Page 26 of Denim & Diamonds

Brock

Everything sucked this morning.

The skies were gray.

The morning news was depressing.

My eggs were runny.

My coffee couldn’t get hot enough, even though I’d nuked it five times. Now it tasted like mud.

Oak hadn’t done his business when I’d taken him out earlier, so now the rest of the morning would revolve around his damn bowels.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Was it that everything sucked today, or did things just seem worse because I’d had to say goodbye to her earlier this morning?

As I stood in my kitchen and pondered this over my mug of awful coffee, Oak wagged his tail by the door.

“Oh, now you want to go?” I groaned.

I grabbed the leash and took him out for a walk.

“You’d better go this time,” I said as it started to drizzle.

Of course it was raining now, too .

After he freaked out over his own shadow for about five minutes, Oak finally took care of things on the side of the road. I bent to pick it up with my trusty plastic bag. “This is a shitty morning all around, isn’t it?” I told him as I tied a knot in the bag.

After we returned to the house, Oak circled around me in the kitchen, his paws scratching against the tile. Something was still bothering him.

“What? You were just out. What the hell is wrong with you?”

He looked up at me as he tried to catch his breath after the walk.

“You trying to tell me something? You’d better not be judging me for being here and not with her this morning, because I feel bad enough about the way she and I left things.”

He barked at me.

“But seriously, Oak, this is really it? All of these weeks of pent-up frustration, the best sex I’ve ever had, and now it’s just over ?”

Oak growled.

“You’re lucky she and I weren’t here last night. You would’ve gotten an eyeful. Or maybe you would’ve liked watching, you old perv. I saw what you did to that stuffed cow.”

Ruff!

“How good was it, you ask?” I shook my head.

“I don’t normally brag to humans, but I know my secret is safe with you.

” I sighed. “Anyway, Oak, to answer your question, the sex was so effing good that I lost my damn mind and gave her my bracelet. That’s how good.

Because the chance to have another night with her means more than a family heirloom, apparently. ”

I went to heat up my coffee for the thousandth time.

“It doesn’t seem right that she’s still technically here in town and I’m not spending these last minutes with her.” I stopped the microwave. “I need you to talk me out of going over to Sierra right now. Because I really want to.”

Walking over to the counter, I grabbed a pen and notepad. “Let’s go over the pros and cons. I know you like this kind of analysis.”

Oak plopped down onto the floor, looking a bit bored by my dilemma.

“A big con is that seeing her would only make it harder to say goodbye and prolong the agony.” I wrote goodbyes suck in the con column.

I pointed my pen at him. “A pro would be seeing her one more time. But another con would be that I could do or say something dumb—like suggest we try the long-distance thing, which you and I both know is a bad idea, right?”

Oak continued to rest his chin on the floor.

“But a big pro would be that she could suggest it, which would mean a long-distance relationship wouldn’t be something she viewed as a negative.

Knowing she’d be open to it and wouldn’t think I was crazy might make me more likely to consider it.

” I threw my pen onto the counter. “That’s two cons and two pros, if you’ve been counting. We’re at a dead heat.”

He let out a loud bark.

“What’s that you say? A huge pro would be that if I go, I’d at least not have to spend the rest of the day wondering what would’ve happened if I had?

” I scratched my chin. “You make a good point. And it would be one more moment I’d get to spend with her.

One more moment would be worth it, wouldn’t it?

” I grabbed my keys and headed toward the door before I could change my mind.

“Damn you, Oak, and your damn…romanticness. You need to get a life of your own and stop interfering in mine. You’re turning me into a goddamn sap.” I slammed the door behind me.

I drove my truck to a convenience store on the way and grabbed a bunch of snacks for Feb to take on the road, since I knew she was renting a car to get back to the City. I didn’t have time to waste, but the snacks would give me a reason to stop by other than just being unable to let her go.

When I pulled up to Sierra, I noticed the ladder was gone. That wasn’t a big deal; it just meant I couldn’t surprise her by showing up at her window.

I called her cell phone, but there was no answer.

Crap.

Having no choice but the main entrance, I went straight to the front desk.

“How can I help you?” a woman asked. Thankfully, she wasn’t the same employee who’d witnessed our stepsiblings’ kiss the last time I was here.

“Hi, I’m February Shaw’s brother. I was hoping to catch her before she leaves today…”

The woman’s smile faded. “Oh. She was discharged about a half hour ago. She already left.”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

I hung my head. “Thanks.”

