Chapter 8
eight
. . .
Ronan
Some of the best times in my life were spent sitting around with my family.
No drinking, no crowded bar, no hot women, although that last one was still at the top of my best times list. Indi and Jameson hustled around their kitchen cooking a pot roast, complete with potatoes, carrots and homemade rolls.
Rio was finishing her homework, and I was sitting at the kitchen counter with a mostly flimsy offer to help with the dinner.
Indi pulled cold sodas out of the fridge and popped one down on the counter in front of me.
"I'd prefer a beer," Jameson said.
Indi attempted to flash him a secretive scowl. I knew exactly what she was doing.
"Indi, it's fine. I'm not a raging alcoholic.
Only acted like one this past year." I'd confided in Indi letting her know that I was trying to dry out.
Getting drunk had caused me too many fights, bad decisions and job losses.
After Mike slammed me into the trash bin, leaving me with a ringing in my head that only recently stopped, I knew I had to give up the excessive partying.
I had a new job and the boss, Doris, was smart.
Nothing got past her. She would know exactly when someone showed up hungover or still drunk.
I'd seen her send two crew members packing, and it was only the first week on the job.
"I promise I won't jump him and wrestle the beer out of his hand. "
Jameson scoffed. "Like to see you try, bro." He returned the soda to the fridge and pulled out a beer. "Hmm, tasty," he said after a gulp.
Indi smacked him on the shoulder. "Asshole. Hey sweetie, can you cut the salad greens?"
"Did you hear that?" Jameson asked me. "Quickest transformation from asshole to sweetie on record. And do we really need the greens? I mean there's fucking pot roast."
"I heard that," Rio said. She walked straight to the cuss jar in the cookie cupboard. It was packed with coins and bills.
Jameson looked at her. "Do you have sonar hearing?" He patted his pockets. "Fresh out of greenbacks." He lifted a piece of lettuce off the cutting board. "I could put this in."
Rio sighed loudly, screwed on the lid and put it back. "You owe the jar, and I will not forget it." Rio turned my direction. "I'm saving for a car. Dad's hobby of cussing is going to get me one before I'm even sixteen. And it's going to be one of those new Broncos, baby blue with white stripes."
Jameson laughed. "Dream on, kiddo, dream on."
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Rio raced to the door.
"Who are you expecting?" I asked and instantly knew the answer to my question when I heard Colin's voice in the entryway.
"Didn't know you were inviting Colin," Jameson said.
"We had so much food. You bought such a big roast," Indi explained.
"Yeah, cuz I'm planning on having leftovers on my sandwiches," Jameson said. "And there goes my beer supply, too."
Colin came around the corner. "Bro, what's up?" He patted me hard on the back. "Hey that beer looks good."
Jameson gave Indi an I-told-you-so glower. Indi grabbed Colin a beer, and my brother sat on the stool next to me.
Rio came in texting wildly on her phone. "Indi, I'm going to invite my friends over."
"No way. It's a school night," Jameson said.
Rio looked at Indi to see if she could skirt his ruling. Indi shook her head. "Dad's right. It's a school night."
Rio moved closer to Indi so she could talk quietly. "Yes, but this is like a solar eclipse, a rare event, both twins in the house at the same time. It'll just be Team Ronan and Team Colin. That's all."
Colin elbowed me. "We're a rare event, a fucking solar eclipse." Colin put up his hand. "Before you grab down that annoying money jar, squirt, I don't have any money on me. I humbly retract the f-word."
"Don't think that's how it works." Rio put her hands on her hips. "You owe the jar. Besides, it's for a good cause. Namely, my baby blue Bronco." She was in that awkward stage where she was a kid one minute and teenager the next.
Rio stomped off angrily but then stomped back and stood between Colin and me. She took a selfie with us and then marched away. "The teams are going to be very mad about this."
"We've got teams," Colin said. He took a drink of beer.
