Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
NOAH BARRETT
I hold Savannah close to me as all kinds of thoughts run through my mind. It’s been years since I had her in my arms like this, but I remember it like no time has passed at all. She still smells like almonds and fresh flowers, and my insides turn to jelly. I want to kiss her so badly I can taste it. Her lips part, as if she can read my mind.
I lower my head toward her, and almost capture her lips in mine, but at the last second, I realize what I’m doing, and I jump back from her. “I’m sorry,” I blurt out.
A millennium goes by as she stares at me, and I try to catch my breath. “For what?” she finally asks.
I don’t want to admit I almost kissed her, so I point to the noodles and vegetables that cover us. “For the mess.”
“Oh.” Savannah smiles at me. “It was my foot that sent the food flying. I’ll clean it up.”
I follow her into the kitchen. “I can help.”
She grabs a washcloth and runs it under the water. Then she turns to me and reaches for my head, which surprises me, and I step back, but she swipes a noodle off my forehead and giggles at me. “I totally should have taken your picture for blackmail.”
I’d forgotten about the noodle. “Yeah, you probably should have.”
She rubs her washcloth over my skin as I pick a bamboo shoot off her shoulder. I shake my head. We clean all the food and sauce off the couch and floor, then I pull out my phone from my pocket. “I’ll order a pizza. You still like sausage and mushrooms?”
She nods and lifts one eyebrow at me. “You remember.”
“Sure,” I say, like it’s no big deal. Like I don’t remember every detail of the time we spent together.
“How about breadsticks?” She gleefully presses her fingertips together, wiggling them like a cartoon villain plotting world domination.
I hold in a laugh. “That’s a given. Want a Coke?”
“Yes, please.”
I pull up the pizza place app and place our order. We only have one pizza place on the island, but it’s decent. As we wait for our food, we sit and Savannah clicks on the television, then pulls up YouTube. “Check this out. You’ll love it. This song is fantastic.”
She pulls up a video, and I about choke on my spit as the guy on the screen plays his guitar and sings. It doesn’t show his face, but I’d know that voice anywhere. “That’s Micah.”
Savannah jerks her gaze toward me. “Really?”
“Yeah. How did you find his channel?” I knew he’d started one, but I didn’t think he’d told anyone about it besides family.
“This video went viral. Look, it’s got over 500,000 views.”
I watch in awe as Micah strums on his guitar. He’s improved since I last listened to him. And it’s really catchy. “What song is this?”
“If Only You Knew. It’s one he wrote. He talks about it at the end of the video.”
I’m too stunned to say anything. I didn’t know Micah was writing music. Why didn’t he say anything? I’m living in the same house. How could I know so little about my younger brother? “Wow.”
Savannah points the remote at the TV. “Are you sure this is Micah?”
“Yeah. That’s his room. I gave him that Led Zeppelin poster. He was really into classic rock a few years ago.” I listen as he finishes the song and then tells people to follow him. “How many subscribers does he have now?”
Savannah clicks over to his channel. “Thirty-five thousand.”
I’m so impressed with my brother. “He’s killing it.”
“If he keeps going like this, he’ll be more famous than Tobias.” She clicks on another one of his videos. We listen to Micah’s music until the doorbell rings, and I stand up to get our food.
I open Savannah’s door and see Colton Lawson, a teen I’ve come to know through my job. “Hey, Colton,” I say, taking the pizzas from him.
“Hey, Officer Barrett.” His ears turn pink. He hands me a plastic sack with our Cokes, napkins and plates.
Even though I tipped him through the app, I take out my wallet and slide him an extra five-dollar bill. “I didn’t know you deliver pizzas.”
He shuffles his feet. “Yeah. I just work on weekends.”
I pause, my heart going out to the kid. He’s in a rough spot. I hope he can graduate from school and get away from his nasty family life. “How are things at home?” I ask tentatively.
“Fine,” he says quickly, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to talk about it.
I slowly nod. “All right then. See you around.”
He turns and hurries down the steps. I watch him climb into a blue Chevy Cruze and take off.
I bring the pizza and breadsticks inside. Savannah takes them from me and sets them on the coffee table. I pull out the paper plates and sodas.
I sit next to her on the couch, and we dig into the food. Savannah nods toward the door. “Sounded like you knew the delivery boy. Who was it?”
“Colton Lawson. Do you know him?”
“No.”
I take a breadstick from the box. “He’s a good kid. Unfortunately, I get called out to his house a lot. Domestic violence. His mom’s boyfriend is a piece of work.”
Savannah presses her hand to her chest. “Oh, no. Does he hurt Colton?”
“Not usually. It’s his mom that gets the brunt of it. But living in that environment isn’t good for him, and it makes me so angry that his mom lets it happen.”
“Can’t you arrest him?”
“We have. But Colton’s mom keeps letting him back in the house, so there’s not much we can do.” I frown, frustration mounting in my gut. “I don’t know why some people live like that.”
“Many reasons, I suspect. The cycle of abuse is hard to break.”
“I guess. And it’s kids like Colton who suffer.” I pick up the remote to distract myself from thinking more about it. I don’t want to dwell on it. I search for a comedy channel I like to watch. “Have you seen these videos?”
Savannah lifts another slice of pizza. “No.”
“You’ll love it.” I click on it, and we get sucked into the funny sketch comedy team as we eat. I love the light sound of Savannah’s laugh.
After we’re done eating, Savannah picks up the fortune cookies from the coffee table and hands me one. “Even though the stir fry was ruined, we can still open our fortunes, right?”
I nod, smiling to myself. Savannah has always loved fortune cookies. “Sure.”
She rips open her bag and cracks the cookie. She pulls out the paper, reading from the slip. “Your life will take a surprising turn. Blame the GPS.”
I suck in a breath and then choke on my spit. I shift as I try to regain my composure. “It does not say that.”
She hands it to me, and it does, indeed, say that. She grins and nudges my leg. “What does yours say?”
I crack mine open and read the paper. “Get up the courage to finally do what you want, or you’ll have a sad, lonely existence.”
I let out a breath. How does a fortune cookie know I’m too chicken to tell Savannah I want to rekindle our relationship? I chuckle to hide my discomfort. “What kind of fortune cookies are these?”
She giggles. “They’re gag fortunes I got from online. Aren’t they great?”
I grin, even though a cookie just put me in my place. “Yeah. Great.”
“I think these are so funny. Last week I got one that said, “Today is your lucky day! Tomorrow, not so much.”
“Did you have luck that day?”
She purses her lips. “Come to think of it, I didn’t see Donald all day long.”
My muscles tense. “I think I should talk to him. I could persuade him to leave you alone.”
She shakes her head at me. “It’s okay. Really. I was making a joke.”
I nod, but I silently resolve to have a chat with good old Donald. He’s making Savannah uncomfortable, and it needs to stop. I close the pizza box since we polished the whole thing off and stand so I can take it to the recycling bin.
“You don’t have to do that,” Savannah says, jumping up and taking it from me.
“I don’t mind.” I take it back from her and walk into her kitchen.
“Thanks.” She stands back as I fold the box in half, so it fits in the blue bin.
I turn to her. We’ve demolished the wall, we’re done eating dinner, and I’m exhausted. I should leave. But something holds me back. The memory of Savannah’s face as she slams the hammer into the wall surfaces, and I blurt out, “What happened earlier?”
She pales. “What?”
“I mean,” I say, my voice softening. “That whole thing with the wall. What happened?”