Page 143 of More To Us

Dylan is there, and both he and Van look at me like I'm crazy. I don't explain. I just get to work, helping set up the equipment. And later that night, I play better than I've ever played. Because there's no pressure. I'm not trying to make this a career. I'm just doing it for fun, and because I like it, which is all I ever wanted. Making it a job would've taken the fun out of it.

The next morning, I call Bryce at the house he's been assigned to. The house is owned by a widow who's 95. There's no way she could do any outside work, so she hasn't for years and it shows. There's so much to do I've got twelve volunteers over there, including Kira.

"How's she doing?" I ask Bryce.

"Good. You should see how much she's done already. Shit, the girl never stops."

"She needs to be taking breaks. She shouldn't be on her leg for hours at a time. If she doesn't listen, then send her home. This is my event and I'm not—"

"Yeah, I got it, bro. You told me like a million times. I've been making her take breaks, but she's not happy about it. She's worried we won't get everything done before we have to leave. She said if we couldn't finish it, she'd come back later and do it herself." He chuckles. "Sound familiar?"

"Yeah." It sounds like something I would do. My brothers too. We don't leave a job unfinished. We get it done, no matter what.

"Keep an eye on her. I don't want her getting hurt."

"I've been watching her, but I think she's fine. She's just been raking and putting leaves in bags. I haven't let her do anything else."

"How's everyone else doing?"

"Great. We got a good crew over here. Wish some of these people actually worked for us."

"Most of them are college students so I doubt that'll happen. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye."

Van and Dylan are volunteering today and they recruited a lot people from their college. Van is on my crew and Dylan is on Nash's. Amber didn't volunteer, and I wondered if it was because she knew Dylan would be here. Or maybe she just had something else she had to do today. I wouldn't know because I haven't talked to Kira. But I'm going to today. At the end of the day, I'm going to go to the house she's been assigned to and offer her a ride home and see if we can talk.

At noon, everyone breaks for lunch. We'd planned to order pizzas but didn't have a place for people to sit and eat so we just gave everyone money so they could go eat wherever they want.

I don't have time to get lunch. I've been driving around, making sure everything's set up for the houses we're working on this afternoon. The one I'm at now is just a few blocks from the park where Kira and I went rollerblading when we first met.

Someone knocks on the side of my truck. I'm sitting on the tailgate, a clipboard in my hand with my checklist. I set it down, and when I look up, I see Kira standing in front of me, a paper sack in her hand.

"Hi." She chews on her lip, which she does when she's nervous.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Nash dropped me off. I know I'm not assigned to this house, but I wanted to bring you lunch. Nash said you probably wouldn't have time to go get something. But if you already did, then I could just—"

"No. I didn't have time. I haven't eaten."

"Okay, well..." She holds up the sack. "I got us some salads. Is it okay if I eat with you?"

"Sure." I pat the spot beside me. "Sorry, this is all I can offer for seating unless you want to eat in the truck."

"No, this is good." She sets the sack down.

I notice the boot that's still on her leg. "Need some help getting up?"

"I can do it." She hops up beside me.

Just having her near me again makes me feel something. I'm not even sure how to describe it. It's almost like a calmness comes over me. Like things are right again. Like they should be.

"So how's the leg?"

"A lot better. The boot will probably come off next week." She unloads the sack she brought and hands me the familiar container. And when I open it, I see the familiar ingredients. She got the salad from the grocery store I took her to after we went rollerblading that day. She put together my salad from the bar, filling it with all the stuff I like.

"You went to that store I took you to?" I say.

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