The Road To Heaven (Allendale Four 3)

“She was at the hospital making sure she staked her claim.”

Lea considered this. “We’ll see how devoted she is once he’s out of the spotlight for a while.” She pushed her empty teacup away and leaned her elbows on the table. “And the final one? The one and only Anderson Thompson?”

“Well if you follow the news on that one, you’ll know he’s basically a recluse.”

She snorted. “That’s the truth. It’s hard to find anything about him at all. A few rumors about him and that other swimmer, but he seems to do his best not to encourage it.”

“Anderson is his own man, that’s for sure. He’d never put a relationship in the spotlight, but I don’t think he’d deny her, either. Even to spare my feelings.” I thought about our late-night talk when I was out there. “He’s struggling. Like the rest of us.”

“It sounds like there are just a lot of unresolved issues.”

“We ended abruptly. Like a Band-aid being torn off before the wound was fully healed. It was what we had to do for the circumstances. You can’t linger with a five-person relationship. We made the decision and separated. So yeah, unresolved is probably accurate.”

“So there was never any real closure.”

I hadn’t really thought it that way before but… “Nope.”

“It’s not that uncommon, but with four guys?” She shook her head. “My last boyfriend and I broke up but it was while he was on a study abroad trip. When he got back, we hooked up one last time—it was like we both needed to do something so we could move on with our lives.”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah, I think so. We shagged, like hard-core, and it was like all those feelings from before weren’t there anymore. It was more physical than emotional. Kind of raw and dirty but once we were done I realized I was done. I guess it helped me realize it was really over.”

“And you never did it again?”

“Nope.” She smiled. “Which means I’m free to date whoever I want—like RJ Malone.”

“You’ve been dying to get back to that the whole time, haven’t you?”

Lea laughed and her face lit up. “I really have. I mean, RJ Malone.”

“It’s pretty exciting.” I was happy for her. Really happy, and that made two of my friends moving on with their lives in productive ways while I continued to tread water. Except Lea had planted a seed in my mind, one that began to take root.

18

Oliver

“You know you don’t have to go,” I said, helping Hayden into a gray sweater. We’d spent five minutes slipping on the clean white T-shirt just before. He wasn’t an invalid, but even three weeks after the accident his ribs were still sore. The first two weeks had been in Atlanta, mostly still in the hospital, and Anderson and Sabine took care of things. During that time, Jackson and I got the house and gym ready. They transported him back to Allendale. The first few days were tense, mostly because of Sabine’s general presence, but thankfully she’d been called back to work the day before.

Much to all of our relief. I couldn’t imagine the fallout if she came to dinner with us all tonight.

“If I have to sit in this house for another night, I’ll lose my mind.”

I straightened his collar. The bruises on his face had begun to heal. No longer purple but a dark yellow. The swelling on his lip was down, although the thin crack was still visible.

“Sorry we’ve locked you in the dungeon, H.”

He rolled his eyes. “Shut up. You know I appreciate everything you’re doing. But dude, this sitting around and healing thing sucks.”

I had no doubt this was the longest he’d gone without exercising in his entire life. Which was part of the problem. He hadn’t allowed those past concussions to heal all the way. Now he was paying for it with extended time in bed before we could start his real physical therapy.

“Amber coming back in town gives us a reason to get you out of your boxer shorts and smelly t-shirts.”

“What do you think this is about?” he asked. “It’s not like Amber to call us all together. I mean, we talk occasionally, and I know you’ve kept in

contact, but ever since…”

Our eyes met. Yeah, ever since we split from Heaven, our relationships with Amber had shifted. No longer a group thing.