Chapter 2
Chapter Two
T ossing the last of the junk from his closet into a trash bag, Evan sighed.
It had been a pain packing up all his stuff for the move.
Thankfully, Mercedes had gotten him another few weeks instead of the ten days on the original eviction notice.
Adam hadn’t been so fortunate, but then his roommate—former roommate—had been the one to decide that starting a fire in an old toolbox on the porch was a good idea.
Last weekend, he’d spent most of his time helping get Carli moved over to Blake’s and then cleaning the floors and closet. This weekend was payback with them giving him a hand getting his junk there. They’d already gone ahead with another load.
As he eyed all his belongings, he shook his head.
It wasn’t a ton of stuff. Anything he hadn’t used in a year, or had no obvious purpose, had gotten thrown away.
The apartment had come furnished when they’d moved in, and Evan couldn’t say he would miss any of the broken-down pieces he was leaving here.
He’d benefit now from Carli moving into Blake’s high-end condo.
He pulled the dog-eared manual for Heavy Equipment Level One and set it next to the Level Two book. The one that had barely been looked at. The vocabulary had been so advanced he’d snapped it shut after skimming it quickly. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get to that next level.
He’d been fortunate that as a teenager, his grandfather, his father’s dad, had taken him under his wing and taught him how to use all kinds of equipment.
He’d gone to a vocational high school and taken classes that got him an early start.
Pops had helped him through all the tests and given him so much experience that he hadn’t had a problem proving he could do the job when he’d been hired at his company eight years ago.
He’d apprenticed for four years—code for grunt labor—then moved to running the equipment.
He was skilled at what he did, but at times he wanted to do more.
Earn more. He wasn’t sure it would happen.
After grabbing the books and dropping them into a box, he picked it up and headed out to the truck.
He’d put this in the front seat since he didn’t want it blowing out and landing somewhere on the road.
The rest of his bags and boxes rested in the bed of the truck, a tarp pulled over and tied to keep them inside.
He waved to the cleaners his sister had hired to scrub the old apartment. It was a present of sorts, and he hadn’t argued. He certainly didn’t want to get on his hands and knees and wipe down the toilet and sink, and Carli had the money now that she was marrying her rich doctor.
Guilt ate away at him as he drove through the streets of Medford to his new place.
He had to stop being so negative regarding Carli and Blake.
The fact his sister had gotten cochlear implants so she could hear better was something he needed to get over.
And forgive. It was her life, and she had every right to make any decision she wanted.
The job she’d gotten because of her expanded auditory access had put her in proximity to Blake, as they both worked at Boston General Hospital, and Blake was a good guy.
Evan couldn’t be happier that his sister had found someone who loved her for who she was and didn’t let her hearing loss get between them.
The sour grapes that they both made more money than him were still there, though, and he wasn’t sure how to get rid of them.
That Level Two book almost smirked at him from the box on the seat next to him.
“Shut up!” he yelled, then laughed at how ridiculous it was for him to be scolding a book.
When he pulled up to the apartment he’d share with Mercedes, Carli’s car was parked out front, the shiny new vehicle Blake had bought her after she’d totaled her old one during a twenty-car pileup on the highway. It looked like they were almost done unloading it. Good. Less for him to heft in.
Once in the driveway, he shut the engine off and unhooked the tarp on the back. Might as well get started. Hauling one of the boxes up the steps, he almost didn’t see Mercedes holding the door open.
Welcome home, she signed.
With the box in his hands, he couldn’t do more than smile and tip his head.
He wanted to grab her and kiss her as a thank you for allowing him to move here.
Not that it was a good idea being so close to the woman who strayed too far into his mind at times.
However, it kept him from sleeping on the streets or crawling back to his parents with his tail between his legs.
Carli’s room—his room now—was littered with bags and boxes, but the bed looked like it had new sheets on it.
Once he set his box down, he glanced at his sister. Did you make the bed already for me?
“Not me. Mercedes had it all done before Blake and I could move anything in.” He could tell by the way her mouth was moving that Carli was using her voice. She claimed it helped her with clarity, even when signing.
Guess I’ll have to thank my new roomie. He rarely used his voice. Would Mercedes want him to more often?
