Chapter 4
Curtis
Teddy’s kid could talk. I wasn’t sure if he’d even taken a breath since he’d started telling stories. I listened, interjecting when I could, but I was pretty sure that my participation was optional. He would’ve kept going even if I’d never said a word.
We were over halfway home by the time his voice trailed off.
By then, I’d been holding Teddy’s hand so long that it would’ve seemed weird to let it go.
Considering she hadn’t tried to pull away, I figured she was cool with it.
When I’d looked over and found her staring out the windshield with tears dripping off her chin, sympathy had made my throat tighten.
I couldn’t imagine losing my parents, and she’d lost both.
From what I remembered, her mother had died when she was really little.
Harv had raised her on his own. I couldn’t be sure, but I vaguely recalled Grandpa Casper talking about how Harv wouldn’t move north to work with us because Sacramento was where his wife was buried and the only home his kids had ever known.
I was pretty sure Teddy had a brother somewhere, but I wasn’t about to ask about him until she brought him up.
With my luck, he was dead too, and I’d just be rubbing more salt in her wounds.
When my phone rang, I let go of her hand and reached for it. Almost immediately, I regretted the decision when she pulled her hand back into her lap.
“Hey,” I answered, putting the phone to my ear.
“How’s the trip?” my brother, Draco, asked.
“Makin’ good time. About three more hours, I think. A little more if we stop for food.”
“Any company?”
I glanced in the rearview, but it was impossible to know if we were being followed. I’d been watching the cars around us, but we were on the fucking freeway in Northern California. The chance of someone else driving to Oregon wasn’t a small one.
“Probably,” I muttered. “All good, though.”
“Good. I got your house set up with what little you had in storage, but it’s pretty fuckin’ bare in here.”
“We’ll figure it out. You still there?”
“Uh, yeah,” Draco said, something in his voice making me sit up straighter. “Just hangin’ with Dyl until you get here.”
“What’s going on?”
“All good, Curt,” he said, lying through his teeth like I wouldn’t know. “The girls went to Mom and Dad’s for the night, and you know Kara. She’s been putterin’ around in here, lightin’ candles and shit to get rid of the musty smell.”
“It doesn’t smell.”
“Yeah, man, that’s what I said. But she said it smells like no one lives here.”
“That tracks since no one was,” I replied. I wanted to grill him, but I was hyper aware that a car full of people was listening to every word I said, and I didn’t want to worry them.
“She went to the store and got you guys set up. All the essentials you could possibly need right away.”
“And candles,” I added.
“Those too. Plus, she got you those little things that plug into the outlets. Gonna smell fresh as a damn daisy by the time you get here tonight.”
“And Dylan made it okay?” I asked, needing that clarification since my brother was trying to bullshit me so hard he’d resorted to talking about air fresheners.
“Yeah, he’s here,” Draco replied, that thing in his voice back. “Listen, I was just checkin’ in. I’ll let you drive.”
“Capable of doin’ two things at once.”
“I’ll see you when you get here,” he said, ignoring me.
“Drive safe, Curt,” Kara yelled in the background.
Then the line went dead.
I dropped the phone onto the seat next to me, wondering what the hell was going on at my new house that Draco was trying to hide. I’d be there in a few hours. It wasn’t as if he could hide it for long.
“My brother,” I told Teddy when I felt her watching me. “Just checking in.”
“You have a brother?” Finn asked, his voice a little closer, like he was sitting forward in his seat behind me.
“Seatbelt on your shoulder, Finn,” Teddy ordered.
“Fix your seatbelt,” Jesse said at the same time.
“Yeah, I have a brother,” I replied, looking at him in the mirror. “He’s my twin.”
“Does he look like you? I have twins in my class, Micah and Luca, but they don’t look like each other. Micah is really tall, but Luca isn’t.”
“We’re identical.”
“Really?”
“Yep. But you’ll be able to tell us apart because I’m a lot better looking.”
“Nu-uh,” Finn argued with a laugh. “Identical twins look the same.”
“I have a beard, and he doesn’t,” I admitted. “And my hair is longer.”
“But if you cut it off, you’d look exactly the same?”
“Maybe,” I replied. “I haven’t checked in a long time. We used to as kids, though.”
“That’s so cool,” he said with a sigh. “Did you trick people?”
“All the time,” I confirmed.
“Nice.”
Teddy leaned forward to mess with the radio, scanning through the stations until she found some classic rock. The cab filled with sound as she turned it up a little.
Finn started to sing along quietly, but with feeling, behind me.
“He’s going to lose his voice before we hit Eugene,” Teddy joked, shooting a smile at her son.
“He’s a sweet kid,” I replied softly.