"Yeah, but don't get too excited cuz all of them would give up their jerseys to be on Team Nate. Are you still getting the keys Friday?" I asked.
"Sure am. We can move our shit in on Saturday."
Jameson spun around with his chopping knife. "So, you're taking our wonderful houseguest off our hands?"
"I feel so loved," I muttered.
Indi smiled at me. "We love having you. Really. Why don't you guys take your drinks out to the dining room and we'll serve dinner."
Colin patted his stomach. "Smells so good. I was working out for the last two hours, so I'm extra hungry."
Colin and I walked out to the dining room. "Hey, I'm going over to the Gold Rush after this. Meeting Kelly and Gina for a few beers. Come along."
I sat down. "Nah, I need to be at work early. Besides, I'm banned until I pay up." I hadn't mentioned to Colin that I was trying to cut down on the partying. Living with him was going to make that extra hard.
"Have you talked to Dad?" Colin asked. "Z says he and Nev have to keep tabs on him to make sure he's eating and not just downing whiskey and frozen burritos."
"Well, Zander lives right there, so it's not a big deal for him. And no, I haven't talked to him, and I'm good with that. Asshole kicked me out with a concussion."
"I didn't hear. How'd you get that?"
Jameson carried in the platter with the roast. "Get what?"
"Ro says he had a concussion."
"Oh that." Jameson set down the food. "Rio, dinner!" His yell echoed off the dining room walls.
Indi sighed in annoyance. "You yell for her as if we live in a giant castle." She set down the bowl of roasted vegetables. "How is your head? The stitches heal up all right?" Indi asked.
Colin put down his beer. "Stitches too?" He dropped his shoulders in comprehension. "All right, who was she? Who did you piss off this time?"
I shook my head. "That's ancient history, and the story isn't that exciting."
Colin shrugged. "All right. Hey, did any of you get caught in that storm this afternoon? The wind took the awning right off our office building."
Jameson served himself some meat and handed off the plate. "Rio!" he yelled again.
Indi stared at him. "Seriously?"
"Well, she obviously didn't hear me the first time," Jameson explained.
I laughed. "Bro, the neighbors heard you. She's just a teenager. Remember, selective hearing and all that?"
"I don't have selective hearing. I was trying to calm the masses down. We were on a group chat, and there are a lot of disappointed teammates this evening. So, I hope you're happy," Rio said, scowling at her dad.
Jameson carved himself a big piece of meat and lifted it to his mouth. "Perfectly happy, thanks." He shoved it in.
"How much meat do you want?" Indi asked Rio.
"No dead cow for me, thanks. I'll have some vegetables. We've all made a pact to go vegetarian." She piled potatoes on her plate and then doused them with gravy.
Colin laughed. "Ah yes, the infamous vegetarian gravy."
"I'm easing into it," Rio said. She stared at the platter of roast beef and groaned. "Oh, what the heck. I'll start tomorrow." She stabbed a slice of beef and put it on her plate. She looked up and realized she had an audience. "Jeez, what a bunch of judgy buttheads."
We laughed and dug into the meal. The delicious food and great company made up for not having a beer.
Colin left to the Gold Rush. Rio and I cleaned the kitchen, then she went off to her room to finish her homework. Jameson sat down on the couch with a beer and fell fast asleep. Indi managed to grab the bottle from his limp fingers before it slipped to the floor.
It woke him. "Hey, my beer."
"Go to bed. You're exhausted," Indi said. She finished the last sips of beer.
Jameson sat forward, scrubbed his face and growled. "Shit, when did I get to the fall-asleep-right-after-dinner age? I'm like Dad."
"You and Zander have been working hard," Indi said. "No harm in going to bed early. Doesn't mean you're old, although …" She paused and rolled in her lips.
Jameson looked up at her through a bleary gaze. "Although?"
"Well, don't freak out, but this morning, while you were brushing your teeth, I spotted a few gray hairs in the back."
