hand, it was covered in blood. "Fuckers are shooting." I heard the commotion around me as my guys tried to get to shelter.
"Cavalry is five minutes out," I heard someone say, and I dragged myself to the side of the building. Looking around, I saw the little girl in the corner. She sat with her back to the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. She held out her hand to me with tears streaming down her face.
"Cover me,” I said, trying to get up, but the guys wanted to stop me. I took one step toward the little girl before I heard the click, and everything blew up.
My eyes fly open, and I see the darkness again. I raise my hand to my face and see that it’s clean. My chest heaves, and I make it just in time to vomit in the trash can by the bed.
I climb out of bed, walking to the bathroom. My body and head feel numb from reliving the dream over and over again. After rinsing out my mouth, I slip on shorts and walk to the kitchen to make coffee. Seeing it’s a little after five in the morning, I grab my coffee, walk outside, and sit down, looking ahead.
Sunday is the day I finally get to see everyone. I mean, I’ve seen a couple of people since I’ve been back, but mostly, they’ve been giving me my space. Grabbing my running shoes, I walk over to the gym and get on the treadmill, replaying what I did yesterday to bring on the nightmare. I was going on two days without having that fucking dream, so the only thing I can think of is that I didn’t work out hard enough.
I run on the treadmill for a couple of hours. My head goes over lists and lists of things for me to do. It also comes up with excuses for me to leave early.
When I get dressed later, in jeans and a white shirt, I decide to walk to my grandparents’ house. Prolonging the inevitable, I can see the people as soon as I get closer. It never fails, and for the first time since I’ve been here, I actually smile. I spot a couple of kids running toward me and see Ethan’s son, Gabriel, with Tucker, Chelsea’s son. "Hey, Uncle Reed," Gabriel says. “My dad said you would be later because he pushed you so hard yesterday that you wouldn’t be able to walk."
I grab Gabriel around his neck, teasing him. “Is that so?" I joke with him and pick him up. The sound of him laughing gets me.
I put him down and bend to pick up Tucker, who I’ve met through fucking FaceTime. “You look like your dad,” I say, and he smiles.