Page 121 of Her Goal
After leaving the PT room at the Ice Palace, I cruise into Omaha. I haven’t heard back from Leah and I’m assuming she slept in after the late night at HoCo, but she’s going to need my muscle.
Parking next to half of a mattress, a rocking horse without legs, and three overflowing trash bins on Graves Street, I call her when she doesn’t reply to my text.
“Good morning, sunshine.”
“Hello?” she asks, voice scratchy.
“Your Knight in muscly armor is here to do your bidding.”
“Who?”
“Leah, it’s me. Hudson. It’s moving day.”
She hangs up.
I get out of my truck, double-check that it’s locked, slide past the guy sleeping in the stairwell who looks like he was mauled by a pack of badgers, and walk up the four flights of stairs. I only know she lives on the top floor because she teased Jack when he was complaining about doing stairs as part of one of our dryland workouts.
There are four doors, and I listen carefully. Door number one has a sign with the warning:Beware of the Dog. She mentioned she wasn’t in the market for pets, so I doubt this is the one I’m supposed to knock on. A baby cries behind the second one. There’s no telling her roommates’ ages, but I don’t think she shares space with an infant. That leaves two. Before I can make a guess, one of the doors flies open. Leah has a toothbrush in her hand and drags me through the entry, before peering out and then slamming the door behind us.
Gripping my hand, she hurries down the hall and pushes me into her room, though I could hardly call it that. More like a closet.
“Everything okay?”
She gives me the one-minute signal, turns around, spits into a cup, and then rinses her mouth.
“Do I need to kick someone out of the bathroom?”
“Shh. Keep it down. Inside voice. No, I don’t bring my toothbrush in there. It’s a hazmat zone,” she whispers.
“We are getting you out of here.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going through with this marriage because you take pity on my living conditions,” she whisper shouts.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know full well you could live in a veritable mansion on Stowells Street. You’re too stubborn.”
“Careful, Robo. Those are fighting words.”
I cut my eyes at her.
“Also, keep it down. We don’t want Lloyd to hear you. He’s grumpy in the morning.”
“Is that the guy who’s snoring, the one who rang the gong, or the couple who was fighting with the door open? I find it hard to believe any of them will lodge a noise complaint. This entire building would be written up.”
Leah huffs and mutters something about Julius Cheeser.
“Did I sleep through our wedding? Why are you here to help me move today?”
“Because I’ll be gone on Monday.”
“That’s why I have family members who drive trucks.”
“You asked me to help you clean your room, though I’d hardly call this a room. More like a cubby or a pod.”
“Don’t pick on me. I’m doing the best I can.”
Gripping her arms, I hold her eyes on mine. “And together, we can do better.”
“You mean you don’t want to face Chuck or Jack’s wrath if anything happens to me.”
