3. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Oak
I stumbled out of my cabin, the one that’d been Charlie’s before he moved in with my Uncle Teague. At least the commute was shorter now that I lived on Nic and Dana’s property.
I was halfway down the little hill, when Cricket, one of their two gigantic dogs, burst through the brushes.
“Holy sh—” I cut myself off on instinct, feeling guilty about cursing as I pressed a hand over my heart. “Cricket, you’re going to give someone a heart attack one of these days.”
She gave me a doggy smile and shook some snow off her fur. We didn’t have that much of it yet, but the ground was white, and it was cold now. Not that I wasn’t used to that, being from Utah and all. We had real winters where my family lived.
I pulled my beanie down a little and smiled at the idea that I’d crocheted it myself. I’d had my twenty-first birthday two months before Thanksgiving, and I’d gotten some yarn and stuff from Charlie.
It felt weird to think that Charlie was my best friend. Not because there was something wrong with him, because there so wasn’t. I just hadn’t thought that this thirty-something guy about my Uncle Teague’s age would actually turn out to be best friend material.
I walked across the parking lot, which made Cricket abandon me and go on her way. That told me that while I could see Charlie’s SUV in the parking lot, he hadn’t brought his cat son, Salem, with him to work. If Salem was on the premises, Cricket knew and wouldn’t go far just in case there was a chance to go on a walk with him, because they were best pals and she’d saved his life when they’d found him.
Stomping the snow off my boots, I opened the door and greeted Steve, the giant Cane Corso who still grumbled about having to sleep in the lobby instead of outside. He, unlike Cricket who was some sort of a shepherd mix, didn’t have long, warm fur.
I’d witnessed Nic showing Steve a dog bed and winter proof doggie overalls and told him to choose.
“Hey, Steve.” I bent down to give him some love, because he deserved it for being such a good boy.
He sighed hard, then closed his eyes and went to sleep. Poor doggo.
I went to the dining room. The Inn had twelve rooms, a dining room that held breakfast for the guests, a dinner service during weekdays, and lunch for employees every day. Us employees also got breakfast if we wanted it, and even though my cabin had a kitchenette, I preferred Dana’s professional chef cooking.
“Morning!” Charlie smiled at me brightly.
Suspiciously brightly.
“Hold that thought,” I told him and went to get my coffee and a plate of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and grilled tomatoes. I also grabbed a croissant made by my Aunt Regan—they were nonbinary but didn’t mind the word Aunt—who owned the bakery in town.
I went to sit at the window table with Charlie who was still beaming.
“Okay, spill,” I told him. Then held up a hand. “No, wait. If it’s something to do about my uncle, then—”
“No!” Charlie’s eyes widened, and he looked scandalized. “No, that’s not….” He took in a deep breath, then sipped from his coffee to recenter himself, and sighed. The happy smile made a return. “Law and the kids are moving into the yellow house.”
“What?” I blinked at him. They’d just been here, right? There’d been no talk about the recently divorced yet still good friends with his ex-wife single dad and his three adorable kids moving here. “When did this happen?”
“He called last night. Well, he still needs to talk with Nic and Dana, of course, but Nic is giving him a call as we speak. And we know what they’re going to say anyway.”
I snatched a piece of perfectly crispy bacon off my plate. “What prompted this? It’s a big decision.”
Charlie’s expression turned sour. More than, really. He looked furious and resigned at the same time. “The woman who calls herself our mother fucked up big time.” Then he proceeded to tell me what had happened, and I vibrated with anger by the time he was done.
“If I ever come face to face with that woman,” I ground out. “Who does that to little kids?”
Charlie snorted softly and looked out of the window. He pulled down the sleeves of his knit sweater my Grams had made for him. The sleeves were longer than usual and had thumb holes, which he now slipped his thumbs through.
The way Charlie and Law’s mother had traumatized him was brutal. It had changed him on a fundamental level and given him body dysphoria like whoa. He was better now, having been away from her toxicity for months and having found love and acceptance with my uncle, but there were signs if you knew how to look for them.
I just hoped the little ones were okay after it all. I knew Harper—Charlie’s mini-me—was old enough to understand better which was both better and worse. Marlie was a dog loving, sweet little girl and not even chubby. If this set her careening into the society’s twisted beauty standards before her time, I’d walk to Phoenix to stab a bitch. Then there was the sweetest, funniest little menace, Tristan. He was a lot, but not in a bad way.
