Page 16 of Reclaiming Home

As he turned around, he murmured, “Go use the bathroom first.”

I grabbed my toiletry kit where I’d left it last night and went upstairs. Despite the disrepair, I could see the potential. I could see how it would’ve been a great place to grow up, although I guessed it hadn’t been that for Brodie and his sister. Or the cousins, likely. What were their names again?

By the time I came back downstairs, trying to avoid the creakiest steps, I could smell the coffee.

We didn’t talk. Instead, we got our coffees and went to sit at the table.

Brodie had a solid, calming aura. If you believed in auras, of course. I wasn’t sure if I did, but somehow, something about him made me calmer. Almost… happier?

“What’s on the agenda for the day?” I asked quietly after a while.

“The cleaning crew will come over in about an hour. I didn’t go to the barn myself, but when the sheriff’s guys checked it, they said a lot of the chemicals are gone. The betas likely tookeverything they could. It’s less of a hazard, but they’re still going to have to clear it out. I’m pretty sure we’ll be tearing the whole thing down before the winter anyway.” Brodie spoke evenly, matter of factly, as he stared out of the window at the barn across the little yard. “I worry about the house more.” Then he looked at me and grimaced. “I mean, of course the barn is a hazard, but the house’s condition isn’t ideal for the coming winter.”

I glanced around the kitchen. It was outdated but clean. The thought that it was because my sister had been held captive against her will for more than half a year made the coffee taste like crap.

“She’s done a great job with what she’d had,” Brodie murmured, as if reading my thoughts.

“I don’t know how to have the discussions she and I need to have today.” The confession fell out of my mouth and I wanted to gather it somehow and stuff the words back where they belonged.

I needed to be strong for her, and I wasn’t sure I could be.

“If she lets me and you want me there, I can be there for you. I don’t know if it’d help, but….”

As we made eye contact, I could see something in his eyes that I couldn’t read. But I also felt the peace.

“Yeah. That’d… that’d be helpful. Something about you calms me.”

The flash of something akin to guilt was there and gone from his expression so fast I thought maybe I imagined it, but I didn’t imagine the way the corner of his mouth lifted minutely.

“Okay. We’ll ask her.”

His phone rang then, and he picked it off the coffee table and answered. He told whomever it was to give him a moment, and then went out of the house.

Carys woke up about an hour after me, and by then I was frying the eggs and bacon I’d found in the fridge.

She shuffled into the kitchen and gave me a little smile, then came to hug me from behind like she’d done so many times when we were kids and I stood while doing something.

“Morning,” she mumbled.

“Morning. This is going to be done soon, so why don’t you go brush your teeth?”

“Uh-huh.” She didn’t move, just clung to me for a few more moments.

The sound of a vehicle startled us, and we turned to the windows. We could see Brodie gesture at someone, and then a van backed to the barn doors that were now open.

“Is it really bad in there?” she asked, as if I’d know.

“Brodie said something about chemicals because of the meth. He thinks he’ll need to tear down the barn.”

“At least they didn’t cook in the house.” Her tone was more alert, firmer somehow. “Despite everything, I really like this house.”

“Me too.”

“Okay, I’ll go do my thing and be right back.” She left me to finish the breakfast.

Since the cleaning crew had arrived, I was pretty sure that Brodie wouldn’t be able to come inside for breakfast. Thinking quick, I grabbed some toast and fried it in the bacon juices on the pan. Then I fried a couple of eggs, added bacon, and made him a sandwich.

His mug was still on the table, so I filled it with the fresh coffee I’d just made, and took it and the sandwich outside.

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