46. Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter forty-six
Adair
After showering, I stood in the hallway, facing the door to his room.
I didn’t want to be in the basement anymore, so I headed upstairs to where the puzzles were.
I figured I could enjoy a little sunshine and keep my mind busy until the household woke up.
What I had not expected was finding anyone else awake.
I stopped mid-step when I spotted Quinn sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, folding what looked like a small army of origami birds and flowers.
“Those are gorgeous!” The words left my mouth before I realized it.
Quinn glanced up at me, smiling. “Thanks. Are you always this early of a riser?”
I shook my head as I walked over and sat on the front edge of the chair near her. “No. Couldn’t sleep anymore.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, and for a moment I thought she could see straight into my mind. “Bad dreams?”
“I… Yeah. Peter helped me get back to sleep, but now that I’m awake…”
“You don’t want to jinx it by going back to sleep.”
“Right.” I leaned forward slightly, resting my arms on my knees. “Did the nightmares ever stop for you? Edith mentioned you’ve walked through your own hell.”
Quinn paused mid-fold and stared out the back door for a moment before answering.
“Yes, and no.” She sighed before looking at me again.
“I’m not sure they will ever truly go away, but they happen so rarely now.
Something triggers them to reappear from time to time, but with Lukas next to me most nights, they never last long. Therapy has also helped.”
I let out a deep sigh of my own. “Makes sense.” We sat in silence for a bit as I watched her fold another crane. It was mesmerizing watching how confidently and quickly she converted a square of paper into a recognizable object. “You’re really good at that.”
Quinn chuckled as she held it up, studying it. “Yeah. When you’ve folded a few hundred thousand shapes, it’s bound to happen.”
My eyes went wide. “Holy shit, that’s a lot of birds. Can I ask why there are so many?”
She added the crane to the lineup on the table and looked at me.
“The repetitive motion helps me manage my anxiety. And for what it’s worth, it’s not only birds and flowers.
” Her face lit up with a wide smile as she started chuckling.
“I will never forget sitting down with Ryan, Connor, and Lukas a little over a year ago and teaching them all how to fold a lily. Those boys were hilarious with how competitive they got.”
“Oh?” Starving for more happy memories, I desperately wanted to know the rest of the story.
Quinn nodded. “Connor was trying to keep me distracted from the fact Lukas was working late… again… and asked me what I did to wind down. The conversation progressed into a tutorial and then a contest that Edith became the judge for.”
What I would have given to see that. “Who won?”
She let out an amused hum. “Ryan, much to Lukas’s chagrin.”
I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head. “That man has always been competitive.”
Quinn shifted to face me, pulling her blanket up a little higher. “You’ve known him for a while, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know how much I missed him until we were face to face again.
” I glanced down the hall. “Speaking of, is he awake? I don’t remember if he’s an early riser.
” I did remember Liam complaining about Lukas not being up early enough for his liking, but that man was insane with how early his mornings started.
“Getting up early isn’t his favorite thing, but it’s been known to happen when necessary.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. How is today looking?”
She let out a heavy sigh as her happy mood dimmed slightly. “He’s in his office already… has been for a while.”
Interesting. “I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s busy.”
Quinn gave me a little smile. “Just knock. I’m sure whatever he’s working on isn’t any more top secret than you at this point.”
I couldn’t help but snicker. “No, I suppose not.” Walking quietly, I headed toward Lukas’s office door.
It wasn’t clicked shut, but it wasn’t open enough I could see what was going on.
I knocked gently, fully prepared for him to tell me he was busy.
When I heard the “Come in,” I slowly pushed the door open and couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
Lukas stood in front of an easel, a paint palette in one hand and a painting knife in the other. “You okay?” He hadn’t taken his focus off the canvas in front of him.
“Yeah, I think so.”
His attention snapped to me and his eyes went wide in surprise. “Oh! I thought you were Quinn.”
I shook my head, smirking. “No, she’s still making her origami army in the living room.”
He set down his art supplies and gestured for me to come in. “Everything okay with you? Did you have a better night?”
“For the most part.” Walking to the easel, I stared at the in-progress painting in wonder. There was a lake and forest at the base of a mountain with a sunrise peeking over all of it. “Lukas, this is gorgeous.”
His face was beaming with pride when I glanced over. “You like it?”
“I love it. I’m so glad you didn’t let your brother bully you out of painting.”
Lukas shook his head. “Lianne wouldn’t let me quit.”
Good. “I’m glad. I loved that you had a passion for something outside of family stuff.” It was then I noticed a stack of painted canvases in the corner, leaning against the wall. “Can I take a look at these?”
He glanced over and grimaced slightly. “I mean… if you want to. Those aren’t my typical kind of work.”
“Why not?” The nervous shift in his demeanor was concerning.
Another deep sigh came out. “I was pissed when I painted those.”
I walked over and looked at the first three. All of them were covered with black, red, and white paint angrily scraped across the canvas. I felt the rage emanating off them. “Who were you so mad at?”
“The same person you’re likely mad at.” He swallowed as he stared at the canvas in my hands. “I have too many sketchbooks full of anger because of him.”
“I screamed in a pillow a lot. I also chopped the hell out of a lot of wood.”
Air rushed out between Lukas’s lips in exasperation. “Yeah… I spent a lot of time at the gun range.”
I flipped through a few more paintings before one caught my eye. It reminded me vaguely of a bird flying away. “Can I have this one?”
“Why?”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I looked over at him. “I want it to hang it up next to my hummingbird painting. The style it’s painted in looks a lot like this.”
Lukas narrowed his eyes as he studied the art in my hands. “How did you get a painting in hiding?”
“It was a gift from your mom and Edith.” It was one of my most cherished items.
“When did you get it?”
His growing curiosity intrigued me. “Three years ago, it was a Christmas present. Why?”
A chuckle came out as he stood up and walked to his laptop, clicked several times before typing. “Would it happen to look like this?”
When he spun the computer around, my hands flew to my mouth as I gasped. “That’s it exactly. How do you have a picture of it?”
He pressed his lips in a tight line before a smile took over. “I painted it. And now I know why my mom told me not to sign one of them.”
Tears came to my eyes. “You mean I’ve truly had one of your paintings this entire time?”
“Apparently.”
I rushed over and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m so happy.”
A moment later, there was a knock at the door. When we both looked over, Peter was standing in the doorway, looking worried, relieved, and confused. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
I gave him a nervous smile as I detangled myself from Lukas and gently hugged my new painting. “Sorry. I felt antsy downstairs, and when I came up, Quinn was there, and we started talking, and then I came in here to chat with Lukas and—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself here.” Peter cut me off. “I was worried when you never came back after your shower. Regardless, Quinn says she’s hungry, and we all know Lukas would forget to eat if it wasn’t for the rest of us putting food in front of him. Are you hungry, Adair?”
I glanced at Lukas, who was half-heartedly glaring at Peter. “I remember to eat.”
“Liar!”
I burst out laughing at Quinn’s shouted response from the hallway and then cleared my throat. “Your wife seems to think otherwise.”
He let out a sigh and shook his head. “They’re ganging up on me, Tori.”
I shrugged and then linked my arms with his. “Then we’d better let them feed you to keep them happy. Maybe we can convince them to make stuffed french toast.”
Peter’s eyes lit up. “I could go for some french toast. And bacon?”
The groan that came out of me was borderline indecent sounding. “Oh my god, can we? I haven’t had bacon in a really long time.”
Now Lukas chuckled. “Sounds like we have breakfast figured out. Let’s do this.”