Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
TRACE
I hated driving in the city and doing it with a U-Haul on the back of Booker’s truck was possibly the worst experience of my life.
Cade sat in the back seat, pointing out all his favorite things, and I tried to nod and smile as what felt like every other driver on the road tried to kill us all.
“You sure you don’t want me to drive on the way back?” Delaney asked, the smile on her face proving that she knew exactly how I was feeling.
“Nope. I got this,” I said through gritted teeth as I tried to hold in the need to swear at the driver who had just swerved in front of me.
“There! There!” Cade shouted from the back seat, and my foot automatically went to the brake before I managed to catch myself.
“Yes!” Delaney shouted, making me nearly jump out of my skin. “There!”
“What is happening right now?!”
“There’s a parking space.” Delaney was all but leaning over me now as she pointed at a gap that had to be smaller than the truck and the U-Haul combined.
“We’ll never fit in that.” I was shaking my head already, wishing I really hadn’t insisted that I be the one to drive us into the city. “It’s too small.”
“You can totally fit in there,” Delaney told me confidently. “You won’t see anything else big enough. I actually thought we’d have to uncouple the trailer and park the truck separately. You need to get it quick before someone else beats you to it or we’ll be circling the block for hours.”
Those were the only words she could have said to even get me to attempt to park this thing. Because hours more on these roads would send me into a stress induced heart attack.
“Like a glove,” Delaney said happily as she leaned into the driver’s window twenty minutes later.
I was pretty sure I could feel the sweat running down my back right now. That had to be the worst experience of my life.
“Can we all pretend I did that in one go?” I asked.
Cade laughed. “You said that word that Auntie Blake says when she’s parking. And soooo many times.”
I cringed. Yeah, I was going to have to be better about the f-bombs in the future. In my defense, every one had been warranted. If Delaney hadn’t gotten out of the truck to help me, I would have just turned around and driven us home after ten minutes.
“Don’t worry,” Delaney said, patting me on the shoulder. “You can lift all the heavy things and feel like a manly man.”
I glared at her, even though I was relieved to see her happy in the moment. It had been a long few days after the funeral of Delaney trying to work through her emotions while helping Cade at the same time. She’d cried herself to sleep in my arms nearly every night, hiding her grief in the dark away from her son.
I was in complete awe watching her. Cade was her number one priority. She was everything my own parents hadn’t been, and she made it look so easy.
“Okay,” I said, getting out of the truck on shaky legs I didn’t want to admit to. “Let’s grab the boxes and get this done.”
Cade was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. “And then we can go for ice cream!” he cheered.
I’d forgotten about that, but it was a good idea. I had a feeling that after this we’d need something cold and sweet.
“Come on, I want to show you my old room.” Cade grabbed my hand and started to tug me down the sidewalk, which was surprisingly quiet for the city.
I’d been to the city a couple of times over the years. It was impossible not to in our business. I’d never been to this part, though, and I couldn’t help but look around and try to imagine what their life had been like here. The one they had without me.
It seemed like a nice neighborhood. Quiet, no one hanging around that made me fear for their lives. But it also didn’t seem like a neighborhood someone with a lot of money would live in, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Delaney hadn’t been completely upfront about her financial situation. I got her not wanting to take any money from my family, but it shouldn’t matter with me. I had my own money. Money I’d made myself, and she should absolutely be sharing it with me. I’d give her it all if she’d let me. Maybe I should ask Blake. She seemed like she’d tell me the truth if she thought it would help Delaney. The two of them were as close as two friends could get. Not to mention she was also an amazing person.
Before I knew it, Delaney was jogging up the steps to one of the nearby buildings and opening the door for us. That had been an incredible parking spot with how close it was, and a couple of hours from now, those gray hairs I was pretty sure I got from parking might even be worth it.
“We’re on the second floor, so we usually take the stairs if you’re okay with that?” Delaney called over her shoulder as she moved across the neat foyer and opened a mailbox.
There was no door man. I didn’t know how I felt about that. And the outside door hadn’t been locked. I didn’t say anything, not wanting to sour the mood, but I wasn’t entirely happy that they’d been living here. Not when I was sitting in that big house back in Willowbrook while they’d been struggling to get by.
“Stairs are fine with me,” I said instead of what I really wanted to.
There was no point in getting annoyed now. Delaney wasn’t the person to blame for this situation, and she didn’t deserve to have to face my anger.
I couldn’t help examining every inch of the place as we made our way up the stairs, Cade rushing up ahead of us as I clenched my fists at my sides to stop myself from trying to hold him back.
The city was dangerous. Everyone knew that. Anyone could have gotten inside and be waiting up there.
When Delaney reached her apartment door and slipped the key into the lock, I made sure to check the hallway for anyone waiting for the door to open.
