“Anytime,” she said. “Now, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have a husband to scold.”
I laughed and shook my head. “No problem,” I told her. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Talk to you soon,” Julie agreed before hanging up.
Chapter Nineteen
Trethan
It had been another long day at the ranch, and although I’d managed to keep myself busy, I felt no more settled now than I had at the start of the day. I was still thinking about Brent, kicking myself for not having noticed the signs that my best friend was in big trouble.
I hopped into the shower and turned the water up hot, hoping that I could steam away the thoughts, as well as the grime of a day on the ranch.
My phone started ringing when I was about halfway through the extended shower. I groaned. I was tempted to ignore it, but I’d already received a couple calls earlier that day from an unknown number, and I was starting to wonder just who the hell was trying to call me that badly but refused to leave a message.
I swiped the phone off the counter just as it went to voicemail, but when I answered it, the line still connected. “Hello?” I asked.
“Trethan? It’s Brent.”
In that instant, I was glad that I’d gotten out of the shower and answered my phone. “Hey, buddy,” I said warmly. “How are you doing?”
He laughed a little, but it sounded shaky and uncertain. “Been better, I guess,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know how things are going. They’re going to keep me here in the facility for twenty-one days.”
“Oh wow,” I said, but I wasn’t sure what to say after that. Could I say that I was glad to hear that? Should I say that I hoped it would help him clean up his act?
Fortunately, before I could dwell on my response for too long, Brent was speaking again. “I think it’s going to be good for me. Really good for me.” He took a deep breath. “To be honest, it’s not even that I was using. That was bad and all, but what’s worse is that I was considering dealing heroin for a while there. Can you imagine what a shit-show that would have been?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t even realize you were doing heroin,” I said, my voice sounding raw.
He snorted. “Of course, you didn’t,” he said. But instead of making some crack about me and Vanessa, he went on to say, “I’ve known you for long enough that I know how to lie to you, man. Anyway, we’re even now. You ODed way back when, and I started using heroin. We both helped one another.”
“Yeah,” I said, even though I still felt like shit.
“Well, we’re not actually even,” Brent sighed. “Let’s be real, I never actually helped you. I kept trying to drag you back into the whole drug lifestyle, even, which is basically the opposite of helping. And you still stayed my friend.”
“Of course, I stayed your friend,” I said. “That was never even a question.”
There was a long silence. “I appreciate that, man,” he finally said. I heard the sound of him talking to someone in the background. It was muffled, as though he had his hand over the receiver, and I waited patiently for him to return. “They’re trying to get me to hang up,” he said.
“I should probably let you go, then,” I said. “Wouldn’t want you to get into trouble already.” I cracked a smile. “This whole thing is about getting you out of trouble, after all.”
Brent laughed a little, but sobered quickly. “You’re probably not going to hear much from me between now and August,” he said.
“Do what you need to do,” I told him. “If you need to talk, and they’ll let you call someone, you know how to contact me. I’m always here to listen. But if you want to have some time to be a recluse and think things over, that’s all right, too.” I paused. “At the risk of sounding like one of those weird, spiritual quasi-gurus, I’m sending good vibes your way, man.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Brent said, and he truly sounded as though he did. “Even at your worst, you’ve always been the best friend I could ever ask for.”
I wanted to laugh it off and say something flippant about how this was sounding like a cheesy chick flick or something like that, but I could hear too much truth in his voice – and too much gratitude. “Anytime,” I said quietly.
We hung up. I finished toweling myself off and threw some clothes on. The shower had been nice, but I was too keyed up now to relax beneath the spray. It turned out to be a good decision. Someone knocked on my front door right as I finished pulling a shirt over my head.
I went to answer it, wondering why I suddenly seemed to be the most popular person in the world.
I was surprised to see Vanessa standing there, clad in a pale yellow sundress that did nothing to hide her full breasts. I caught myself staring at them and guiltily looked back up to her eyes, flushing a little beneath her knowing gaze.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
She shrugged, looking off to the side. “That’s no way to greet me, is it?”