Chapter Nine
Cody
Cody watched Siobhan Mohan enter the supermarket and paused.
Licking his lips, he thrust his hands into his jeans and contemplated going in and speaking to her.
Four years. It had been over four years since he’d last seen her, and in some ways she’d changed, but in others, she still appeared the same.
Before he’d left, he’d been on a downward spiral and cut contact with most, if not all of his friends, and looking back now, he knew he wouldn’t have been as bad as he was if he’d stayed in contact. But that was then, and this was now.
Maybe it was time to re-establish those friendships.
He’d come home and his friends were here, so now was as good a time as any.
Walking along the sidewalk, Cody pulled his hood up and entered the supermarket.
Walking along the end of the aisles, he saw Siobhan and went up to her.
She didn’t notice him at first, so he had a few seconds to look at her.
She had her hair loose, the auburn waves tumbling over her shoulders, the jeans she wore highlighted her curvy figure, a frown on her face as she stared at the ingredients on a packet.
She must have become aware someone was standing next to her because she lifted her head, stared at him for a few seconds, then her light gray eyes widened when she recognized him. “Cody? Is it really you?”
“Hi Siobhan.” Cody grinned. “How are you?”
“Cody!” she shrieked, dropping her basket and throwing herself into his arms. Cody caught her, laughed, then swung her around, holding her tight.
“Cody, I can’t believe you’re really here.
” Cody put her down, then ducked when she went to hit him.
“Where the hell have you been?” She glared at him, then tried to kick him.
“Do you know how scared I was? I thought you were dead!” She growled and went to hit him again, but Cody caught her fist and smiled at her.
“I missed you too.”
Siobhan’s eyes narrowed, and she shook her head, her long auburn hair falling behind her shoulders. “I cried over you. I’m really pissed at you right now, but stupidly happy you’re alive. When did you get back, and where have you been?”
“Want to get a drink and then we can talk? I don’t want to do it here.” Cody glanced around, grateful it wasn’t busy.
Narrowing her eyes, she nodded. “Let me grab what I need and then we can go to The Daily Grind.”
“Is it busy? I don’t want people to know I’m back yet.”
“You mean your folks?” Cody nodded. “They have booths at the back. You can grab one of those while I get us a drink.” Picking up her basket, she thrust it at Cody. “You can carry that for all the emotional damage you’ve caused me.”
Cody grinned and trailed behind Siobhan as she finished her shopping. She kept glancing at him, shaking her head, reaching out to touch him. “You’re really here.”
“I am, and I’m not leaving again.”
“Promise?” She stopped walking and touch his arm again. “You’re back for good?”
“Yeah, I am. Finish your shopping, then we can talk.”
Siobhan suddenly went up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She sniffed, turned away, wiped her cheeks, then finished her shopping. Once it was bagged, he followed her to the coffee shop. “Up there.” Cody saw where she pointed to and nodded. “Coffee? Latte? Something else?”
“Coffee’s fine, thanks.” Cody took her bags and found an empty booth.
Fortunately, it wasn’t busy, with only a handful of people who Cody didn’t recognize.
He slipped into an empty booth and sighed.
He heard Siobhan laughing and smiled. He’d missed her more than he’d realized.
When she appeared with two coffees, he picked his up. “Thanks.”
“Now tell me everything.”
Shrugging, Cody looked outside. “I needed to leave.”
Siobhan reached across the table and slid her fingers through his black hair. “I forgot this was your natural color, and you’re so big now. When you left, you were smaller than me and now, you’re so tall and broad. Do you work out?”
“Yeah, and I worked on a ranch for a few years. They helped me figure shit out.”
Tilting her head, Siobhan’s eyes scanned him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I was a mess. You know that.”
“You were a mess. I thought…” Siobhan looked at the table. “I used to wonder how long you had left.”
“You were right to think that. I left here and pretty much destroyed my life, but I found a way through it and now I’m back.”
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
“You’re like Darcy. You see more than you should.” Cody sipped his drink and sighed. “I went off the rails. Did everything I shouldn’t and almost paid the ultimate price.”
“Oh Cody.” Siobhan reached across the table and gripped his hand. “You don’t have to tell me now.”
Cody turned his hand over and laced their fingers together. “I told TJ I had to go through it, and I believe that.”
“You saw TJ?” Siobhan sat back and grinned. “You always had a thing for him.”
“I’m staying with him. He’s dealing.” Cody grinned. “He still sees me as a kid who needs help.”
Laughing, Siobhan’s eyebrows shot up. “You are nothing like the kid who left here. Poor TJ.” Smiling, she asked, “Does he know?”
“Does he know what?” Cody returned her smile.
“About the not so little crush you had on him?”
“I kissed him before I left, and he rightly put me in my place. Things are different now. I’m a man and not a child. He’s adapting.”
“Poor TJ,” Siobhan repeated. “He doesn’t stand a chance.” Grinning, Siobhan asked, “How long before he figures it out?”
“I told him the night I came back for him. Like I said, he’s adapting.” Leaning on the table, he asked, “Tell me about everyone. Who’s doing what? Who’s married or not? I have four years to catch up on.”
