Chapter 13
THEO
Doing odd jobs at the motel was strangely satisfying. I could get up on a ladder and change the bulb of a light that’d been flickering for years, and voila. There was no more flickering light.
As I wiped my hands on the ruined rag hanging from my back pocket, my phone buzzed with an incoming video call from Colin Thayer. Originally, he’d been Zach’s friend, but after our oldest brother had married Colin’s sister, he’d become more of a family friend.
We were all close to him, but unfortunately, that included Alex, and since he was Alex’s brother-in-law, I wasn’t blind to the fact that Colin’s loyalties probably lay more with him.
But he was still a friend and that meant I had a shot at getting through to him if this was, in fact, an Alex-mandated call.
As I swiped across the screen, his smiling face appeared, but it dropped as soon as he saw me. “Fuck, Theo. Are you homeless right now?”
“No.” I scoffed. “I’m just trying a different look. It’s called, not going to the barber like clockwork every month.”
“You’ve got paint in your hair.”
“That’s part of the look. It’s a fashion out here. I’m trendy.”
Colin groaned. “I heard rumors you were on the run, but I wasn’t sure I believed them until right now.”
Behind him, I could see the familiar, sleek lines of the Thayer Steelworks executive lobby. Their building was terrifyingly expensive real estate, one of the beacons of corporate civilization in Chicago, and just around the block from Westwood and Sons.
That whole area was my former habitat, my old stomping grounds, and seeing it through a screen was weirder than I’d expected, but it also reminded me why I wasn’t there right now.
It looked so clinical compared to the rusty, dusty motel with the sun beating down on my shoulders and the warm breeze ruffling my hair.
“I’m not on the run,” I said. “I’m just not ready to come home yet.”
“Yeah, I get it, man. I really do. You’re the last brother standing. It must feel like you’re being hunted.”
“I am being hunted.”
He chuckled. “Actually, I think Alex has been showing remarkable restraint. According to Jane, he wants you married by spring, so the fact that he hasn’t physically dragged you back by your toenails to get it done is a miracle.”
“Spring?” I felt my entire face contort. “That’s so fucking soon. I knew he was eager. I just didn’t realize he was also insane.”
“By your brother’s standards, spring is a gift.”
“Yeah.” I stared out at the parking lot, watching a kid riding a bike in circles near the ice machine. “I know he would’ve preferred it sooner, but I like it here.”
Life in Arizona was like being in a different world. In a good way. Well, mostly good. Clyde’s diagnosis had hit me like a freight train. I was genuinely worried about him and devastated for Avery and Raquel.
“I think Alex genuinely believes you’ll become feral if he leaves you out there for too long,” Colin said.
“That’s already happened.”
He laughed. “You’re not wrong. If he sees you right now, we might have a problem.”
“He’s going to have to drag me back to Chicago at this rate,” I muttered. “Tranquilize me and throw me in his jet.”
“But he’ll do it lovingly.”
“Only if lovingly means efficiently,” I retorted. “I wouldn’t put it past him to hire some big game hunter to track me through the desert if I tried to run.”
Colin laughed again, his head shaking. “Why would you run? Unless…”
I sighed. “Unless what?”
“Unless there’s a girl,” he said. “Is there a girl?”
I averted my gaze, back to studying the kid near the ice machine. Unfortunately, Colin knew me well enough to know what that meant. “Holy shit. There is a girl. You’ve even got that look on your face that says you’ve accidentally fallen in love and you’re now going to buy property out there.”
I snorted. “I’m not buying property.”
“I didn’t hear you denying that you’ve fallen in love,” he said. “Who is she?”
Raquel was nowhere nearby, but I still found myself looking down the street in the direction of the autobody shop, wondering what she was doing right now. When I refocused on Colin, I narrowed my eyes at the screen.
“Before I tell you anything, are you calling because Alex asked you to?”
He scoffed. “No. I’m calling because you’re my friend and I haven’t heard from you in weeks.”
“Okay,” I said after thinking it over for a beat. “Look, I’m not hiding any of this. I just don’t want Alex to find out and have a knee-jerk reaction if he thinks I’m considering not coming back at all. He’s given me some time and I really don’t want him changing his mind about it.”
“My lips are sealed.” He strode into his office and clicked the door shut behind him. “What’s going on, Theo?”
“When the bike broke down, I caught a ride into this town, Quartz Pass. I didn’t plan it and I didn’t expect that I’d get stuck here, but the bike is pretty fucked and this was the closest mechanic to where I was when the engine gave out on me.
Let’s start there so you can tell Alex that I didn’t plan for this to happen. ”
“I wasn’t going to tell him anything, but sure. If he asks, I’ll let him know it was not an intentional delay.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my head as I tried to decide how to explain the rest of it.
“Long story short, the guy who dropped me off brought me to a local motel, and when I found out the bike was going to take some time to get fixed, I told the owner of the motel I’d do some work for her in exchange for a reduced room rate. ”
“Why?” A deep, confused furrow appeared between his eyebrows, but at least he wasn’t being judgmental about it. Yet. “I mean, it’s noble and all, doing odd jobs for someone while you’re staying there, but why worry about a reduced rate at all, you cheap fucker?”
