Page 151 of Missed Sunrise
“Oh dear,” Liem muttered, getting the same vibe from her.
I shared an amused look with Vinh, who stood beside her, though it was edged with tired. We were all tired.
Bree patted the seat in front of her. “I’ve trained for this. Don’t worry.”
It was a credit to our collective faith in Bree that Liem sat in the chair without hesitation, and Vinh and I were able to relax.
Bree and Liem murmured to each other quietly before she made the first cut. I almost called out to stop her but reminded myself of when I’d sat in that chair and let them help me.
That haircut hadn’t truly changed things for me, but at the same time, it had also changed everything.
Angling my head toward the cottage, I invited Vinh to follow me inside. By unspoken agreement, we remained in the kitchen, keeping them both in our sights through the window.
“How much would it annoy you if I asked how you were holding up?”
Vinh moved his dark eyes from the window and regarded me for a moment, his expression unreadable. “None, Cody. You can ask me.”
These fucking Lott brothers.
“How are you holding up, then?”
His sigh was heavy as his shoulders slumped. “Okay. I don’t think I’ve processed it at all, and at the same time….” He paused, frowning out the window. “I have his notebook now. Ari gave it to me before the funeral. It’s full of his projects and designs.Some of them are unfinished, like the storage piece in Liem’s room.”
A notebook full of plans.
Fuck.
I felt sick, but I pushed it aside. “When the time comes to finish them, call me. I’m not sure if Liem wants to stay here or be in Gulf Shores with Ari—if she goes back, I mean, but either way. Call me.”
We hadn’t discussed any of that, but it hardly mattered. Where he went, I went.
Vinh nodded to himself a few times and then turned his gaze back to the window. “Deal.”
By the time they were done, Liem’s hair fell just above his shoulders, with one side still buzzed close to the scalp.
It was a subtle change, as was the lighter way he carried himself when they came inside.
“Nice,” I said in approval, running my fingers through it.
“Yeah?” he asked with hesitance that didn’t suit him.
“Yeah,” I agreed, then kissed him softly, ignoring Bree’s muttered “I’ll be damned. So sweet.”
Vinh made us breakfast for dinner, and we shared a quiet meal around the small dining table at the cottage. Bree set up the laptop again and put on some background TV, probably just to give us all the option to zone out instead of carrying on conversation.
Once we were done eating, we moved together to the front door, and even with his new lightness, I was worried Liem would need to crash soon.
“If you want to go back to the houseboat or want me to stay here again, we can do this tomorrow.”
“No,” he said softly, dropping our hands to put his shoes on. “I’d like to get out.” He smiled up at me as he added, “See the water. Solve some mysteries.”
I’d never been so relieved.
We got back into the truck, and I drove us to the pier where I’d first called LL more than a year ago. Leading him by the hand to the end of it, I directed him to kick off his shoes and sit on the edge. I did the same, sitting beside him and placing the box behind us.
He’d been so strong and so unfailingly himself through everything, even if he didn’t know it. His capacity for love for his family had only grown as he shouldered the burden of sudden loss.
The privilege to be by his side through it was the greatest accomplishment of my life, and I just wanted to give him a moment of happiness. A break from all the sad.