“What are you doing?” Delaney gave half a laugh and half a sigh as she pushed the door open and looked at me like I was losing my mind.
“What?”
I busied myself, shuffling the flat boxes under my arm like I was trying to make sure I didn’t drop them, even though I already had a good grip on them. Don’t say it, Trace. Don’t upset her when you’ve only just got her back.
“You’re being weird,” she informed me as she squinted at me in suspicion. “No one’s going to leap out of the shadows and stab you, you know?”
I laughed a weirdly high-pitched nervous laugh and then cleared my throat in embarrassment as I followed her inside.
“I wasn’t thinking…” But then my brain caught up to what I was looking at and the words stalled in my throat.
The apartment was lovely. The afternoon sun filtered through the soft curtains at the windows, giving the whole place a warm glow. It was homey and welcoming. And it looked exactly like the kind of place Delaney and I had always dreamed of when we talked about running away to the city.
This was their home.
“This is amazing, Delaney.”
She smiled at me happily as she wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “And Blake even remembered to empty the refrigerator,” she said, sounding impressed before she closed it and leaned back against the door. “It took some time to get it how I wanted it, but once I did…it felt too much like home to move somewhere else.”
Now I understood why she’d stuck around when she could have afforded something much nicer.
“Plus, the rent is a steal.”
“Come see my room.” Cade grabbed my hand and tugged me toward a closed door with his name on it.
His smile was so infectious that I couldn’t help but feel excited to get a glimpse of his life. He threw open the door with a flourish and then darted inside and threw himself on his bed.
I followed him inside, taking the time to look around and soak up how his life in the city had been.
Delaney popped her head through the door. “I’m just going to pack up a couple of things for Blake that she wants from her apartment. Are you guys okay getting started in here? You don’t need to bring everything, Cade, just all your school bits and anything you can’t live without for the next six months.”
“Sure thing, Mom!” Cade called out, scrambling off his bed and throwing open his closet.
“I’ll start making up some boxes. You sure you’re going to be okay on your own?” I asked Delaney.
She rolled her eyes at me. “No one is going to jump out from under Blake’s bed and murder me.”
I laughed at her melodramatics. “I more meant in case you needed me for anything heavy.”
“Oh, yeah, probably. I’ll call you over if the boxes get too heavy.”
She leaned forward and pecked me on the lips before she disappeared out the door. I watched until the door closed behind her and then turned back to find Cade smiling at me.
“Was that gross?” I asked with a wince.
We hadn’t really talked to Cade much about how it was going to work having me in their life. It had to be weird to see his mom with someone, even if that guy turned out to be his dad.
“No. It’s nice. Not the kissing. Yuck. But it’s nice to see Mom happy.”
“She wasn’t happy before.”
“She wasn’t not happy.” He shrugged and turned back to his closet, putting his hands on his hips as he stared inside. “I think we need to pack everything,” he said seriously.
I looked around the room in surprise. It wasn’t overly big, and for a kid, Cade was pretty neat. And while he might not have had a lot of stuff, it would still take a while to pack.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.” He glanced over his shoulder at me and grinned. “It’s not like we’re moving back here.”
“Did your mom say that?”
Delaney hadn’t mentioned moving to Willowbrook permanently, even if I was desperate for them to. I’d follow them anywhere, but there was something about having them back in a place that felt like home that seemed so right. Besides, Booker was there, and even though I’d leave if I had to, I’d like to keep my one remaining brother in my life if I could. And not just because of his mad breakfast cooking skills.
“No. But we’re going to be a family at the farm. And I can already tell that we’re going to like it there. Willowbrook is where we need to be.”
His words echoed around my head, and I walked into the room to perch on the side of his bed. There had been something I’d wanted to ask him for a few days, but I’d never found the right time to do it. Apparently, it was now while he was pulling arms full of clothes out of the closet and dumping them on the bed beside me.
“Cade? How are you feeling about everything that’s happening? A lot of stuff is changing really fast, and I want to make sure you’re okay with it all.”
He stopped and looked at me curiously. Cade tipped his head to the side while he thought for a moment. “I’m nervous about trying a new school, but not really because it’s just school. I’m happy that I get to hang out with you and Uncle Booker. And I’m happy that Mom is happy.”
This kid was possibly the sweetest I’d ever met. Well, he was probably the only kid I’d ever spent any time with, but I was fairly certain there were none as good as he was.
“If you weren’t okay with anything, you know you can come and talk to me about it, right?”
He nodded, turning back to his bookcase and staring at the books. “I’m really lucky, aren’t I?” he said without turning around again.
“What do you mean?”
“Because I have so many people in my family now that care about me.” Then he leaned forward, swept an entire shelf of books into his arms, and turned around. “You really need to start making those boxes.”
This kid.
He wasn’t the only lucky one around here.