Carrying my big bag of snacks, I’d turned toward the door when a voice called from behind me.

“Hey, Lumberjack! ”

I turned to find February’s friend Morgan.

I waved. “Hey…”

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

I sighed. “Well, I thought I’d catch February before she left. But it seems I’m too late.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s so romantic. You wanted to get her not to leave?”

“Not exactly. But I wanted to see her one more time before she hit the road.”

She frowned. “That’s too bad. I think she would’ve loved to see you. She was down about leaving this morning. She decided to leave early because she felt it was better to rip the Band-Aid off and get a head start if she was leaving anyway.”

My chest felt tight. “She was down, huh?”

Morgan nodded and took out a phone. She looked around and lowered her voice. “Come look at this.”

She led me down a hallway and showed me some footage of an interview with February that she’d apparently done this morning.

I could hear Morgan ask, “Closing thoughts on your time here?”

February fiddled with my bracelet around her wrist. She seemed melancholy as she answered. “Closing thoughts are that I’m happy to be leaving Sierra but not happy to be leaving Meadowbrook.”

“Any specific reason you’re not wanting to go home? Most of us are dying to get back to our normal lives by now. I know I am.”

“I feel like I’m leaving a piece of myself here. That’s all I’d like to say on camera.”

“From what I suspect, it’s a big piece.” Morgan laughed .

I rolled my eyes.

“What’s the biggest lesson you learned while at Sierra?” Morgan asked her.

February paused. “Having the right person around can change how you see life. Material things become less important when you’re surrounded by the right relationship.

Experiences are what matter. And each experience is more valuable than the last. Not exactly a lesson from Sierra but more from…

the ladder extension school.” She winked.

After that, February walked away from the camera, and the video ended. But boy, she was still wearing my damn flannel. And her parting words told me she was still thinking of me this morning, too.

I said goodbye to Morgan, leaving her with the bag of snacks, minus one thing I kept for myself.

With a heavy heart, I drove back to my house.

When I arrived, there was a note taped to my door.

I guess I just missed you. On my way, but thought I’d try for one last kiss before I hit the road. Guess it wasn’t meant to be. Take care, Brock.

xo Your Red

We’d just missed each other? When I’d gotten up this morning, I’d been certain this wasn’t my day, but now I knew I was cursed.

The first thing I did when I got inside was call her.

She picked up right away. “Hey…”

“I can’t believe you came by.”

“Where were you?”

I let out a long breath. “I was at Sierra—tried to see you one last time. ”

“Are you kidding?”

“I wish I was.” Pulling my hair, I paced.

“I assumed you not being home was a sign, since it would’ve only made me sadder to say goodbye again, but now I feel even worse knowing you came to see me .”

“I picked you up some snacks for the road, but honestly, Red, that was just an excuse to see you one last time.”

“Aw, man. Snacks? I got a few things myself, but I could’ve used more. What did you get me?”

“I didn’t know what you liked, so it was a little of everything: chips, candy…Big Red gum because of your nickname. I gave the whole bag of stuff to Morgan, but I kept the gum.”

“You’re so thoughtful. If I wasn’t thirty miles down the highway now, I’d turn around just for the Big Red. And maybe a kiss, too.”

“It was all just a ruse to taste your lips anyway.”

“Well, I wasn’t even gonna use an excuse. I tried to come to you for the very same thing. I heard Oak behind the door. He kept barking at me. I felt bad because I would’ve loved to give him a hug goodbye, but I couldn’t get to him.”

“He knew about my plan, so he was probably trying to warn you that I was looking for you.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” I chuckled. “Anyway, I’m sorry we missed each other.”

“What did Morgan say?” she asked.

“She showed me the video interview she did with you this morning. It sucked to see you looking so sad. But I have to say, you in my shirt really did it for me.”

“I’m still wearing it now. I love smelling you on my ride. Sweet torture. ”

I groaned. “Damn.”

“Why didn’t you call me earlier and tell me you planned to come by?”

“I thought I’d surprise you. But I did try to call when I got to Sierra. Went straight to voicemail.”

She sighed. “Yeah. Service has been patchy out here. That’s why.”

“I figured it was something like that.”

“Thank you again for the bracelet. It means a lot. I want you to know I’ll always cherish it.”

I plopped down on my couch and rubbed my eyes. “Don’t be afraid to use it, you know?”