Page 17 of Losing his Daddy

A sudden rush of emotions left me choked up. I forced myself to thank him, then made plans for us to meet up for drinks. Looked like I was going to Club Deny that night anyway.

Chapter Seven

Gerald

The worldoutside of the rehabilitation center was nothing like I’d expected. Not because I thought it would magically be all sunshine and rainbow glitter. More that I believed there might be a swarm of dragons for me to fight.

While I had a full crisis management plan in place — thanks to a team of experts wanting only the best for me — I still felt so ill-equipped. My plan included the triggers that might send me back to the bottle, a list of self-soothing practices I could use when I felt helpless, and the resource I liked least, the contact of a few people at the facility I could call when I was having an exceptionally rough day.

I truly hoped I never had to use any of them, though I knew it wasn’t a realistic notion. Addiction was bigger than a 90-day program. It was bigger than months or years of sobriety. It was something I’d have to live with for the rest of my life. Every relationship, every job I’d have from now until forever, would be shadowed by the fact that I was an addict.

Leaving rehab shouldn’t have been as easy as stepping out of the front door with a bag on my shoulder. I shouldn’t have been able to grab a rideshare and take a car to the address I’d had Makyn search for me at the last hair appointment. We’d alsoexchanged numbers so I could track him down in a few weeks when my hair would be unruly again.

“You sure this is where you’re supposed to be?” The driver asked as we made our way through the dark night.

I nodded as my gaze caught on the creepy massive industrial structures lining both sides of the road. “I promise to tip well. And you don’t have to wait until I’m inside or anything. This is pretty scary, huh?”

The guy behind the wheel gave me a wide-eyed look in the rearview mirror. “You’re not going to peel my skin off or something? I’ve heard of other drivers getting into trouble. Please don’t take me too.”

I held my hands up. “Nothing off here. I just got out of rehab. That’s where you picked me up. I’m out this way because I’m trying to find a friend of a friend.”

My admission seemed to ease his worry. Maybe that or he remembered that he did indeed pick me up outside of a facility that wouldn’t have provided me with a weapon to harm him. Other than my size, I wasn’t a danger to him. And even then, the intent wasn’t there, so he was safe.

We pulled up outside of the building and the guy gasped. “Holy shit!”

I took a look around, deciding that yeah, holy shit about covered it. The place was massive, proving to be no less than the size of the surrounding buildings. Unlike the others, this one was well lit, painted pink in some places, and had flowerbeds around the front. It was homey despite the metal siding.

Climbing from the car, I took my single bag out and waved the driver away. Left to my own devices, I went to the door and knocked. More than one car was in the lot, but that didn’t mean much. It could have been all from the people who lived here, or from some other group entirely.

When the baby pink door opened, a large, tattooed man in a baby blue apron greeted me. I vaguely recognized him, though I was drawing a blank on the name.

“Is Princess Aster here?” I asked him.

He nodded, then yelled into the open cavern of space behind him. “PA! You got a stray at your door!”

I huffed indignantly at the choice of words. He turned to flash me a grin.

“Don’t worry, man. All of us were one of P.A.’s strays at some point. He collects us for fun.”

Before he could elaborate any further, the tiny slip of a man I remembered came to the door. His eyes connected with mine and his jaw fell open.

“Gerald Grimes! What are you doing all the way over here?!” His small hand wrapped around my bicep and tugged me through the door. “Close that up, would you, Pierce? We don’t need to pay more to the fucking electricity company than we do.”

“Language, Princess!” A voice called from across the room.

“Yes, Daddy. I’ll behave.” Princess Aster finished the words with an eye roll, proving that he would absolutely not do as he said. I wasn’t even sure if there was any other setting to my distant friend.

I said distant because he was really more Ean’s friend than mine. And I was only Ean’s friend because his husband Rhett had been close tohim.The overlap of people was daunting if you didn’t have a map, some highlighters, and a key of names.

“Two things first,” he began once we cleared the door. “Are you in danger? And how can I help? I know for a fact you wouldn’t be out this way if it was ranch related. You’d have gone to Ean or Rhett first. Or hell, even Atticus.”

I nodded at his words. All of them were true. “If it was anything remotely involving that life, I’d have called them. But since it’s not, I came here.”

Taking a deep breath, I stared him in the eye as I gave him the truth I’d only said during therapy sessions.

“My name is Gerald Grimes, and I’m an alcoholic. I left rehab to come straight here. I… I can’t go back to the ranch. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to. You’d always said we could visit. That any of us could visit.”

“Shhhh,” Princess Aster said as he wrapped me in a hug. “Easy, Gerald.”

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