The Hero's Redemption

“Of course he does. I swear, both of them could eat dinner here, then go down the street and have a second one at Damien’s house with barely a burp in between. And go rummaging for a snack two hours later.”

“I remember being starved all the time when I was that age.” He had been in the joint, too, until he’d resigned himself to eating whatever he was given.

“I suppose if I come down to see you now, it’ll have to be on a weekend.”

“Afraid so. When I’m working, I only take half an hour for lunch.”

“Maybe we could invite Erin this time.”

“You know I don’t live at her place anymore.”

“But you see her, don’t you?”

His sister had no idea her casual question was equivalent to smacking him with a bat.

He’d assumed he would catch sight of Erin around town occasionally, say, at the grocery store. Every now and again, he’d drive by the hardware and lumber stores, even the plant nursery, not because he was looking for her, but keeping an eye out for her Cherokee nonetheless.

He hadn’t realized that in a town this size it was possible to go for long stretches without running into someone you knew.

“No,” he said.

“What? Why not?”

“It wouldn’t have been good for either of us, and that’s all I’m going to say.”

His sister responded, but he tuned her out.

He’d been thinking about going by Erin’s house, just to see if it looked like she was still living there. Or, damn, whether she’d rented out his apartment yet. So far, he’d talked himself out of it.

“…an idiot.”

Cole could fill in the part he’d missed. “So, when are you planning to drive down here?”

She huffed out an annoyed breath at being ignored, but said, “Maybe a week from Saturday?”

“Sounds good.” Wasn’t like he had any plans. He found the weekend hours tough to fill.

“The job still going well?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“So it looks like it’ll be permanent?”

She just had to tap into one of his worries.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “New construction will slow down in a couple months, once rainy weather hits. The contractor I work for is big-time enough to keep some projects going year-round, but I’ll bet he throttles back. And that means letting some people go.” Cole didn’t want to be one of those. Being laid off might be inevitable, since he was a new employee, but his level of determination had to count for something. He didn’t make expensive mistakes. He was never late; he didn’t slack off when Phillips wasn’t there. He didn’t have a beer at lunch, he didn’t bad-mouth the boss. “You know how it is. I’m the new guy,” he finished.

“Jerry has relented,” she said abruptly. “Worse comes to worst, you can move here.”

That would be a cold day in hell. He’d bet good money that Jerry hadn’t so much relented as been bullied into shouting, “Fine!” just to shut his wife up.

“Tell him thanks,” Cole said.

The short silence gave him warning.

“Cole, would it kill you to call Dad?”

He bumped his forehead against the steering wheel. “Because he’s finally convinced I got screwed? And, wow, I’m worthy to be his son, after all? Got to tell you, after ten years of silence, I’m not overflowing with forgiveness.”

“Maybe you should think about someone besides yourself,” she snapped. “My dinner’s almost ready. Goodbye.”

She’d been a bossy little girl, too. He grinned at her snotty tone, even though her accusation rankled. His father had had over ten years to write him a letter. To visit. But no. So now Cole was supposed to call and say, “Daddy, I’ve missed you”?

He swore, dropped his phone on the seat beside the hard hat and put the truck back in Drive.

* * *

SINCE SHE REALLY needed groceries, Erin decided to shower in the high school locker room instead of waiting until she got home, like she usually did.

She’d taken to swimming laps at the pool here at least three days a week. Usually she came earlier, but she’d worked at the library until seven this evening.