Page 7 of Until Forever

“I don’t have a clue,” I shrugged. “Nothing, as far as I know. We were friends, and then one day, she just woke up hating me.”

George laughed and wiped the sweat from his brow, shaking his head. “Listen, Keith. Some days, I feel the same way about my wife, but trust me. There is always something you did. You may not remember it. You may not even get why it pissed them off so much. But there is always something. And you better figure out what it is, or else she’s going to blindside you with a bullet-point list one day. Then you’re really going to feel like an idiot, and you’ll be even deeper in the dog house.”

“How can I be put in the dog house by a woman I’ve never even kissed before?” I puzzled.

He put his hands up in surrender. “I don’t know. All I’m saying is you better find out. Or else you can kiss your granddaddy’s land goodbye.”

“I’m not selling,” I insisted, crossing my arms.

He stared off in the direction Lana had just gone marching off in. “I don’t think she’s going to take no for an answer.” He gave me a pitying pat on the back, then wandered back off towards his car.

Just perfect. Lana hated me for no reason, and now the fate of my grandfather’s legacy was in her hands.

4

LANA

“I’m home!” I called out into the house, fumbling through the door with my arms full of groceries.

“In here!” Claire replied.

I followed her voice to the living room, where she was camped out in the recliner in front of the TV.

“Do you think it’s loud enough!?” I shouted over the blaring speakers, realizing that what was booming through my ear drums was some day time televangelist show.

Claire was slumped over on the arm of the chair, looking dejected. My eyes darted around the room until I spotted the remote on the floor. I quickly bent down to grab it and turned the volume about twenty notches down.

“Okay, first…do we need to have your hearing checked? Have you gone deaf?” I teased. “Second, did this whole car accident get you onto religion, or were you just in the mood for some afternoon fire and brimstone? Last I checked, this wasn’t really your choice of show.”

“I dropped the remote,” she groaned. “And then I was too tired to pick it up because I spent all of my energy moving myself into the damn chair in the first place. Plus, I was afraid of falling.”

“Oh, sweetie. Alright, I’m sorry for teasing you.” I flipped the TV off and sat down beside her. “Will you please let me hire someone to help out around here? I was hoping Chris and I could handle it, but…” I stopped myself from pointing out the obvious, which was that so far, he had been absolutely zero help.

“No!” she protested, just like she had done every time before. “The doctor says it’s important for me not to get stagnant. I have to remember this is temporary and stay focused on continued recovery. If I get all spoiled with a house nurse being around to wait on me hand and foot, I’m worried it will slow me down.”

“Or they could actually help encourage you,” I argued. “I doubt anyone is going to think you’re spoiled if you have an extra person around to look after you for a little while, considering the circumstances. I know I sure won’t. Besides, I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you while I was gone.”

“Well, I won’t have you chained here to the house 24/7, and I’m also not budging on the home nurse thing, so drop it. I just wanted to have a pity party for a minute. If you had come in twenty to thirty minutes later, it would have been a different story. I wouldn’t have wallowed all day.”

“Even if you had, that would have been okay too. I just worry about you, is all,” I shrugged, wishing she’d stop being so stubborn. Though I would expect nothing less from my best friend.

That was the thing about Claire I loved most. Everyone thought she was the sweetest, kindest person—almost to a fault because she never complained and didn’t pick fights. And while all of that was true, I knew underneath all that sweetness was a woman who was tough as nails and would stand up for herself when the time was right—which was usually when everyone least expected it. She picked her battles to reserve her energy for what mattered most.

“I wish everyone would stop worrying about me,” she huffed. My eyes darkened over her, but she was quick to correct herself. “That’s not what I mean. I’m out of pity party mode, I promise. I don’t like feeling like a burden.”

“You are far from a burden,” I assured her. “I owe you and your parents my life. I don’t know what I would have done without you and your family. I’m happy to be here. If anything, I’ve always felt like a burden to you, and this finally gives me the chance to pay you back for all you’ve done for me.”

Claire smiled because she knew I meant every word of it. We became best friends in middle school when I was still in foster care. I hated the family I was placed with and would sneak out every chance I got to stay with Claire and her parents—which turned out to be a lot since my foster parents never seemed to care where I was, just so long as they collected the paycheck they got for letting me live under their care.

The more I came around, her parents started to ask questions. When they learned how much I hated going to my legal home (I considered my real home to be in that house, with the Halsteads) and when they learned that family planned on moving away soon and ripping me and Claire apart, they didn’t hesitate to fight for custody and let me move in with them.

“Fine. I accept all of your help,” she submitted with a smirk. “But I still don’t want you to feel obligated to be around every second of every day. You still have a life to live. Besides, I would never do anything to interfere with your scheme against Keith Mullins.”

“Thank you,” I chuckled, getting up to go into the kitchen and get us something to drink. “Speaking of Keith, I just ran into him at the old marina. Or what’s left of it anyways.”

“I would have paid to see that. How did it go?”

“About how you’d expect. He pretended to be righteously offended that I would ever dream of restoring the marina he and his family let sit there and rot all these years,” I explained. “Honestly, I’m surprised no one filed for that place to be inspected and condemned before me.”

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