Page 29 of The Path To Us

“What the hell, Beau?” I shriek, moving to my phone to turn off the music.

His grin broadens to one of my favorite smiles of his. “Don’t mind me. I was enjoying the hell out of your performance.”

With a well-practiced eye roll, I complete my task and cross my arms over my chest.

“What are you doing here?”

“Came to check on a few things. Actually had the same idea as you. I was reloading the drink fridge at work and it hit me that Chris’s fridge hadn’t been touched for over a month and I almost threw up thinking about the possibilities of what I would find.”

Now it’s my turn to smile. “Yeah, there was some lettuce that had liquefied. It was freaking nasty.”

He cringes. “I bet. How far along are you?”

“About done. I’ve been here for about three hours now.”

He nods. “Thanks for doing this. I can’t believe Mom hadn’t thought of it.”

I know my eyes soften when I say, “She’s had enough other things on her mind.”

“True. Let me help you finish up. Zoey at my parents’ house?”

“Yeah, she is. They asked if she could spend the night.”

“That would be good.”

I continue going through the meat and cheese drawer and gag a little at the smell coming from the half package of bacon. “Why would that be good?”

He gently shifts me to the side and pulls out the entire drawer, dumping the entire contents directly into the trash. “My gut is telling me that we might as well just get rid of everything,” he says with a curl to his upper lip, making me giggle.

“My nose agrees,” I say, covering my nose with my hand.

He chuckles. “Right? Gross. Anyway, there are a few things I want to talk to you about and it’d be easier if I had your full attention.”

“What kind of things?”

“So impatient.”

“Hey, the last few surprises have kind of been more than a little life changing so excuse me if I no longer look forward to the element of surprise.”

“Fair enough.” There’s a brief pause before I can hear the smile in his voice as he announces, “I’m moving home.”

My eyes jump up to meet his. “For good?”

“For good,” he confirms, holding my stare. “I need to be living here.”

“Here, here?” I ask, pointing to the floor, my voice abnormally high, unable to mask the shock… and possibly a bit of horror. I just can’t imagine him wanting to live in Chris’s house after everything that happened here.

The corner of his mouth ticks up in an adorable grin. “No need to be so freaked out. I’m buying my own place. Max had mentioned me buying this place but…” His eyes widen and lips stretch as he shakes his head. “I can’t. Nothing against the house,” he rushes to continue.

I shake my head and lift a hand to stop him from feeling guilty. “No. I get it. It was hard enough for me just to walk into this place, I can’t imagine living here.”

“Exactly. It’s… hard. I see him here, you know? I don’t want to sell it for that very reason because I feel close to him here but the fact that this is where he,” His voice cracks and he closes his eyes briefly. He doesn’t finish saying that this is where Chris died. “Anyway, I’m looking for something and hope I can find it soon.”

I don’t say anything further because really, what else is there to say? He’s right. Living here would be awkward and uncomfortable but it’s hard to think about selling it and having someone else live here.

“Maybe give yourself some time before finding a new place?”

He’s already shaking his head before I even finish, scratching the back of his hand. I’ve always admired his large, working man’s hands. They’re not manicured or without scars and there’s something about them that just does it for me.

---