Page 45 of Bear with Me
"You both have been through a lot this year. Give her time and give yourself a little grace."
"She's worried about the money. She thought I used it to buy your house."
"Does she have access to the account?"
He blinked at me. "No. I didn't want her to worry about it."
"Too late."
"Yeah." He hung his head and slid his arm around my waist as we made our way through the wide hallway between rows of storage units. "I could do that, if it would give her peace of mind."
I wished I could bring Blake peace, too. Beyond my offer of shelter, so many aspects of his life were still uncertain.
One thing I knew for sure: I liked Vic. When we arrived back at Blake's apartment, he handed me a caramel latte and used it to pull me in for a bro hug. "Nice to meet you! How are you putting up with this guy?"
"Hey, no ganging up on me!" Blake crossed his arms over his chest.
"I didn't do anything!" Vic rolled his eyes and turned back to me. "Do you like Halloween? Blake says you have a gingerbread cottage on your property."
I laughed. "You could call it that, and I love Halloween."
"I'm planning a fantastic party on Halloween night with the folks who live in my building."
"Already?"
He laughed. "It's never too early to plan for Halloween. If you all want to host a party at your cottage the weekend before, I could help you." He must have noticed my hesitation, which had nothing to do with Halloween and everything to do with mybear's sudden insistence we would be too busy to party. "Totally up to you, only if you want."
He reached up and patted my shoulder like we'd been friends forever. Then, he grabbed another cup off the kitchen table and offered it to Blake, who was tossing the clean dishes from the dishwasher into a large box.
Blake took a sip of the delicious-smelling ginger and lemon tea.
"Everything all right?" Vic asked him when he thought I couldn't overhear. "Ginger's not your usual."
"Nothing serious. My stomach's a little queasy. It's probably just the move."
Vic clapped his hands together and raised his voice so I could hear him from where I packed Blake's speakers into a single cardboard box, so we didn't have to unhook them from the subwoofer. "What do you need me to do?"
Three hours later, the apartment stood empty, and we had stacked all Blake's furniture and boxes inside the truck. Vic and I chatted in the parking lot until Blake returned from the rental office.
"Thanks for helping," Blake said as he hugged Vic.
"You're sure you don't need me to unload at your new place? Maybe see the cottage?" He waggled his eyebrows at me.
"This summer," I offered. "You can come stay with us for a weekend and tell me once and for all if it's haunted."
"Haunted?" Vic's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"My mom insists a spirit has moved in. She won't stay there by herself, even though it's brand new. I told her new logs take time to settle, but she doesn't believe me."
"If it's haunted, we'll never get rid of him," Blake said as Vic pulled away from the curb in his Kia Soul.
"I like him," I said.
"Yeah, he's pretty great." He shoved me toward the driver's side door of the truck. "We're losing daylight."
Once we movedBlake's things into my cabin, it was like he had always lived with me. He had a more regular schedule with his classes, so I cooked and cleaned the house while he was gone. When it snowed, I had a few days' work cleaning parking lots and driveways, but then my bear and I returned to doting on Blake.
On the morning of Blake's birthday, my bear woke me long before dawn, insisting I go outside and shift. It was the middle of March, and the snow had started to melt in southern Illinois. It wouldn't be long before my boss called with a job or two out of town to get us ready for spring home construction.
