Page 34 of From the Ashes

“I’ll tell you later,” Anton says quickly.

She rolls her eyes. “No you won’t. I’ll just Google it.”

Before Anton can get into it with his daughter any further, Mrs. Bloom reaches forward and wraps her hand around mine. I don’t think she’s ever touched me like that until this moment, and I blink in surprise as she gives me a rueful smile.

“My darling. Life is long. It sounds like you and this friend of yours have enough regrets. Take my advice and speak to him now that you’re both thinking rationally. Make absolutely sure of where you both stand. Not just on crosswords, but the whole damn puzzle book.”

“You said a bad word,” Rebecca whispers in an accusing tone.

Mrs. Bloom winks at her. “When you get to my age, sweetie, no one can stop you from using all the bad words you like.”

Rebecca’s jaw drops at this revelation and Anton looks like he’s going to have a panic attack. But I’m distracted by Lochlan coming around and wrapping his thick, freckled arms around me from behind.

“Don’t give up on your buddy,” he says sincerely. “It might all be a big misunderstanding.”

I think I understand what’s happened between Colt and I all too clearly. There’s probably no misunderstanding. But I smile and sink into the comfort of his and Yara’s combined embrace anyway. Before I know it, Sawyer’s joined in as well.

“Don’t let one crossword mess you up before you’ve got all the facts,” he says, oddly serious for once. “You’re pretty much the most considerate guy I’ve ever met. I bet there’s more to it than you think. I doubt it’s all your fault, if any.”

That’s kind of him to say. I disagree, but I don’t tell him that. The fact that my friends believe in me means so much. No matter what happens with Colt, they’re reminding me in this moment that I’m not alone.

Soon, everyone has added themselves to the cuddle pile, except for Mrs. Bloom who obviously has too much dignity for anything like that, and Lieutenant Flores as the timer went offand he’s busy checking on the lasagnas. The smell of hot food also appears to draw Captain Valentine and our driver Gene out from the captain’s office.

“Everything okay down there?” the captain asks as they begin walking down the steps toward us.

“We’re just giving Del moral support, Cap,” Lili calls out to him before placing a noisy kiss on the top of my head.

“Thank you, everyone,” I say sincerely, which seems to be the cue for them all to let me go. I smile and hope they don’t notice the wetness lingering on my lashes. “I appreciate you listening to my problem.”

Lochlan scoffs. “That’s what the One-Thirteen are for, dude!”

“No problem too big or too small!” Sawyer cries.

“Speaking of big problems,” Lili says as she turns and tickles Teddy’s sides through his T-shirt. “Shouldn’t you be using all those muscles of yours to help Rico dish up lunch, Probie?”

“Get off me!” Teddy shrieks, making the rest of us laugh and Rocky start barking. Miss Margot Fonteyn looks at us all like we’re riff-raff, and she’s probably right.

But Mrs. Bloom is smiling warmly, and she makes a point to catch my eye in the ruckus. I nod at her in appreciation, and she returns the gesture. “Remember,” she says quietly so no one but me seems to hear. “Life is long. Too long to spend it unhappy.”

I’m not sure if any good will come of it, but considering the tangled history Colt and I share, maybe I owe it to both of us not to give up without one last conversation to clarify where we stand.

A spark of hope tries to ignite in my heart, but I’m quick to extinguish it. It’s unlikely that this will do anything other than give us the closure we obviously both need. However, right now, that feels like it would be better than nothing.

People are rearranging themselves around the table in preparation for lunch, but I excuse myself. “I’m just going tomake a call,” I tell them, already wandering out the front of the station into the sunshine for a bit of privacy. I ignore the wolf whistles that follow me. I’ve wasted enough time on Colton Ross.

This has to be done now, then maybe I can get on with the rest of my life.

CHAPTER 15

Colt

“So what canwe do for you today, Mrs. Brown?” my father asks in his cheerful booming voice that he’s perfected over the years when dealing with clients. It has a way of assuring people that they are Very Important without being too overbearing.

To my ears, it sounds fake as fuck, but I don’t let anything show on my face. I just keep a carefully neutral almost-smile there that hopefully says I’m extremely dedicated to the business on hand today.

The elderly lady across the table from us scowls and fiddles with her locket pendant. It rests over her tweed dress and matching, long-sleeved jacket, the rings on her knobbly fingers the same high karat gold as the necklace.

“I wish to cut some of my grandchildren from my will,” she says in a voice that reminds me of nails on a chalkboard. I’m impressed I manage not to wince.

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