Page 27 of When Fate Breaks
“I figure we’ll fire up the grill in a couple of hours,” I hear Kyle say, turning my attention to where he stands in the kitchen, “but, in the meantime, NASCAR, right?” he questions, looking at Dad.
“Of course. Fire it up,” Dad says, sliding his jacket off.
“As fun as that sounds,” Mom chimes in, “I think I may actually go pay Emily a visit. I’d love to see the shop.”
“Ooo, me too!” Steph sings.
“Oh, I’m sure she’d love that,” Kyle says.
“Great!” Mom says, grabbing the rental car keys from Dad’s outstretched hand.
“I’ll go, too,” I say.
Mom turns back towards my direction. “Oh, hon, why don’t you stay? You can keep Blake some company.”
My heart sinks a little, but then Blake’s gaze finds mine.
“Why don’t you bring her out on the lake, Blake?” Kyle says, grabbing two beers from the fridge. “It’s a beautiful day out.”
Another shiver wracks my body.
“Okay,” Blake says, motioning for me to follow him.
“Beautiful day?” I whisper after him, rubbing my hands together. “It’s like 50 degrees out.”
Blake turns back, amusement on his face. “Exactly. Nice and warm.” My mouth pops open and Blake shakes his head, grabbing a beanie and pair of winter gloves from the set of hooks by the back door. “C’mon, Alabama. You got this,” he says, tossing them to me and walking through the door.
I shove the beanie and gloves on as far down as they’ll go before following Blake outside. We make our way across the backyard and down the hill towards the lake’s edge. When I get my bearings on the somewhat steep decline enough to look up, my breath is taken away. It has been years since I have been in my dad’s hometown and even longer since I have actually been to the lake that gave the town its name.
The deep teal mass of water glistens in the sun, the thousands of surrounding trees rustling in the wind. The lake sits in a sort of valley with the surrounding houses and vegetation elevated on uneven rocky lands. The mountains on the horizon look practically fake, the last of the winter snow still resting on their peaks.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“You coming?” Blake’s voice snaps me from my trance.
“Oh, yeah!” I call back, stumbling down the remainder of the hill to where Blake is crouched down behind a wooden structure, removing a tarp from a canoe.
“There you are,” he says, smirking up at me when I reach him.
“Yeah, sorry. I got a little distracted.” My eyes trail over to the structure next to us. It appears to be a sort of shed, but half of the wooden walls are either missing, rotting, or look like they’ve had a sledgehammer taken to them. My feet have a mind of their own as I find myself at the entrance, the door missing, peering inside. “Blake?” I call.
“Yeah?”
“Um, what is this?”
“Oh,” Blake responds. “It’s a shed.”
“Uh, where’s the rest of it?”
“It’s a work in progress,” he says. “It’s always been here, but we just used it for junk. My dad’s letting me rebuild it. He said if I did it myself, I could turn it into whatever I want.”
I take a step into the structure, immediately noticing signs of Blake on the inside, despite the outside barely being started on. Several pots of plants are lined up on the ground against the partial left wall, mostly plain leafy ones and a few different types of flowers I don’t recognize. The pot on the end catches my eye, however, and I make my way over to it, bending down to get a closer look at the baby’s breath overflowing from the small black container. I pluck a tiny stem from the plant, twirling it in my fingers.
I glance behind me, seeing a blue lawn chair sitting in the corner, a baseball and mitt shoved underneath it along with a journal and a couple of old paperback books I’m sure came from The Book Nook. A half empty case of Dr. Pepper cans is on the ground next to the chair. I smile to myself.
Blake’s perfect little man cave.
“Hey.”
