I nodded. He was probably right. One of Al’s guys was on the road just a few minutes after her and would call as soon as he saw her or the truck. Of course, he didn’t really know where he was going since he was entirely new to the area, but I was sure he would find her. She was dealing with a lot, more than I could even comprehend, and feeling the need to bug out made sense. I just wished she had let me get in the truck with her.
“I just can’t believe she took my truck.” My voice was louder than I expected it, and I realized that I had been pacing suddenly. As much as I knew Brett was right, that I needed to just calm down and let things figure themselves out, I couldn’t. It wasn’t about the truck. It was about Desiree. And how I was feeling about her.
“Do you want to go get some fresh air?” Brett asked.
“Nah, too many people out there,” I said. Al’s men were patrolling the lawn, and Al himself was out there, sitting in one of their cars on a phone call.
“Then take a seat, man,” Brett said. “It’s just me and you in here. Let me get you a drink.”
I nodded and crossed to his couch but couldn’t make myself sit. Something about sitting on a couch with all that extra space wigged me out. I wanted the space filled up. I wanted Desiree sitting there with me. Moving across the room to the other side, I picked an ancient but comfortable recliner and sat down. I couldn’t bring myself to actually recline but sitting in that chair was the most relaxed I could possibly be as tense as I was.
“Here you go,” Brett said, coming back in the room a minute or so later. “It needs to steep a little bit, but it’s the go-to drink my family made when sick or nervous.”
“What is it?” I asked, smelling the warm tea and honey with a whiff of alcohol that belied a much stronger beverage than simple tea.
“Hot Toddy,” he said. “My Irish grandma gave it to us when we were sick. I had my first one at five. Enough whiskey to put a horse to sleep. I don’t remember a thing about the rest of the night, but when I woke up in the morning, I felt a million times better. Very good for nerves too, just… less whiskey.”
I sat the drink on the coffee table between us and stared into the reddish-brown haze inside. For a few moments we were silent, letting the tea steep and listening to the grandfather clock tick.
“So, Desiree,” Brett said after a while. “How serious is it between you two?”
“Serious,” I said without thinking. I took a moment, letting the word hang in the air before taking the tea bags out of the cup and setting them on the plate underneath. Putting the cup to my lips, the smell of whiskey was strong, and as soon as the first sip was down my throat, I felt my nerves relax.
“Is that so?” Brett asked.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “It’s crazy. We barely know each other. We’ve only been together for any real amount of time because she was either going to freeze to death or be murdered if we didn’t. Yet, there is something there. Something real.”
“I can tell,” Brett said. “It’s super obvious if you see you two together in a room. Al even mentioned it.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. He called you some Italian word. Something that meant lovebirds. I had to look it up.”
I huffed a laugh.
“I think I’m in love with her,” I said. “I’ve avoided and avoided that thought, but I think it’s true. There’s something about her.”
“I agree,” he said. “You are in love with the girl. I’ve never seen you flustered, not one day in the time I’ve known you. Desiree has you hooked. And it’s not a bad thing. Even despite all this shit, there’s happiness in you. And I’ve never seen you this happy before. She makes you happy even in all this.”
“She does,” I admitted. “It doesn’t make sense, but she does.”
“Then as soon as we get her back, and we will, you need to tell her that.”
I nodded, then downed the rest of the cup of tea.
“Thanks, man,” I said.
“It’s what friends are for, right?”
When no word had come from Desiree and the man Al sent hadn’t found her after another half hour, I decided to try her phone again. I had left multiple voice messages and thought that I should give her a break. If she wasn’t answering, either she didn’t want to or couldn’t. I hoped it was the former.
Al had come in with most of the men as we waited for word from the guy who had chased after Desiree. The living room had become a war room as Al began to speak in hushed tones with the rest of his guys. He kept looking up at me and muttering, and I knew what was going on. They were making plans for if they got bad news. Or no news at all.