I really liked those kids. Their dad seemed like a good guy. Besides, he was easy on the eyes, straight as he might’ve been. We could always use more eye candy I wasn’t related to around here.
“When are they moving?” I asked between pieces of a meal that was way too good to be so simple. I also enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to make it myself.
“He’s being optimistic and thinking before Christmas,” Charlie replied, his expression a bit disbelieving.
I whistled. “That’s a tall ask.”
“Yeah. But they have an amazing house in a very in-demand neighborhood. It’ll sell immediately, I’m sure. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a family Christmas.”
The wistfulness in his tone slayed me. I knew I’d have one, for sure. Charlie would be part of it either way. It was just that the people that had made me wouldn’t be there. Nor would my siblings. They all were back in Utah where I hoped they’d stay.
I swallowed hard, the hashbrown I’d stuffed into my mouth tasting like concrete dust suddenly.
Charlie’s hand appeared on my wrist. He squeezed firmly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not that.” I cleared my throat. “Or maybe it is, but it’s clear I can never go back, right? It’s mostly that I worry about my siblings. Even though they’re definitely better clones than I ever was….”
“You want something else for them,” Charlie stated, smiling in his kind way.
“Yeah.”
We finished our breakfasts while pointedly chatting about anything but family. Then Charlie went into the office to do his accounting slash receptionist thing, and I went to the storage room to gather my equipment.
Cleaning a motel wasn’t what I’d thought I’d do with my life, but I didn’t dislike it. I had a schedule to follow, I often helped with the dinner service too, and I had a free roof over my head in the form of the cabin. Sure, Nic and Dana paid me a bit less because of that, but it gave me the independence I’d craved since I was about twelve and realized what a fucked up cult my family was part of.
I put in my earbuds, cranked up the volume of some M?neskin, and went to work. I had rooms to clean.
After work, I drove into town to go chat with Aunt Regan for a while. They were too busy though, so I left them alone. Instead, I headed pretty much across the street to Felix’s shop.
Nostalgia Nook was a curious mix of a second hand bookstore, antique store, and whatever else. Basically you could find all sorts of stuff there.
Since Felix had been feeling slightly better lately, I wasn’t surprised to find him sitting on a high stool behind the counter. His wheelchair was nearby, but I also spied his crutches, so I assumed he was covering all bases.
“Hey!” I greeted him brightly.
“Afternoon. What can I do for you?” he asked, smiling.
He was an old school friend of Uncle Teague’s, which meant that he was a bit too old for me, but nobody said flirting wasn’t allowed. I mean, I was going to hell anyway for being queer, so if I flirted with someone “too old” then at least I’d go out with a bang.
“Aunt Regan was busy,” I said, pouting a little.
He snorted, sounding amused. “I see how it is. I’m the second best option.”
I tilted my head as I planted my palms on the counter between us. “Technically, sixth. Like right after my aunt and uncle, Grams and Gramps, and Charlie.”
He slapped a hand over his heart and groaned dramatically. “You wound me!”
I grinned. “But now that I’m here, I’m gonna go check the lamps you have. I really need my cabin to look less like a cave.”
He gave me an understanding look. “Yeah, I can imagine Charlie didn’t have many lamps around.”
“Nope.” I walked toward the back where the selection of random more or less antique lamps was. “If you have one that’s sort of retro and is like a standing lamp, I’d love one of those.”
“If you don’t mind red, I think there’s one like that there somewhere.”
“Thanks!” I went to look and found the lamp he had meant. It was exactly what I wanted, and even with the price tag that was a bit over my budget, I carried it to the front.
“Yeah, I thought we had one of those. It should work once you put in a bulb. But if it doesn’t, money back and all that.” Felix promised.
“It’s a deal.” I grinned then frowned when he rang me up. “The tag says twenty bucks more than that.”
He waved a hand and the corners of his eyes scrunched up in that attractive way I had a love/hate relationship with. “It’s marked up a bit.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Well of course it is, that’s how running a business works.”
“Yes, but this is a friend discount.”
I sighed and threw my hands up. “Sure. Fine. But your next meal at the Inn is on me.”
