Cherish Me (Rough Edges 3)

Chapter 17

Aiden

As I contemplate howmy life is going to change once I'm no longer in Grapevine, things start to creep up. I won't see my brothers anytime I want, although I can still fly down for holidays. No exceptions there. Even though this is the best decision if I want to be close to my son, it's still a little scary. There is no guarantee Hazel and I will work out, but no matter what, we are friends first.

She is still lying in bed in my t-shirt, and I wouldn't want it any other way. My sleeping patterns have improved and now I get six to eight hours of sleep without the consumption of alcohol. Before Hazel's return, I was lucky to get four hours.

"So, are you going to say bye to your brothers? I know they freaked out but they are still family."

Hazel has a way of helping me not be so petty, but Liam needs to grow up. I get wanting to protect me from getting hurt again, but he doesn't get to control my life. If Hazel and I don't work out, it's not like I'm going to go back into a depression. A second chance with her is all I ever wanted, and now is my shot. Nothing, not even him, is going to ruin it for me. He might not like her for what she did to me, and now for everything with Jake, but his opinion on that doesn't matter to me.

I pull my shirt over my head, and reply. "Probably see them tonight. I've got a lot of things to handle before we leave tomorrow."

She crawls to the end of the bed, tugging on my shirt to come closer, and then pecks my cheek. "Me, too. Going to spend it with dad and Jeremy. Speaking of, I should probably get dressed and head over there."

I step out of her way as she gets off the bed, and starts for her overnight bag.

"I'll go get some coffee made," I say, heading for the kitchen.

There is so much that needs to get handled today before I leave, because who knows when I will be back, Thanksgiving I suppose. If my brothers want me to come back, that is. We will see. Damon isn't so much being a jerk, but I understand how frustrated he must be that I kept Jake a secret from him. Hopefully, he doesn't let this ruin our relationship, especially when we have gotten closer in the last year.

The pot of coffee is ready, and I pour into two mugs and add some milk and sugar before taking Hazel her cup. She accepts it with both hands, and takes her first sip. There is nothing better than fresh hot cup of joe in the morning. Okay, maybe a nice morning wake up, but I digress for now.

I turn on the news to watch while we finish our cups, and enjoy our last moment of silence for the day before we are both going to say goodbye to our family. She hasn't mentioned anything, but I can tell she is going to have trouble leaving her father behind, especially after finding out about the Alzheimer's. Jeremy promises to keep a good eye on him, and my brothers will help whenever they can. Our families are already bonded. If anything happens, I can fly back and help also. My job is not as time demanding as hers, and if she wants to fast track to partner then she has to do whatever they say. This is her dream we are talking about, and I don't want anything to get in the way of her achieving them. My job is to support her and help her stay focused on the end game.

As a partner, she won't have to work an obscene amount of hours, because that's what the subordinates are for, and you get paid a hell out of a lot more, with doing less. We can all get behind her until she hits that spot, and then there will be more time for visits, traveling, and everything else she wants to do. I'm here for the long haul.

After the morning news, she sets her cup on the coffee table, and heads to her dads. I hope she gets a lot of time with him today, and maybe it will make a sliver of difference in saying goodbye to him. I can't imagine what she's going through, and knowing how fast it progresses, and he might not be himself the next time she's down here.

As the door shuts behind her, I set my cup down also, and start making a mental note of everything I want to get done today.

First up on my list, clean out of the refrigerator, freezer and cabinets. They are full of food, and don't want any of it to go to waste. So, I get a few of the reusable shopping bags from my pantry and start filling it up with canned foods, and things that are going to expire soon, and plan on taking them down to the homeless shelter so they can get a few meals from all of this. No need in throwing it all away when someone else could use it.

After removing everything from my refrigerator and freezer, I grab a washcloth, run it under some water, and wipe down all the interior. You know those pesky spills or left behind food that always end up on the shelves? I don't want mildew or mold forming while I'm gone. It's worth the extra twenty-minutes to clean it up real good now. The white interior is now pristine and sparkling white without any flaws. That's how I want to leave behind the house.

I grab the bags of food with one hand and my keys with the other. This might be the last time I get to help people within my community, and I can make a small difference in someone's lives that might not get a meal otherwise.

My phone rings, and it comes through on the Bluetooth, and I hesitate to answer it after seeing Liam's name.

"What do you want?"

"Jeez, I know I overreacted yesterday. Can I come by later?"

"I'll text you when I get back to the house. Out doing stuff right now," I reply, before hanging up.

My truck comes to a stop in front of the shelter, and seeing all the individuals wrapped around the building waiting for lunch to be served. We do food drives for the shelter every month as a community, but sometimes it's not enough. I wouldn't say we have a lot of homeless in our area, compared to those of like cities in California, but seeing one person homeless is more than I'd like. The numbers have dwindled down since the shelter started inviting companies to do interviews on site for those that need one. When the recession hit in 2008, many people lost everything including their entire savings, and some still have not recovered from it.

I slip inside, walking past the crowd, and straight to the kitchen. "Brought some things. Hopefully, you can make something out of all this."

A young man turns his head, and looks at me. "You brought all of that for us? Where did you get it?"

"Just from my house. I'm moving and didn't want good food to go to waste. Thought you all could use it."

The man embraced me, for about ten seconds, and then his hands stopped on my arms. "Thanks to you, we might be able to feed everyone in line today. We were running short on food since the last drive didn't go so well."

I've never been good at cooking, but would like to at least offer my service. "Do you need some help? I can't cook to save my life, but don't do so badly under instruction. Tell me what to do and I'll help."

So, for the next hour or so, he would hand something to chop, or ask me to boil water, or stir something while he worked around the kitchen. You could tell he has been cooking here for a while and it makes me curious as to what he does outside of the shelter. Would it be weird to ask?