Chapter 25
NEW BEGINNINGS
Winter
Lovey and I have a heart-to-heart to clear the air, and both of us end up getting emotional. She agreed that she and BJ needed some boundaries, and those would include not falling asleep together.
A few days before I’m scheduled to move to Chicago for university, my mom gets the all-clear to move back to the cabin.
While she’s been recovering at the Sunshine Center, a local, family-run company called Stitches Construction has repaired the railing at the cabin, and they’ve cleaned out the entire garage.
They have some kind of plan for that, but I don’t know what all it entails.
They’ve also installed a security system, so my mom doesn’t have to worry about unwanted visitors.
So far, my dad has been following the order of protection, although I have a feeling Logan is responsible for that. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope the work my mom has done will help her continue to make good choices and keep my dad and his toxicity out of her life.
I was nervous about Mom being alone in the cabin, but she met a woman in her GED class who has a job at Harry’s Hardware and was looking for a place in Pearl Lake.
She’s a few years younger than Mom, but she’s sweet and they get along well, so Clover and Sunny, Lovey’s mom, and I helped get my bedroom ready for her new roommate.
I can always bunk with my mom if I come home to visit during the school year.
And it’s worth it because for the first time in years, my mom has friends and a social life.
Mom has one of her GED classes the day we’re driving to Chicago.
I don’t want her to miss it because it’s math and that’s never been an easy subject for her, so we plan for her to visit once I’m settled in.
Coach Ballistic and Lily, and Rose’s parents, Charlene and Darren Westinghouse, help us load their pickup trucks with our belongings.
I don’t have a ton of stuff, but Rose has enough boxes to fill a freaking warehouse, and we drive down to the city.
I’ve seen pictures of the houses, but they don’t do them justice. I run my hands up and down my thighs, excitement setting in. “A few of my friends from high school went to university and lived in student housing,” I announce. “None of those places looked like this.”
BJ just smiles. Down the street is the house that’s mine—well, that I’m going to live in. There’s no old couch marring the porch, no sheets masquerading as curtains, no flags in the windows. The walkway is lined with pretty flowers.
“River likes to garden,” BJ explains as we park out front.
“Really?” I haven’t met him yet, but I’ve heard all about him. His twin is Lavender, and she’s in New York. River has a boyfriend named Josiah and he works at a sporting-goods store. He played for the school football team last year, but BJ said he’s not sure if River plans to this fall.
“Yeah. He dresses like a black cloud, but he’s a wizard with a rose bush,” BJ says.
“He’s an interesting guy. He’s low-key, serious about his studies, and not big on the party scene, so pretty much the ideal roommate.
And he spends a lot of time at his boyfriend’s because Josiah has his own apartment, so he might not be around much. ”
“Is he home now?”
Lacey waves as she opens the front door and carries a box inside.
“He’s working, but he said he’d be home later.”
“Cool.” My hand is already on the door handle, waiting for BJ to put the Jeep in park so I can get out, but Lovey comes bounding up to the passenger side and yanks it open.
“Come on! I can’t wait to show you your room!” She’s practically vibrating with excitement.
“Just let me grab a couple of bags from the trunk.” I give BJ an apologetic smile.
He tips his chin toward the house. “Go check it out. I’ll be up in a minute with some of your stuff.”
Lovey opens the door to the back seat and grabs my duffle and a plastic bin.
I pull out my backpack and another bin and follow her up the front walk.
I spot Rose two doors down doing a cartwheel on the front lawn, followed by a roundoff.
She waves and skips up the front steps of the house, meeting Quinn at the door.
Lacey holds the door open for us. “Can I take anything?”
“We’re good. BJ has more of Winter’s stuff in his Jeep,” Lovey says.
“I’ll grab a tote.” Lacey is the quieter of the twins, and her face is slightly more angular than Lovey’s.
She also has a small birthmark above her lip on the right side, which makes it easier to differentiate between them.
Although their style helps with that too.
Lovey is all pastel colors, and Lacey is a bit more funky.
“This is the kitchen,” Lovey says as we pass through the spacious room.
It’s eat-in, with white cupboards and gray countertops. It must be at least twice as big as the cabin’s kitchen.
“Wow. This is amazing.”
“It’s great for communal dinners,” Lovey agrees.
“The living room is through there. I’ll show you once our hands aren’t full.
” She leads me up a staircase and down the hall, passing one closed bedroom door and two open ones—those belong to Lovey and Lacey.
At the end of the hall, we climb to the third floor.
“It’s a long way up, but it’s private and has its own bathroom.” Lovey elbows the door open and steps aside to let me through.
“Holy wow.” I set down my load and take in the huge, open room with sloped ceilings. A sliding door leads to a balcony, which overlooks the backyard. “Are you sure you want me to take this room? Maybe you or Lacey would rather have it? Or even River?”
“River spends a lot of time at Josiah’s place, so he already said he doesn’t need the extra space. And Lacey and I are settled in the bedrooms on the second floor, so this is all yours.”
