Page 88 of Talk About… History

“Cohen!” The voice that called out was strong, though a little gravelly, like it was under-used. “My boy!”

I arrived just in time to see the old man practically hop out of his armchair and crush Cohen in a hug. I couldn’t tell who the shaky breath or the small cries came from but we all stepped out to give them a moment.

“That’s what he needed,” the nurse said, nodding her head in approval and dabbing at her eyes. “Glenn is the sweetest.”

“Can we get a little bit of honesty here?” Mason asked.

She didn’t flinch at his blunt demeanor, she just shrugged and waited to hear what he was going to say. The nurse was bound by privacy laws, so she wasn’t going to give him anything personal.

“This Clara... I’m getting the vibes that she threw him in here and locked away the key. Does she visit? Is she still manipulating the narrative? Why didn’t she want Cohen to come here?”

She took a breath as Mason finished speaking.

“I can’t speak for that vile woman, and I’m probably overstepping telling you this, but she’s just a terrible person. You can feel the negative energy coming from that omega,” her nose wrinkled as she looked off in the distance, as if she could picture Clara coming in. “I’m sure she’ll kick up a fuss the moment she hears that he came.”

“That’s kind of what I’m worried about,” I admitted. “Is she going to be able to ban us from coming here? Can Glenn leave soon?”

“She’s footing the bill so far, but that man in there has been ready to leave for close to a year. He’s passed all his rehab at this point, he’s just here because she’s paying, and he has nowhere else to go. My understanding is that she held some sort of decision-making power over his financials as well; otherwise, he could have just checked himself out. It’s a sad situation, but unfortunately, one we’ve seen far too often.”

The compassion in her voice was breaking my heart. I wondered how many old souls were stuck here wondering where their family went.

“Then we’re getting him out of here,” Arden said, as if the case were closed.

“I’m not disagreeing because we definitely are, but we also have to consider the fact that we have an omega now,” Mason pointed out.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?” I asked, confused. The last thing I wanted to do was separate uncle and nephew. Especially after they just found each other.

The sassy nurse was the one to answer. “Well, honey, an omega is going to be in heat eventually, and I don’t think that’s something you want an old man to witness, correct?”

My cheeks flushed, and I groaned. “Okay, I get it. I get it.”

“What about the storage above Cohen’s shop? All of those old buildings have apartments up there. Could we maybe set that up for him? He could stay with us until then, right? Hell, he could stay with my mom until then if we had to. Either way, he’s not staying here.”

“Are you guys serious?” Cohen’s voice was shaky, his face a little pale as he looked from one of us to the next, trying to figure out if this was all a huge dream that he was about to wake up from.

“Of course, we’re serious,” I said. “She said he’s free to go. Your aunt’s been holding something over him. I don’t think he has access to his money, but he doesn’t need it. He can leave here today with us.”

“Oh, we should stop for lunch somewhere. No offense, but nothing beats a dinner out,” Ford said, giving the nurse a grin. She held up her hands and laughed.

“Oh, honey, I agree,” she said. “Our cook makes everything healthy and low sodium. Give that man a cheeseburger.”

Cohen’s eyes fluttered closed as he tried to rein in his emotions. A single tear slipped free, and Ford was there to brush it away. He pulled our beta into a hug, one that I joined. We both held onto him until he was breathing a little easier.

“Avery suggested we convert that storage space above your shop into an apartment for him,” Mason said.

“That might not work if he’s not agile enough, that’s a lot of stairs. We could buy a house near Main Street instead,” I said now that I recognized the fault in that plan. We let Cohen go so he could join in, but the poor beta was beyond overwhelmed.

“Wait, that might work,” Mason said as he pulled me into a side hug. I settled into his scent, though I tried to stay focused. It was hard to do around these men, though. “The place we were renting—there was a house for sale next door. It’s literally a couple minute walk from downtown. It’s perfect. It’s like a one-bedroom little cottage, a cute little yard. It’s fenced in, so he could potentially get a dog.”

“I’m already meeting with the contractor. We could adjust the plans and have him start in town if the place needs any upgrades. I meant to talk with you guys about it yesterday, but things kind of took a turn at the dinner table.”

Cohen opened his mouth as if he was going to apologize, but Arden cut him off. “Don’t apologize. That is not what she meant.”

“It’s not,” I agreed. “And this is not really the place for a full conversation, but I was considering putting a guest house out on the property that I own. We can put up a small house just for him as well to give him his own little space, he’s family so I know none of my other family will protest.”

“Are y’all just going to sit out here and talk about me?” the old man said, pushing away into the hallway, hands on his hips, bushy eyebrows raised.

He was full of personality, and I liked him immediately.

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