He came over at least once a week now and seemed to be having a good time. More often than not, someone else local who knew him would be there and he’d chat with them. Uncle Teague told me this was new, that when Felix got back to town after his accident, he’d been a bit of a hermit for a while.
Felix snorted. “Yeah, because you get a staff discount.”
“Hey, take it or leave it. Otherwise I’ll sneak that twenty somewhere when you’re not looking.”
“Fine, fine. You can buy my dinner tomorrow night. Are you working?” he asked as he took my money.
“Yeah. Can’t join you, sadly, but I’m sure there’ll be someone who wants to gossip with you.”
“Be still my heart. I love gossip!” he said dramatically.
I knew for a fact that gossip was his least liked thing in the world. Right after physical therapy, apparently.
Grabbing my change and my lamp, I saluted him. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“If I’m not there, it’s a bad pain day and…,” Felix trailed off and looked to the side a bit.
“There’s always another evening, right? The deal isn’t limited to tomorrow. See ya!”
Once I was on the street and glanced through the window, I saw he was smiling a little. I took that as a win. He deserved to smile more. He was a good guy who’d been dealt a shitty hand.
I tried the bakery again, and this time Aunt Regan wasn’t elbow deep in decorating something Very Important.
“Look, I found a lamp!” I brandished it and almost knocked one of their display cases.
“Whoa! Stop moving!” They held their arm out. “If you break something, I’ll tell your Grams and she’ll whoop you. She’s very proud of this shop and helped to decorate it.”
I stilled immediately. I knew that Grams would never be physically violent like my parents were, but she had a mean disappointed face and would definitely get loud. “Oops?”
They rolled their eyes. “It’s okay. That’s a nice red.”
“Very fire engine. Will definitely cheer up the décor in the cabin.” I nodded vigorously. “Can I get some of your soft pretzels, please?”
“Absolutely, let me package them up. Dip too?”
“Uh-huh.” My gaze wandered until it hit the calendar hanging on the wall.
Wait…. Somehow it had slipped my mind that my oldest kid sister, Clara, would be turning nineteen in a few days.
Fuck. I stood there, feeling way too many emotions at once. She was the one closest to me, with us being the two oldest. I loved her, and she’d tried her best not to be judgmental despite what our parents’ church had taught us since we were old enough to understand how bad and wrong and sinful people like me were.
Clara was the one who had prayed for me the most, because she’d genuinely thought that would help. That if she just prayed her hardest, surely that would help me with my struggle with same-gender attraction.
“Oak?”
I snapped my attention to Aunt Regan. Their hair was shaved on the sides, the top had at least three colors in it. I smiled weakly. “I love you, Aunt Regan, you know that, right?”
The confusion and worry on their face was hard to see. “Of course I know that. Ditto, kiddo.”
They came around the counter and hugged me close. I didn’t care about the flour on their apron as I soaked in the hug that was pure love. No condemnation, no false anything in sight.
“It’s Clara’s birthday soon,” I explained when I pulled away from the hug and wiped my eyes with one hand.
They followed my eyeline to the calendar and winced. “I’m so sorry.”
I knew they didn’t mean the calendar being there. I nodded. “It’s… well, not fine, but you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It helps, being here. Knowing that I don’t have to be afraid that someone’s gonna come and kidnap me to take me somewhere to be ‘fixed.’” I gestured at them and then vaguely across the road. “And to see happy queer people everywhere. It’s the first time ever that I’ve had older role models who are queer, too.”
They nodded seriously. “That’s very important to have. I’m glad I can provide some of that for you.”
I grinned a bit wetly. “And hugs.”
“And hugs,” they repeated, grinning back. “And Unicorn Farts.”
I chuckled. “That’s not my favorite cupcake, but don’t tell Uncle Teague or Charlie. That’s their Special Thing.”
They shook their head, making the braids I hadn’t noticed before dance. “Oh I know. So how about a Vampire’s Bite?”
I let out a happy sound. “Yes, please. Plus the pretzels.”
“Already boxed. Let me get the cupcake for you.”
Soon enough, I was balancing my box of pretzels, a small pastry box on top of it, and the lamp on the way to my car. I found myself smiling.
Despite everything, I had things to smile about. Whether it was family, friends, a new lamp, or a chocolatey cupcake with strawberry filling and a frosting in black and red that got everywhere when you tried to eat it, I’d take it.