Carli smirked. “She filled the fridge with the foods you like, too. An entire case of Mountain Dew all for you.”
It was his turn to grin. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, so he got his burst of energy in the morning with the caffeine from his favorite soda. This wasn’t the first time Mercedes had stocked up with it. She and Carli didn’t drink the stuff.
Thanks for hauling my junk over here. I appreciate it.
Carli poked her elbow into his side. “What are sisters for?”
For being a pain in the neck, that’s what.
Blake wandered into the room. “Do you need any more help from us today?”
The guy’s signing skills had improved in the almost year he’d known Carli. If Blake kept it up, he’d fit in great at Deaf Night Out. Eventually. He wasn’t ready yet.
As Mercedes strolled through the doorway, he conceded she was perfect for DNO. His sister’s—oops—his roommate had been living with Carli for years and was fluent in ASL. To the point where often people in the Deaf community thought she was one of them.
“I’m good for now. I brought the last batch of stuff in my pickup bed. It won’t take me long to haul it in here.” He used his voice a bit, mostly for Blake’s sake. He knew it wasn’t as coherent as Carli’s, but he had to communicate at his job, so he tried to make it clear when he could.
Blake waved his hand in the air. “I’ll grab a few boxes before we go.” Carli followed him out, and Evan opened the closet to see his clothes already hung up.
Jerking his thumb toward them, he signed, “You do that or my sister?”
Mercedes lifted her shoulders. “Carli brought them in, but I organized them in the closet. You can move them around any way you like, obviously.”
“They look fine. I’m not super picky about where the clothes go. Thanks for changing the sheets and making the bed. You going to do it every day? I could get used to that.” He threw her an extra snarky grin.
Her eyes almost rolled out of her head. “In your dreams. There are a few rules to living here. Carli and I never had a problem, but I have a feeling you’re not as tidy as we are.”
He chuckled, knowing his sister loved everything in its place. “Not even close.”
Mercedes glanced around at the cluttered room. “It’s your room, so you can do whatever you want in here. But if the place is a mess, please keep the door closed. I have friends over at times and don’t need them seeing that.”
“Messy. Close the door. Understood.” He winked at her. “What else you got for me?”
“I like to have the common areas picked up. They don’t need to be dusted and vacuumed daily, but I don’t like lots of clutter.
Especially in the kitchen. Food needs to be put away or tossed in the garbage.
Spills on the counter have to be wiped up.
We get ants in here if there’s even the smallest crumb. ”
“If I only have to pick up my stuff, it’ll be great. Adam wasn’t the neatest person to live with.”
Mercedes pursed her lips. “I didn’t imagine he was.”
After pushing some of the boxes into the bottom of the closet, Evan flopped back on the bed, his hands behind his head. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the firmness of the mattress. Way better than what he’d been sleeping on for the past few years.
The bed shook, and he opened his eyes to find Mercedes staring at him. “What? More rules?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it, but do you bring your girlfriends back home often?”
Was she asking because she didn’t want them here or was she fishing for information? “Kind of hard to bring anyone back here when they don’t exist. But I promise, if I get lucky, I won’t turn the place into a brothel.”
Her eyes flew straight to the ceiling with that comment. “Did you have any questions about living here?”
Sitting up, he cupped his chin between his thumb and forefinger. Yeah, he was always a big thinker. “Not questions, but maybe a few rules of my own. Rules about living with a Deaf guy.”
Hands planted on her shapely hips, she glared at him. The same look his sister often gave him. “You think I don’t know about living with a Deaf person. I have lived with your sister—who is also Deaf—for the past three years.”
She’s not really deaf anymore. The words flew from his hands automatically and regret stabbed him when Carli eased into the doorway and flinched. The death glare Blake gave him from behind his sister hit him dead center.
Blake had warned him to stop hurting Carli with his words, and he couldn’t seem to remember.
He popped off the bed and stepped directly in front of her, then kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder not to be a jerk. Forgive me.”
The pain in her eyes dimmed slightly, and she blew out a breath, then glanced at Mercedes. “Are you sure you want to live with him?”
Mercedes crossed her arms and scowled. “He’ll be good, or he’ll be sleeping on the streets. Right, Evan?”