Page 32 of Better Together

“You didn’t tell me your brother was…”

“He’s not. Mark and Brittany lived on credit, which I’m sure will be a nightmare for me to clean up.”

“Oh, lovely.” If only she could send sarcastic thank you cards to the departed. Mark would be getting an earful from her when they met at the pearly gates.

Colt lifted a planter that contained a fake fern and swiped a key from underneath.

“How did you know where the key would be?”

He unlocked the door and waved Remi inside. “We always hid the key under a pot growing up. Mark isn’t creative enough to think of another hiding place on his own.”

Remi stepped inside and flipped on a light switch, opting not to correct Colt on his use of the present tense when referring to his brother. He hadn’t wanted to talk much about Mark on the long drive, and she would rather jump in a pit of snakes than push him to chat about his feelings when he didn’t want to. She’d sat silent through enough therapy sessions in the last few years to know that people talked when they wanted to and when they felt safe.

Colt stopped in the doorway and looked around the living room. Toys were scattered on the floor, blankets lay in heaps on the couch, and cups of juice sat on the coffee table as if a kid might run by at any moment and steal a sip.

Remi propped her hands on her hips. “Well, we have three hours before we can pick up the kids. What should we do first?”

Hopefully, getting Colt into action mode would wash away that weathered look in his eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess we should start cleaning out the fridge. We can leave the things we might eat while we’re still here, but everything that could rot needs to go. I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to come back.”

With a salute, Remi headed toward a doorway that most likely led to a kitchen. “I’m glad the family took the kids to church today.”

Colt followed her into the kitchen and opened the cabinets underneath the sink. “Me too. Mark and I didn’t go to church when we were young. No one took us. We both went a few times with friends in junior high and high school, and it stuck better for me than it did Mark. I know they went to a service on Easter and Christmas, but beyond that, I bet the kids haven’t spent much time in church.”

“That’ll change now. They’ll love our church in Blackwater. The ladies will have a fit over them.”

Colt pulled a box of new trash bags out of the cabinet and set it on the counter. “I know. That’s one thing I’ve been thinking about. They won’t just have me. I’ve heard it takes a village to raise kids–”

“And they’ll definitely have a whole town looking after them.”

Remi opened the fridge and groaned. “This might not take long.”

Colt stepped up beside her and his shoulders sagged as he took in the mostly empty fridge. “The police officer didn’t say Mark was drunk when the accident happened, but I’d bet my bank account he was.”

Pushing his fingers into his hair, Colt turned to pace the kitchen. “I didn’t know it was happening again. He seemed fine the last time we talked.”

“Colt–”

“Brittany was an alcoholic too, but she liked it all. Drugs, cigarettes, liquor, whatever she could get her hands on.” Colt slammed a fist down on the countertop. “Mark finally had a good job. Finally! He was thirty-three years old, and finally got his act together.”

The sting of sadness tingled behind the bridge of her nose. Remi knew what addiction could do to families. It had wrecked her own. Knowing Colt had spent his entire life trying to hold up a crumbling family was breaking her heart.

“Colt, I’m–”

“Can we order Chinese? I’m starving.”

Remi nodded and pulled her phone from her pocket. Colt had a handful of comfort foods, and Chinese was one of them. She searched for the nearest takeout and placed their usual order. By the time she ended the call, Colt had emptied the contents of the fridge into a trash bag, leaving only a couple of juice drinks and a jar of pickles.

She shoved the phone back into her pocket. “We need to pick up some boxes when we go get the food.”

Colt leaned back against the counter and hugged his left elbow close to his side. He hadn’t worn the sling, and he’d probably used it too much already today. “Right. I’ll have to wait until the kids are with us to pack their things. I don’t know what they really need to bring and what can be donated.”

“Let’s go now. We can hit up a few grocery stores and see how many boxes we can round up before the food is ready.”

Remi drove into town, scanning the darkening streets. The sun had gone down, and the orange-tinted streetlights cast shadows over the shops.

They stopped at two stores and gathered enough boxes to fill the bed of Colt’s truck, then they stopped by a hardware store and bought a tarp to cover the load on the way back to Blackwater. With warm Chinese food in tow, they headed back out of town to Colt’s brother’s place.

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