Page 83 of The Sun Will Rise
Whoever the intruder is, at least they’re polite.
And they have a key, which is something only four other people have. Amie, Katy, Paloma, and I all have keys to each other's homes. It began years ago, as a way to keep our spare keys safe, but now with Maisy spending time at all of our houses, and all of us taking care of her at Amie’s house, we’ve made the unanimous decision to keep the keys. All four of us keep them on a separate keyring, with individual coloured key caps for each of us. That was Katy’s idea.
Jay also has a key to my flat, although he rarely uses it. Much like me and the girls, he would rather I choose to let him in, than just barge in without warning.
Except for today, it would seem. I hear his rough baritone as he whispers something to Pup, whose harness immediately jingles and then quietens, as I assume he settles down somewhere.
“Rooey?”
“Roo, where are you?”
“Get your skinny little arse out here, Bevan, this is an intervention.”
Jay. Katy. Amie.
“Roo, come on, I need a wee.”
As expected, Paloma is here too. All of my best friends are here, and all of their first words to me encapsulate each one of them perfectly. A rush of tears sting my eyes. Thenormalityof it all. The simplicity. The way the world continues to turn for them, effortlessly, whilst it crumbles around me.
“I’m here, idiots,” I mumble. My voice is rough and scratchy, unused for several days. I lift an arm, poking it out from inside the blanket fort I’ve built for myself on the sofa. It might be summer, but after spending so much time cocooned, my brief emergence has my wrist immediately cold, and goose bumps rising on my skin, and I pull my hand back in. I poke my head out, leaving the blankets pooled around my shoulders.
“Oh, Roo.” Katy is the first to cross the open-plan living space, using her knee and the side of her thigh to test for a safe space to perch among the mountain of pillows and blankets covering me.
“Don’t start the intervention without me, I’ll be back in a mo.”
“Lo, I haven’t restocked the toilet paper, it’s in the cupboard next to my bedroom door.”
“Got it!” Lo calls out over her shoulder as she offers a thumbs up.
Pup trots over as soon as Jay makes himself comfortable on the end of the sofa near my feet. Two paws appear on the edge of the cushion, with the kind of pressure that suggests a small jump might be imminent, and I raise a brow in my brother’s direction. He might allow Pup to take liberties like hanging out on the sofa, but I definitely do not want furry furniture.
“Down, Pup. Settle.” Pup looks suitably repentant, letting out a tiny whine as he immediately settles by Jay’s feet with his head on those enormous front paws.
“It’s because he’s always on the sofa at home,” Katy says with a roll of her eyes. “We weren’t going to let him, but apparently, we’re both weak for puppy eyes.”
I let out a tiny chuff in lieu of actual laughter.
“Roo, what the fuck is going on in your fridge?” Amie calls from the kitchen. “There’s nothing in it.”
“What’s going on, love?” Katy, again. She leans into me, lifting her socked feet off the ground and resting them in my brother’s lap as she presses her body to mine. Her blonde hair is soft and cool, and her sweet perfume is a pleasant reprieve from the musty smell attached to my blankets after four days of barely moving from the sofa.
I don’t know what to say. Words have eluded me for days—the days I’ve spent holed up on my sofa, ignoring the buzzing of my phone, ignoring the calls and messages from everyone I love. I’ve hardly even spoken to my husband.
Everett.
I miss him with the kind of ferocity I never anticipated, even after acknowledging that I had fallen in love with him. Even after agreeing to marry him on a whim, after spending more and more time with him, after loving him so much my heart all but exploded and began to beat only for the cowboy from Texas. Just at the thought of him, the dam breaks, and in Katy’s arms, I sob.
Amie places four mugs on the coffee table and slides to her knees beside us, wrapping both me and Katy in her arms. Paloma hurries across the room to join the hug, and barely a minute later, I feel Katy peel herself away from me and Jay’s embrace envelop me. He lifts me effortlessly into a sitting position, hugging me into his chest, and I’mtransported back to my teen years, being held by my big brother as I cried before every one of his deployments.
“Talk to us, Ruth.” Amie’s warm hand reaches for mine, gripping it tightly. Katy, who was briefly relegated to the floor, scrambles up to tuck herself against my other side, and Paloma huddles closer, her long arms surrounding Amie as she reaches for me.
“I’ve ruined everything,” I whisper into Jay’s chest.
“Roo…” Katy presses herself against me, squeezing me in the kind of perfect hug only Katy Keller can give.
“Is it Everett?”
“Where’s your phone, babe? Let me give him a piece of my mind.”