“You’re good with him,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him talk so much.”
“I remember Dylan at that age. They’re tryin’ so hard to be cool. They just want someone to pay attention. Not exactly a chore.”
The radio switched songs, and I quickly looked behind me as Jesse, who’d been silent for most of the ride, started belting it out.
Teddy laughed, and Finn joined in.
I checked the mirrors again, but it was getting darker, and visibility was turning into a slew of headlights behind me.
I couldn’t even tell what color the cars were.
By that time, we’d already crossed the Oregon border, and with every mile, I felt my shoulders relaxing bit by bit.
We were firmly in the Aces’ territory. It would’ve been idiotic for one of Granger’s men to pull anything at that point.
The kids got restless in the last couple of hours, which was familiar as hell.
It reminded me of Dylan when he was younger, when familiar landmarks began to appear on the way to Eugene.
We decided to drive right through instead of stopping for something to eat, and I watched the gas gauge, making a mental note to fill up Teddy’s tank in the next couple of days.
“We got good mileage,” I mentioned when I finally pulled off the freeway. “Especially with all that weight in the back.”
“I keep old Trusty in peak condition,” she replied. As we’d gotten closer to home, she’d gotten quieter. It was the first time she’d spoken in nearly an hour.
“Mom’s a mechanic,” Finn said proudly.
“Son, if you don’t sit back in your seat…” Teddy warned in exasperation.
“You’re a mechanic?” I asked in surprise. I probably should’ve asked what she did for a living before that. Had we talked about anything important on the drive?
“Yep. Still a diesel mechanic,” she confirmed, shooting me a look. Fuck, that was something I would’ve known if we’d actually been planning a life together. “I was working at a friend’s garage before we left.”
“Sara’s!” Finn added.
Teddy tilted her head at Finn like she was agreeing with him.
“Are we close?” Jesse asked. They’d been lounging in their seat with a little blanket, but had perked up once we got off the freeway.
“Yeah, just a few more minutes,” I answered.
“Coffee shop!” they announced loudly, pointing out the window. “Tomorrow morning?”
“Remember where it is,” Teddy replied.
“There’s another one!”
“Jesse’s goal in life is to try every local coffee shop,” Teddy informed me.
“Death to corporate coffee,” Jesse announced.
“You’re gonna like my cousin, Charlie,” I told Jesse as we pulled into our new neighborhood. “She’s got a couple of coffee carts.”
“Are they any good?” Jesse asked, leaning forward.
“I’m biased, but yeah.”
“Excellent,” they whispered.
“You coulda told me they were into coffee,” I muttered to Teddy. “I coulda got on their good side about six hours ago.”
Teddy let out a surprised laugh as I turned into the driveway of the new house and parked next to Dylan’s truck.
“We’re here,” Finn announced excitedly. “It’s huge!”
“Ready?” I asked Teddy. She was staring out the windshield, completely still even after I’d turned off the truck.
The kids took their cue from her, and neither of them moved to exit.
“Leave your stuff,” she ordered after a moment, turning to look at the kids as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “We’ll come back out and grab it after we’ve gotten a look around, okay?”
The calm and capable woman I’d met at the bus station had slowly become quieter and more contemplative over the drive, and now she was strung tight as a wire.
She threw open her door, and I looked at the kids. “Hold tight a minute, yeah?” I asked as I hopped out. “Gimme one second.”
I rounded the hood quickly and reached Teddy just as she closed her door.
“Hey,” I called, reaching for her.
She startled for the first time since we’d met.
“Hey,” I said again, softer. “You good?”
“Fine,” she replied, nodding.
“It’s gonna be all right,” I assured her. “It’s late. We’ll get the kids settled and figure shit out in the morning, yeah?”
“I’m fine, Curtis,” she repeated. “Seriously.”
“Curt,” I corrected. “Only the government and my mother call me Curtis.”
“Good to know.”
She was still stiff as hell and trying to hide it.
“Teddy,” I murmured, reaching out again. This time, she let out a sigh when my hand wrapped around the side of her neck.
Stepping closer, I bent my head.
“All good,” I assured her. “We’re here. We made it. You’re surrounded by Aces. Now, we’ll just get started on a life. Smooth sailin’.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” she asked dryly.
I let out a short laugh. “No. But tonight? Yeah.”
The front door opened behind me, and light flooded out. My body shadowed Teddy, and she leaned around me to look.
“F-350,” my brother called out. “Nice.”
“Brace,” I told Teddy, sliding my hands away. “Welcoming committee incoming.”
I looked up at Jesse and nodded for them to get out. Immediately, their door flew open, and first Jesse and then Finn came scrambling out of the truck.