Jameson's hand flew back there as if somehow grabbing his hair would let him feel the gray hairs or better, cause them to vanish. "You're fucking kidding?"
"Well, you do have a teenager," I reminded him. "And I was sure I saw you shuffle a few steps when you were leaving the dining room." Indi and I chuckled.
"Fuck you both. I'm glad my fast decline into old age amuses you. I'm going to bed. Keep down the commotion." He stopped and shook his head. "That's what old people say. I'm fucking gray and old," he muttered as he headed toward the bedroom.
Indi looked at me with an impish grin. "There were no gray hairs, but I'd bet a week's salary that in the morning I find him with a handheld mirror turned away from the bathroom mirror trying to get a look at the back of his head."
Indi and I sat down on the couch. I yawned and she caught my yawn. We laughed. "Guess we're old, too," I said.
"Well, you were out doing physical labor all day. I was plunking around on a computer, so I don't know what my excuse is. Actually, I do. Sometimes staring at a screen will put me right to sleep. How is the job going?"
"Good. I'm mostly just the fetch this and that guy for now, but I'm planning to show the boss that I can do more. She's cool. I like her."
Indi's eyes rounded. "A female construction supervisor? Nice. I heard Colin was going to the Gold Rush tonight. I guess that place isn't great for someone trying not to drink."
"Be sort of like walking into an ice cream parlor while on a low-calorie diet.
I'm too tired anyhow. After all those weeks without work, it's hard getting back into a routine.
" There'd been something chewing at me all evening.
The workday had been mostly ordinary, but the end of the day had been anything but.
I hadn't stopped thinking about Rachel and sitting with her on the bus.
We talked to each other so easily, as if we'd been friends forever.
"Indi, when did you know you were in love with Jameson?
I mean, I know he's loved you since you were teenagers, but when did you stop and say, oh wow, it's fucking Jameson, he's the one I need. "
Indi sat forward and turned quickly toward me. "Did you meet someone?" she asked excitedly.
"No, no. Well, yes, but I mean it's nothing."
"That doesn't sound like nothing to me." She sat back. "This is going to sound strange and probably not all that romantic, but I was on a bus, soaking wet from a rainstorm—"
"That sounds familiar."
She sucked in an excited breath. "Did you meet her today on the bus in the middle of the storm?"
"We got on together. She works at the diner across the street. So … you were on a bus? Don't tell me Jameson was on that same bus? I haven't seen him get on a bus since we were in school."
"No, that's what was so weird about it. I was wet and miserable.
I'd just lost my job, my apartment, my boyfriend.
The last one was a blessing in disguise.
My brother sent me an old picture of Zach and me.
I think we were at prom, and there, in the background, lurking like a grim shadow was your brother.
He looked hard and angry and lost. Like he often did back in high school.
Something struck me as I looked at that photo.
He was always there … for me. I'd put up this angry shield against him because of the accident.
" Indi lowered her face, and I knew she was having to take a second to push down the pain from losing her dad.
She was in high school when her Dad drove off the road in a bad storm.
It turned out he swerved to avoid someone walking down that road.
That someone was Jameson, and just like Indi blamed him for her Dad's death, Jameson blamed himself, too.
Indi pushed up a weak smile. "I was so wrong back then.
Blaming Jameson, it was such a stupid thing to do.
Anyhow, you asked when I knew Jameson was the one.
I think it was right then, sitting on that bus, hating everything about my life and seeing his face staring back at me.
Mind you, I never expected anything to ever work between us, but here we are, and I can't imagine life without him. "
"See, I think that is romantic. Strange, yes, but also romantic." I yawned again. "Well shit, old age is catching up fast tonight." I stood up. "I'm going to shower and go to bed. Thanks for dinner, and, Indi—" I looked back at her. "Thanks for making Jameson so happy."
"You're welcome for all of it, Ronan. And I hope the woman in the diner turns out to be the one."