Page 21 of With Stars in Her Eyes
“And this is actually happening? Y’all just coming in and helping me with manual labor for a bunch of hours.” Samantha responded by donning gloves, and Nic began digging through the first pile of detritus as if they knew the only way I would believe it was happening was to begin.
Courtney nodded, brandishing the coffee carrier and the rest of the doughnuts. “Drink your coffee while it’s hot, and we’ll get started.”
We spent several hours working and carrying loads down to Jeannie’s trailer. Nic wasn’t very chatty, but Samantha and Courtney had put on music, which led to a surprising amount of progress.
“So Nic, what’s your story? You know a lot about mine after dealing with this mess.”
“Oh, the usual. Usurped tyrants. Mistaken identities. Intrigue. Doomed to eternal unrequited love for a sprite I met under the moon. General mayhem and chaos.”
I laughed.
“She didn’t mean your Dungeons and Dragons story, you weirdo.” Samantha snorted.
“Don’t mind him.” Courtney leaned in close to my ear, her whisper tickling my earlobe. “He’s just tired because he was on a Zoom meeting with his best friend back in Texas late last night planning a Dungeons and Dragons party for when he gets back.”
“It’s going to be epic.” Nic stood tall in a posture that would be well suited to a knight about to charge into battle.
Courtney shook her head ruefully. “We both had unconventional childhoods, which is why Nic is healing his inner child through adult role-playing games.”
“Rude.” Nic crossed his arms, a stifled smile making his lips twitch.
Samantha snorted into her water bottle. “Oh… don’t let him being tired and quiet today fool you, he’s normally especially chipper in the morning.”
Nic rolled his eyes.
Courtney winked. “True. He talks to his pet tree on occasion while enjoying his breakfast when I’m too groggy to listen to him.”
The tiny spark behind Nic’s green eyes made it obvious this was an old game. “You can laugh all you want, but Fanny’s a great listener. And she never mocks my inner-child-healing adult extracurriculars.”
“Wait, who’s Fanny?” I asked.
Courtney poked Nic’s shoulder. “A pet fiddle-leaf fig tree.”
“An elegant and well-maintained fiddle-leaf fig tree.” Nic popped open a large black contractor bag for flourishing emphasis like a bullfighter with one of those red blanket things.
“Sorry. Yes.” Courtney smiled teasingly. “An elegant and well-maintained pet fiddle-leaf tree.”
“So smug.” He wrinkled his nose at her but couldn’t quite hide some delight at Courtney’s teasing.
Nic took another armload down the stairs to the truck. We would be making our first run to the dump soon.
I finished filling my own contractor bag while Samantha tried to coax details from Courtney about Nic’s relationship status.
Samantha knew some women and men in Abbott’s law school classes who might be interested in getting the chef’s number.
Hearing the gossip made me feel accepted into this group like family.
When Samantha left to carry a bag down herself, I hauled my own over my shoulder. “I feel like what I’m getting from these details about your cousin is that despite the scary, motorcycle-gang-enforcer exterior, he’s a safe dude to have around?”
“Well, safe might not be the right word if you’re a Texas bar- hound asshole and get on the wrong side of him.
” Courtney had something like sisterly pride beaming in her eyes.
“But he’s good . Nic’s the most genuinely good person I’ve ever known in my life besides Sam.
And I was going to say Ms. Jeannie, but she might be more a chaotic neutral. Nic, though, he’s good.”
Nic snorted from the doorway, his cheeks slightly pinker than before. “Shush, you.” Nic shook his head at Courtney. “Always talking shit about me.”
“Always.”
Nic pointed a thumb toward the doorway. “We better get going. We’re burning daylight. Never know what we will be facing at a municipal dump. There could be monsters.” He took the bag from me and headed back out the door.
“See. That is the normal Nic.” Courtney elbowed him. “Always acting like we’re off on a side quest.”
“Stop mocking my new hobbies in carrying whispers!” His holler carried from halfway down the stairs.
Still laughing, Courtney and I headed down to the truck, each carrying one last bag.
Samantha was riding shotgun. “Well, chariot master, if we musteth be gone presently, wilt thou require more sustenance before we embark?”
With a long-suffering sigh, Nic opened the back door for Courtney and me before climbing behind the steering wheel.
Samantha spoke in an affected voice more suited to a Renaissance Festival. “If none of my fair gentlelady companions have any objections, then go forth and mush , I say to you.”
“I’m not a sled dog, Sam,” Nic said in a wry grumble. “And there aren’t sled dogs in Dungeons and Dragons .”
Courtney leaned over the seat, hugged her cousin, and kissed him once on the top of the head.
He wiped the kiss away like a sullen teenager, but again, he was fighting a smile.
Courtney, Samantha, and I all exchanged looks. “Mush,” we said together.
Nic twisted the key in the ignition, the truck rumbling to life. “What has Jeannie Gallagher-Keegan gotten me into with you three?”
All three of us women responded with laughter so loud we drowned out any other sounds as Nic pulled out onto the road.