I chuckled. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I wasn’t worried about it. It’s not like I asked, but when I was trying to find out if she had my room available for a while longer, she offered to cut me a deal and I took it.”
A slow smile spread on his lips. “So that’s the girl, huh, the motel owner who cut you a deal?”
I snorted. “Fuck, no. Frieda is like the town mom. She’s at least a hundred, chain-smokes her way through life, and frankly, she’d probably castrate you just for having that thought.”
He winced. “Best not to tell her, then.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, probably.”
“Okay, so you’re working in exchange for lodging,” he said thoughtfully. “What are you doing, exactly?”
“Well, just this morning, I’ve painted some siding, fixed a couple lightbulbs, and I’m about to go teach myself about cabinet repair.”
“Cabinet repair?” he repeated dumbly, then dropped into the chair behind his desk and blew out a heavy breath.
“Not for nothing, but why are you repairing cabinets? You have a degree in business with a minor in both marketing and finance. It seems to me like you’re punching way below your weight, and that’s without even examining why you’re still punching at all.
You could’ve just told her you’d had another think and you don’t want the deal after all. ”
I glanced around the motel, at the faded turquoise railings I hadn’t gotten to yet and the paint supplies sitting under the awning.
The kid had moved on from the ice machine, now zipping up and down the dusty parking lot while his mom was hauling one load of washing after the next in and out of the laundry room.
“I’ve made friends here,” I said finally.
“I have a loyalty card for the hardware store and I get free slices of pie from the cafe whenever Frieda compliments my work to Miley, who’s the barista there.
I don’t know why I’m repairing cabinets, Colin.
All I know is that I’m making the best of the time I’ve got here, and honestly, it’s been good for me. ”
Quartz Pass had climbed under my skin and Colin was suddenly looking at me so closely through the phone that he finally seemed to see it. “Holy shit. You’re putting down roots.”
I scoffed. “No, I’m not.”
“You literally just described how you’re becoming part of a community.”
“It’s temporary,” I said firmly. “I was just trying to illustrate to you why I’m working odd jobs at the motel.”
“For the free pie.” It wasn’t a question, but the way he said it made me realize he was getting worried now. “You’re talking like you’re about to buy a truck and start saying things like my local feed store.”
I snorted. “Please. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get in with the guys at the feed store? One step at a time, dude.”
“Theo.”
“What?” I shrugged. “I don’t have animals and they know it. Some of Avery’s friends work there, though. Maybe after this weekend?—”
“Jesus, Theo.” He shook his head. “You’re in some serious denial if you can say all that and still honestly believe you’re not putting down roots.”
“I’m not. This is just for now. I’ll be home by New Year’s. That was my deal with Alex. Three more months and then I’m back.”
I meant it, too. My family loved me, but there was a line to their patience, and while I was toeing it, I wouldn’t cross it. I just wasn’t in any hurry to reach it, so I was enjoying the slower pace of life and squeezing the best out of every minute.
Colin studied me for another second. “Okay. If you say so, but just keep that in mind while you’re trying to get in with the guys from the feed store and eating all that free pie. What about the girl, then? You still haven’t told me about her.”
“There’s not really much to tell. She’s just a girl. A local mechanic, actually. She’s helping with my bike and we’re becoming friends. Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
I shrugged. “She’s different, you know? She’s been through—and is going through—a lot, and she’s not the type who opens up easily. When I first got here, she didn’t trust me for shit, so yeah. We’re sort of becoming friends, but that’s really the only thing I can say about her.”
“What, you’ve actually met a woman who’s resistant to the charms of the great Theo West?—”
“Yep,” I cut him off before he announced my last name over the speaker to anyone who might be listening. He cocked an eyebrow at me, clearly surprised, but before he could latch onto it, I changed the topic. “I have a random question for you.”
“That’s a weird start, but okay. What’s up?”
“Do you know any contractors or factory connections in Arizona?”
His eyebrows shot up, surprise flickering clear as day in his eyes. “Uh, sure, but why?”
“No reason yet. I’m just asking. Business opportunities are about to become abundant out here, so I figured I’d find out.”
He frowned. “What does that mean, about to?”
“Half the town is aging out at the same time,” I explained. “Gaps are going to start forming and there’s a lot of potential here, but I’ll keep you posted.”
Unlike every corporate instinct I’d been raised to develop, this didn’t feel predatory. I liked these people and I wanted to help if I could.
Colin’s expression softened a little. “Yeah. Okay. Just keep me in the loop and we’ll see what we can do.”
We said goodbye a minute later, and when I looked up as I slid my phone back into my pocket, I caught sight of Frieda from the corner of my eyes, snooping as usual.
I shook my head at her, but she just pumped her eyebrows in return, taking a long drag of her cigarette before motioning for me to get back to work.
So far, I’d been pretty good at flying under the radar, but I had no idea how long that was going to last. Especially once she finally put two and two together.