Page 73 of Love Takes Home

“Oh, Ms. Mills. So glad to see you! I feel like I haven’t seen you at all this year. What are you still doing here this late?”

“Hey, Mrs. Weaver,” I say weakly. “It’s like we keep missing each other, isn’t it? Aubrey stayed after today for some practice. I’m walking her out to meet her dad.”

“Oh, that’s so nice. Is she as good as you were?”

“She might be better.” I smile widely at her. “But her dad is waiting, and this hunk of wood,” I nod to the case, “is getting heavy. We should probably get going.”

“I understand. All you young kids are in a hurry today. I was so sorry to hear about your situation. Such a shame.”

“Yeah, well, thanks?”

“Just know, I don’t blame you, sweet girl. I think you did the right thing.”

“Uh, wow.” I don’t really know what to say to that.

“He’s a real fucker sometimes, isn’t he?” she whispers.

“He really is.” I laugh. “How about lunch tomorrow? We’ll catch up.”

“How lovely. It’s a date.”

“Great. We really do have to go!” I give Aubrey the eyes that I hope she can read, telling her to move her ass. When she does, I start moving, too. “See you tomorrow,” I smile at Mrs. Weaver.

“See you, dear!”

“Fuck,” I whisper when we’re finally out of earshot. Aubrey laughs. “Wasn’t quiet enough, was I?”

“Nope,” she laughs.

The doors are in view, and Aubrey is pushing through them when I see the boys from earlier in the parking lot. Waiting. Aubrey sees them at the same time and pauses mid-step.

“What do we do?” she asks.

“Go. You’re meeting your dad and I’m meeting my friend to help me take the instrument in for repair.”

“Right.” She takes a deep breath and nods her head, psyching herself up, just in case. “We got this.”

As soon as I’m outside, I find Joker’s eyes on me. His eyebrows furrow and he cocks his head to the side when he takes in the case before realization dawns on him and he rewards me with a smirk.

Aubrey’s dad meets us at the door, and he looks both of us over.

“We’re fine,” I assure him. “But you should follow us when we leave. Going to Lucas’s home to see his uncle.”

“Davis? From Zach’s?” he asks.

“Davis. The former FBI agent from Zach’s.”

The relief on his face is tangible, and he nods. “Need some help with the case?”

“We might need some help loading it up in the back of the truck. It weighs about two-hundred pounds.”

I hope he understands what I’m trying to say. I can’t communicate with him telepathically like I can with Joker. But he nods his head and takes the case from me, grunting at the weight.

"What do you have in here, bricks?" he grunts, moving slower than I did.

Makes me smile a little. He’d probably be surprised a hard case like this one is almost thirty pounds empty, and while adding Lucas’s weight increased that, I’ve been lugging instruments around for years.

“What’s wrong?” Joker asks, meeting us in the middle of the parking lot and taking the case from Aubrey’s dad. “The hell you got in here? Bricks?”

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