35. Storm
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
The plans were set. I was leaving this town and moving in with my angel. But Heath’s tears falling onto my shoulder are telling me I can’t leave. I can’t leave but I want to. But I can’t.
Just my fucking luck, isn’t it?
“Hey, bud,” I say softly. “You know when you, Mom, and Dad moved into the house that’s a little farther away from me? And I promised you that I’d still see you every Wednesday for pizza and every weekend for breakfast. Didn’t I still see you no matter how far you lived?”
“Yeah,” Heath replies, letting go of my neck and wiping his eyes.
I hold his arms. “Didn’t I promise you whenever you wanna talk all you gotta do is call me because I’ll always answer?”
He nods. “Yeah.”
I lift his chin so he looks at me. “Didn’t I tell you that you are always gonna be my number one, even when I have a million things on my plate?”
He sniffs. “Yeah.”
“It’s going to be the same thing, only I’ll be a little bit further away so it won’t take me ten minutes to get here, but I’d still be able to get here if you wanted me to,” I explain. “Auden means a lot to me. And you know not many ladies mean a lot to me. She’s the only one I ever introduced you to, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” he agrees.
“She’s my angel, did you know that?” I say, smiling. “She saved me. I can’t let my angel go back home without me, now, can I?”
“Yes, you can. Because you can call her when you want her and you can drive to her like you drive to me,” he says, his lower lip quivering again. “Please don’t leave me, Uncle Storm.”
I sigh, shaking my head but pulling him into a hug to stop him from crying again. “Heath.”
What in the actual fuck am I going to do?
Leave and hurt this little boy?
Stay and hurt my angel?
My gut is wrenched just thinking about it.
But I have to make a decision soon. I had my future planned out. A job lined up for me for one, an apartment, a life with my angel. Things need to go my way, but how can they when this boy is hurting?
I sniff, pulling him off me and holding him by the shoulders. “Why don’t you go outside, yeah? I got a phone call I have to make.”
Heath wipes his eyes and smiles up at me, green eyes like Rick and me. He runs off, always in a rush, and the screen door slaps shut behind him.
I sit back against the vanity and sigh, closing my eyes a moment. This too shall pass. I don’t know how, but it will, won’t it?
I open my email to the congratulations for my new job. He asked me to call him but I’m not going to. If I’m not leaving, then what’s the use, right?
No, no, I have to stop thinking this way. Things will work out. We will figure this out.
We always do.
The line trills and Gregory’s voice comes on. “Hello?”
“H-hi, it’s Storm Bowman, we spoke on the phone the other day about the job. I’m replaying to the email that said I got it,” I let out quickly, nerves striking me.
“Yes, hi, Storm. Thank you for getting back to me.” He clears his throat. “So the job’s yours, do you think you can start as early as next weekend?”
I shake my head, leaning my head back on the vanity, and close my eyes. “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”
But it’s not a plan. We had a plan and now we don’t. Now everything is fucking garbage. I need to get back to my happy place, I need Auden. I need her right now.
“Great, I’ll give you a call on Monday and sort everything out with you. When are you moving to New York?”
I crack the bones in my neck and lease a slow breath. “Monday or Tuesday. My girl starts her job next Wednesday.”
Gregory chuckles, sucking something from his teeth. “I’ll have you know, I have a couple of nephews myself. You handled yourself fairly well, Storm. We look forward to having you on the team.”
I smile, appreciating his kindness. “Thank you, sir.”
“Now, go enjoy your girl and I’ll give you a call next week,” he says and hangs up before I can reply.
What in the hell am I going to do?