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Chapter 58: I can't see him right now
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Trust Duet Series Chapter 59: Subbie problems
ERICBy Wednesday night, I still hadn't heard a word from Lena. Yet again, she wasn't even taking my calls, but given what had been going on with her mother, I found her silence far more concerning. She had responded to a few texts, enough to say she was fine, but I had hoped after a couple of days to rest and process, she'd at least be up for a chat. I couldn't help worrying that something more had happened after I dropped her off on Saturday.I sat out two plates for dinner and placed some broiled chicken and green beans on each, then sat out two glasses of water and called for Charlie. A few minutes later, the boy came skipping down the stairs, still with his coloring kit in tow. "Leave all of that on the hall table. Time to eat." After dropping off his stuff, Charlie climbed up to the table, sitting on his heels in the chair across from me. He nibbled on a few pieces of chicken, then looked up. "When is Miss Lena coming back to visit?""I don't know." I poked at the green beans,
Trust Duet Series Chapter 60: I couldn't take it back
"Yeah, I came to chat with Cade, and he put me to work." I thought I'd be angry when I saw her again, at least a little cross, but her expression melted all that away. I tugged her toward the table where Cade and I had been sitting. "You need something to drink?" She looked at the empty beer bottles still sitting on the table and shook her head. After getting her seated, I went to the bar and filled her a glass of water anyway. "Are you okay?" Lena nodded, pulling the straw from the glass, and stabbing it through the ice repeatedly. "I don't know what I am, honestly." She closed her eyes and her head jerked to the left. "I'm sorry. I shut down and - " She seemed to struggle as much to find words as she did to keep her eyes open. "When's the last time you slept?" "For more than a couple of hours at a time? Tuesday night." "Lena," I sighed. When I reached for her hand, she pulled them both back, hiding them under the table. Her emotions weren't the only things she hid away. "I cl
Trust Duet Series Chapter 61: The coffee fairy has arrived
LENAAfter getting a brief update from one of the nurses, Eric and I headed to the small waiting room down the hall. Fortunately, since it was a limited-purpose room, there were only two other people, and we took a long seat in the corner where I stretched out. When they'd called Mom had been in recovery coming off the anesthesia after the doctor successfully removed the infected tissue. They wanted to monitor her a while longer and run a few tests before she had any visitors, but at the moment, they believed her chances were good for a full recovery. I tried not to dwell on what that might mean for her. I lay across the seat, kicking my feet up over the arm and laying my head in Eric's lap. He laid his coat over me, and I stared up at the gray speckles in the white ceiling tiles for a while. When sleep came, it seemed to flutter in and out with the sounds and movement of the hospital. Eric shifted slightly and the smell of coffee hit my nostrils. Fresh coffee, not that stale shit t
Trust Duet Series Chapter 62: I refused to give you up
Her eyes and forehead were shadowed with bruising from the swelling around her face, and it seemed she had difficulty keeping her eyes open. "Lenora," she said again, in her husky voice. Although determined to keep the visit as amiable as possible, the name was one weight I couldn't handle. "I go by Lena." "Right," she sighed. "You never did like that name. Honestly, I can't blame you. It's a shitty name. Only thing I had from my mother, too." She'd never really spoken about her mother before, no more than to say she'd never been around. "I'm surprised you're here," she said. Well, you did practically show up on my doorstep. "I'm surprised you came looking for me, again.""That man who was with you before, he's your boyfriend? Or... are you married by now?" I scuffed my toes against the tile floor, feeling the slight resistance as they squeaked. "How much do you know already?" She lifted her head, then flinched before gently laying her head back. "What do you mean?" Was she h
Trust Duet Series Chapter 63: The chase was over
ERIC "Good, you're still here." My shoulders relaxed when I found Cade's large frame sitting longways across the waiting room seat. He and Beth were the only two in the room, so I assumed Jim and Ollie hadn't returned. "You know, when my employees say that, I normally assume it's sarcastic." "In this case, no. My parents got held up at their appointment. Could you swing by my house and get Charlie off the bus?""What do you want me to do with him after?" "Well, don't feed him ice cream." I handed him the key to the house. "I guess sit tight until I figure it out." "Can do." Cade rolled off the couch. "I'll feed him Twizzlers." I groaned as be bumped my shoulder, then took his seat. "It takes a village," Beth said. "Oh, they weren't kidding. I don't even have a job yet and I can barely keep up." "Well, I would say it gets easier, but next up is middle school and - " "Nope, don't even want to think about it." Beth laughed. "From what I've seen, you're handling it all pretty we
Trust Duet Series Chapter 64: I like it when you keep me warm
LENAWith Eric gone, the house was too quiet, and the bed was too cold, so I pulled the comforter off of the bed and headed downstairs to turn on the TV and check my messages. I had a message from Beth saying that they were on their way home, and a couple from Ollie, mostly being his jerk-face self, but letting me know he'd be at the community center if I needed anything. Since there weren't any voicemails from the hospital, I figured everything on that front was fine, and I wasn't in a hurry to head back. Sure, we were at a strange crossroads with a tentative truce in place. We'd never discussed her history with drugs before, not a word about why she started using, the manipulation, or the pregnancies she'd lost. I wasn't sure if that made the decisions redeemable or that I would ever rectify it all with the emotions I'd experienced for so long. I still didn't have the whole story, but for the first time, we had the beginnings of a genuine exchange based on honesty. When Eric return
Trust Duet Series Chapter 65: She completed me
ERICWhile I cleaned up the remnants of wrapping paper from the morning's round of opening presents, Charlie curled up in Lena's lap, playing with one of the squishy balls Mom had got him. He was still tired, but Mom wanted to get the first round of presents out of the way so she could finish up lunch while we waited for Charlie's uncle and his family to arrive from New York. "I'm going to help Mom for a bit." I gave Lena a peck on the forehead. "You need anything?" "No, thanks." She looked even more tired than Charlie, but we had stayed up later eating the cookies Charlie had insisted we leave out for Santa. It was a good way to keep his mind off the fact that Santa couldn't bring him what he really wanted, his Mommy. But lately, he seemed to handle it better, until it came to holidays. He had Lena or me to cling to and that usually seemed to help. I gently pinched Charlie's shoulder, and he gave me a funny face, then I headed into the kitchen, which was warm and humid with the sm
Trust Duet Series Chapter 1: "I'm rusty..."
LENAI shifted on my barstool and glanced to the front of the bar where Oliver sat with his rowdy sports-obsessed friends. I demoted him, Ollie to Oliver, the asshole roommate who dragged me out of the house on this beautiful fall evening, insisting that I "get out and have some fun." Then, the game came on, his friends wandered in, and I was perfectly fine not being associated with their grandiose whoops and whistles. At least hunkered down at the back corner of the bar, I could pretend like they were strangers. I stabbed the black straw through the ice in my black cherry mojito and considered finding my own way home. But Ollie would intercept me at the door, apologize for getting distracted, and we'd leave. It might not sound like the worst idea, but I was stewing. Punishing him with a silent treatment he had yet to notice. Really smart, Lena. "Tall Smithwicks." A deep male voice startled me, and I glanced up from my drink long enough to see a tall dark-haired man, claim the seat
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