Page 23 of Nave
“This is me,” he explained, knocking once on the door before reaching to open it.
He stepped inside, placing the donuts on the dresser just inside, with a large TV hung above it.
“You should bring them back out for everyone else.”
“There are other boxes. And there are only two left. What if you wake up hungry?” he asked, shrugging. “Alright, it isn’t much. Bedroom. No windows. Which is gonna be weird for you.”
“Maybe refreshing,” I said.
“Through here is the bathroom. There are towels and washcloths, but I will go and scrounge you up a toothbrush and hairbrush. If you want, you can steal something of mine to wear.”
I had nothing left that was clean.
“Hey, you alright?” Nave asked, ducking his head to catch my gaze.
“A little overwhelmed, I think.”
“Why don’t you sit for a second while I grab that stuff for you?” he suggested, waving over toward the little chair in the corner of the small room.
There wasn’t much to write home about with the space. A queen-sized bed, a dresser, a TV. Though the comforter on thebed was a plush green linen that looked like a dream to sleep under. And nicer than anything I’d ever seen a man have before.
And on the wall alongside the bed, there were several framed photographs.
They were all nice, but it was one that caught my eye, one that had my stomach dropping.
“Wait… is that…?”
“The woods where you lived? Yeah.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. I took a lot of pictures over the years when I was traveling. I picked some of my favorites. Which all happened to be the ones with wildlife in them. The iguana in Florida,” he said, waving toward the photo. “The armadillo in Texas. Red wolf in North Carolina. And the deer in your woods.”
“The wildlife was maybe the only thing I did love about the woods,” I admitted, reaching down to lift a sleepy-looking Edith into my lap.
She’d been a real trooper with all the changes in her life. But she was clearly a little overwhelmed.
“I’m gonna go grab your stuff so you can get changed, and the two of you can get some rest.”
With that, he did, coming back with the brushes, a razor, shaving cream, lip balm, lotion, and a chew for Edith to gnaw on while I showered.
“You are free to come out anytime you want. I’ll be kicking around if you need me. But I won’t come in here unless you call for me, okay?”
I offered him a smile, appreciating how he was giving me all the power. After so many years without it.
“Thank you, really, Nave. For everything.”
“It’s nothing.”
It was my life.
My freedom.
My future.
It waseverything.
But he was gone before I could find the words to tell him.
