Page 43 of The Chad Next Door
Sitting up with him, I wrap my arms around his shoulders from behind, my hands on his broad chest. I’m a fan. “I’m sorry it hurts. But you have to remember that you got pretty lucky. It could have done some permanent damage.”
“Better than letting something permanent happen to Link. Can I talk to him today?”
“Not unless you’re medicated.”
He frowns at me. “Seriously? I promise I’ll be nice.”
“I would believe that more if you weren’t growling more than talking right now. He just needs some time, okay? Or a drug barrier. You’re so much nicer when you’re high.”
“There’s something wrong with you.”
“I love Pain Pill Chad!”
He groans, pressing the heel of his hand into his temple. “Don’t…please don’t make that a thing.”
“Sounds like you need some more pain pills,” I tease.
He must really be in pain because he nods. “Mostly because I don’t want to say anything stupid again.”
“I think you’re prone to say stupid things regardless of being drugged or not,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but you’re right. When I’m drugged, the stupid things are nicer.”
“That’s true. I’ll pick up your prescription after I drop the kids off at school, okay?” I get up off the bed, but he grabs my hand before I get very far.
“Hope?”
“Yes, Chad?”
“I really do like you lots.” And then he gives me a ridiculous grin that heats my entire body because does that mean hedoesremember last night? That would mean everything he said was real, and some of the things he said…
He told me his life doesn’t have meaning without me, and that may not be “I love you,” but it’s pretty darn close.
I smile. “I like you lots too.”
Once I wake the kids up for school, I make them some Pop-tarts for breakfast—Chad gives me some impressive glares for that from his spot on the couch—and hurry them out to the car, promising Chad that I’ll be back with drugs and ready for another round of Mario Kart. With the way his eyes smolder at the window, I’m pretty sure he knows I don’t actually mean Mario Kart.
Zelda talks the entire drive to the school, as usual, excited to tell her new friends all about what we did during the storm. Somehow, she’s missed out on yesterday’s trauma and is as chatty as ever. I didn’t realize it until I watched her in the rear view while waiting for a logging truck to pass on the main road, but she looks like a kid now. She’s less seven going on seventeen and more the bright-eyed child she really is. Did that come from having a little bit of time to heal, or did Chad have something to do with that?
He probably did. He’s changed all of our lives by making himself a part of them.
Maybe not for the better with all of us, I think, glancing back at Link. He stares out the window with so much sadness in his eyes, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s always going to be that way now. He was doing so well, and then…
Link shuffles inside the school when we arrive, his head hanging low.
“I don’t know how to help him, Bai,” I mutter, wishing my sister could tell me what to do. She was always so good with these kids, and Link could really use his mom right about now.
I’m the closest he’s going to get, and I don’t think I’m going to cut it.
Once the kids are inside, I head to Main Street and park outside the grocery store. I figure I should buy Chad some more donuts, since I ate them all—and yes, I plan on eating the new ones too—and maybe to find some sort of romantic lunch I can make us while the kids are in school. I don’t know what constitutes romantic when it comes to lunch food, but I’m pretty sure deli meat isn’t my best option.
After wandering the little store for nearly twenty minutes, I settle on a carton of strawberries and some chocolate chips. I’ll make myownromance. The woman who rings me up—her name tag says her name is Wendy—seems to know exactly what my plan is, and she gives me a little wink before handing my bag to me.
“I hope he likes it,” she says gleefully.
I smile and hurry outside. I just hope she doesn’t know who “he” is, though I shouldn’t hold my breath in a town this small. I bet the paramedics have told everyone about Chad’s adventure and how I was there to keep him company.
Not for the first time since arriving in Laketown, I pause next to my car and look around. It’s only been a couple of weeks, and I feel like I’ve already seen everything there is to see. I’ve eaten most everything at the diner, enjoyed the ice cream, and even played all the games at the little arcade. Did this town always feel so small and I am just now starting to realize it? Or has something changed in the last few days?
