Page 84 of Unearthed Dreams

This is good stuff, man. Really good.

Hope I get to talk with her about it soon. Keep me posted.

Charlie’s manuscript. Charlie’s dreams. Charlie’s future.

All of it waiting for her.

None of it including me.

Before I had a chance to chuck the phone and shatter it, too, another message came through.

ELLIOT

They’re discharging Charlie tomorrow

Thought you’d wanna know

I managed a dry swallow before typing out a response.

KAI

Thanks for telling me. I have a few of her things she’ll want.

ELLIOT

I can swing by the bar this afternoon

Not an interaction I was particularly looking forward to, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

I took a steadying breath before I moved around the room, gathering up every piece of Charlie she’d left behind. If I could’ve gathered up the pieces of my broken heart and shoved them in her backpack, too, I’d do it.

They belonged to her.

When her laptop, the marked-up pages of her book, and her Kindle were safely secured in the worn-out bag, I slung it over a shoulder and made my way down to the bar to open for the day.

“Kai.”

I startled, cracking the back of my head on the counter when I snapped to standing from where I was restocking one of the beer fridges.

“Son of a bitch.” I rubbed a palm over the spot, wincing when I prodded against the lump that was already forming.

I turned around to see Elliot sliding into a stool at my bar. Before he had to ask, I poured a glass of his favorite whiskey. When I slid it in front of him, he asked, “Care to join me?” He raised his glass in offer.

“No.”

“You sure?” He cocked his head.

“Not throwing away three years of sobriety just so you can have a drinking buddy. Call your brother.”

His face paled, brows pinched.

“Meant Jasper.”

“Yeah.” He lifted his glass again. “Cheers.”

He threw back the entire glass at once, then nodded toward it. I filled it back up, but he’d be cut off after this. It was barely one in the afternoon, and the Everton family didn’t need more trouble than they already had.

Elliot sipped his second glass while I continued puttering around behind the bar. He was my only customer this early in the day on a Tuesday, but Bert would be in soon. I need to get this little visit over before anyone else showed up.