“I’ll start with the bad stuff.” Siobhan pursed her lips, then exhaled, a shadow crossing over her face.
“Danny passed. An accident. Trucker fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the lane, and took Danny’s car out.
He survived the crash but died a few days later in the hospital.
His family is still struggling. They’re suing the trucking company.
” She paused, then added, “The driver took his own life not long after. Couldn’t live with what he’d done. ”
“Fuck. Not Danny.” Cody rubbed his chest. He’d known Danny Becker since they were kids, and now he was gone. “Shit. When did it happen?”
“Almost two years ago. The anniversary will be coming up soon. I try to celebrate his life but some days it’s so hard.
He was the joker of our group.” Cody nodded.
Danny always had a smile on his face, a stupid joke to tell.
His almost white, blond hair used to shine so brightly when the sun hit it.
Cody used to tease him about it. “I miss him.”
“I can’t believe he’s gone.” Fuck, not Danny.
“Keira married Jacob. They have a newborn. A little boy who is such a cutie. Jacob can’t keep the smile off his face.”
That news did make Cody smile and helped to wipe away some of the sadness he felt over Danny’s death. “They were always meant to be together. I’ve never seen two people so in tune with one another as them. What did they name him?”
Siobhan paused. “Danny.”
Cody leaned back in his seat, his lips parting. “What?” They named their son after Danny.
“You should call Jacob.” Pulling her phone out, she gave Cody Jacob’s number.
Taking the number, Cody made sure he’d saved it to his phone. “I will. I’ll call him.” Cody ran a thumb over the screen of his phone. “Can’t believe he named his kid Danny.”
“We were all close growing up. Still are now, but Danny’s death hit us hard and now Keira and Jacob have a baby.”
“When things are more settled, we’ll have a get-together.”
Siobhan took his hands in hers. “I am so glad you’re home.”
Squeezing Siobhan’s hands, Cody said, “Me too.”
***
Changing into his workout clothes, Cody jogged down to the basement and began a warm-up routine. It had been a few days since he’d last worked out and he could feel the kinks in his body. He needed to get back into his routine now. He wasn’t working daily on a ranch.
Focusing on his arms, Cody moved his head from side to side, then picked up the dumbbells and began a rep of bicep curls.
Standing tall with an underhand grip, he kept his elbows close to the waist and curled the dumbbells up towards his chest, squeezing his biceps, and then he slowly returned the weights to their starting position.
His mind, as usual, strayed to TJ. He’d missed TJ while he’d been gone. Not the first year. That was a hazy, drugged up, messed up year where he lived every excess there was. And some he probably couldn’t remember.
That year didn’t matter now. It was a year he had to experience to understand what he wanted from life. To live.
Sighing, Cody continued his work and thought about Danny.
God, Danny had been such a happy kid, an easy smile on his face and a stupid joke to tell.
Cody could hardly wrap his head around the fact Danny was gone.
That he would never see Danny again. And his poor family.
Cody could remember them from the times he’d gone over to Danny’s house, had sleepovers where they laughed and joked and snuck some beer into Danny’s bedroom.
That was all before he realized he liked boys and not girls, and his home life fell apart.
Not that it had been great before, and Cody wasn’t going to think about them.
His life was with TJ now. Poor TJ, as Siobhan had said.
Cody moved on to the tricep curls and sat on the bench, leaning back and moving the dumbbells overhead.
Working through his sets, he stood when he finished, pulled his T-shirt off, then got into position to begin hammer curls.
That was when he heard someone coming down the stairs.
He heard the gasp and knew who had made the sound and looking in the mirror confirmed it. Behind him stood TJ.
“I guess we need to talk about this,” Cody said as he placed the dumbbells on the floor. Picking up his T-shirt, Cody turned and pulled it on. “Want to do it now, or can I shower and change?”
TJ stepped aside and pointed upstairs. “After,” he mumbled.
Cody watched him, then nodded. “Down in a few minutes.” He jogged up the stairs, through the kitchen, then up the next set of stairs and into his bedroom.
“Shit.” He knew at some point he would have to discuss his back and the scars that lay across it, but he thought he’d have more time.
More time to figure out how he could tell TJ what he’d experienced when he’d been gone.
Stripping, Cody quickly showered then dressed, but instead of going straight downstairs, he sat on the edge of the bed and tried to get his thoughts in order.
He wasn’t ashamed of his past. He was the man he was now because of his past, and that wasn’t a bad thing.
But going downstairs and reliving it… he knew he had to because he’d come back for TJ, so at some point TJ was going to see him naked.
Would feel the scars on his back. Would want to know how they had occurred like he did right then.
Exhaling softly, Cody rubbed a hand over his face, then straightened.
He could do this. Standing, he made his way downstairs and watched TJ staring out of the window and pulled a chair out from beneath the table and sat.
TJ didn’t seem to have noticed Cody had arrived and didn’t move from his spot.
Cody sat and watched TJ, took in the tension in his body, and then he spoke.
“I made a mistake. One of many, but it changed the course of my life.”