“Every student house I’ve ever visited has been run-down and in need of a serious paint job,” I admit. “I feel bad that I’m taking this from Rose.”
The walls are painted a purple so pale it almost looks white at first. The floors are honey hardwood, and in the center of the room is a square area rug.
The bed is set in the middle of the room, and I’m pretty sure it’s a queen.
Dark purple curtains frame the sliding door, pulled back and tied with white ribbons.
A huge white dresser sits across from the bed, and on the other side of the room is a pale wood desk, a combination whiteboard and corkboard fixed to the wall above it.
Broadway play posters decorate another wall between two doors.
The open one leads to the bathroom, and the other I assume is a closet.
The spare room at BJ’s house was nice, but this is so much different.
It symbolizes freedom and new beginnings.
Lovey pats my shoulder. “Rose will be fine. Kody’s room is huge and neat as a pin. Plus, it’ll be good for Quinn and BJ to have a little estrogen in that house to balance things out. Rose is a neat freak, and BJ isn’t. It should work well if they don’t irritate each other to death.”
BJ appears in the doorway, carrying a box and a bag. “I forgot how freaking many stairs there are in this house,” he huffs, setting his armful beside the other totes and bags.
“I’m going down to help unload,” Lovey says. “Rose brought everything except the kitchen sink.”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” BJ says.
“Take your time.”
She disappears down the stairs, leaving me alone with BJ.
“How do you like the space?” he asks.
“It’s amazing. This room is almost the size of our entire cabin.”
He comes to stand in front of me, the toes of his shoes touching mine. I look up at him. “It’s a lot to take in, huh?”
I smile. “Yeah. It’s a lot.”
“My bedroom is smaller, and you’re welcome to sleep beside me anytime you want.”
“I don’t know how much sleeping we’ll be doing.”
“Eventually we’ll get to the sleeping part, but this week, it’s all about showing you the fun side of university. And this room has lots of privacy.” He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer, his mouth covering mine.
I loop my arms around his neck and sink into the kiss, at least until I hear someone stomping up the stairs.
“Dad incoming!” Coach Ballistic appears in the doorway a moment after we break apart.
“That’s a lot of stairs.” He’s slightly out of breath.
“I think there are only a couple more boxes down there for you.” He sets down the ones he’s carried, and his eyebrows pull together as he takes in the small pile that’s accumulated next to the door. “Are we missing any?”
“Nope,” I assure him. “I pack light. We should go down and help. Rose brought half of Pearl Lake with her.”
He shakes his head. “No kidding. I think Darren and Charlene might be making a second trip later in the week.”
“Is that because they forgot stuff or because they want to check up on Rose?” BJ asks as we follow his dad downstairs.
“Both, I think,” Coach says wryly.
With everyone pitching in, we get all of Rose’s boxes into her room. BJ’s house is just as nice, with a big, open kitchen, a living room with a huge TV, and a main-floor bedroom that belongs to BJ.
Upstairs are two more bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. Quinn’s room is across the hall from Rose’s.
Once the vehicles are empty of boxes, the parents order food and we gather outside at BJ’s.
They have a hot tub and a big backyard with a hockey net and basketball hoop.
After lunch, we’re enveloped in a round of parent hugs as they prepare to leave.
Charlene pulls Rose aside, and they have a whispered conversation while Darren rubs the back of his neck and frowns.
Lily approaches me while BJ talks to his dad. “We’ll bring your mom up for a visit soon, okay?”
“That would be great. Thank you so much, Lily, for everything. None of this would have been possible without you.”
“We just helped push things along. Remember that university is supposed to be fun, and it’s okay to make mistakes along the way. Enjoy the freedom, be safe, and I promise your mom has a whole community to help her back home, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.” My eyes prick with emotion.
“Your mom is so proud of you, Winter, and so are we.” She pulls me in for a hug, and we both shed a couple of tears.
Then I stand with everyone on the sidewalk and wave while the parents drive away.
The second they turn the corner, Rose shouts, “Party time!”
Quinn looks at his phone. “I gotta coach, but I’ll only be gone a couple of hours. No parties until I’m home and able to play security guard.”
“Come on!” Rose throws her hands in the air.
“You need to unpack anyway. We’ll come help.” Lovey links arms with Rose and Lacey. “And BJ can help Winter unpack.”
“Unpack my ass,” Rose grumbles. “But when we’re done, we’re having a party.”
“Please don’t burn the house down while I’m gone,” Quinn says. “And please, for the love of God, Rose, do not invite five hundred people you don’t know over by posting on social media.”
“That only happened once, and it was an accident.” Rose and the twins traipse across the lawn and disappear into the house.
Quinn turns to BJ. “Keep an eye on that one. I know Lovey thinks she’ll be fine, but now that there’s no parent supervision, I have a feeling the well-behaved Rose of the summer will give us a run for our money.” He turns his smile on me. “I’m looking forward to shooting the puck around with you.”
“Same here.”
Quinn jumps into his truck, and BJ inclines his head. “Should we get you unpacked and then get naked?”
“Can we reverse the order?”
“I love that we’re on the same wavelength.”