Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“I need to get laid,” I lie. Well, it’s not a lie. Not really. I haven’t been with anyone in too damn long, but that’s not what I was thinking about.
“I hear you, brother. Too bad we don’t see each other like that. Would make life a whole lot easier.”
I chuckle. He’s right. It really would, but though we’re both bi, it’s never been like that, not even just a friends-with-benefits thing. I hooked up with Dusty a few times before Morgan came back, but clearly, that is never happening again.
“I don’t think that’s what you were thinking about, though,” Cass adds, and I don’t bother arguing.
The thing is, I haven’t seen Easton since he got out of jail, and that makes me feel restless. “I heard Dusty and Morgan just got back from California,” I say, trying to change the subject.
They’d gone so Morgan could pack up the rest of his things and tie up loose ends before moving home to Birchbark to be with Dusty. After that night with East, something seemed to happen in their family, but I don’t have all the details. Rhett Swift had suddenly dropped out of the race for mayor and left his job as a lawyer.
“I hope it works out for them,” Cass says. “Dusty is crazy about him.”
He is. Cass is right about that. We weren’t close with them when Morgan left before, so I don’t know a whole lot about what happened then, but Morgan seems to be just as into Dusty as Dusty is him. “Me too.”
I look over at my friend. He’s the type of man who always wanted to settle down. Wanted that person he woke up with every morning and went to bed with every night. He’d thought he’d found that in April, but then she up and left them, with nothing more than a note. It has been years now, and Cass hasn’t dated anyone seriously since. He’s more jaded now, and I hate that for him.
We hang out for a little while longer before it’s time for them to get ready for Meadow’s dance lesson, and then I leave.
Instead of going home, though, I find myself heading to my parents’ place. We’re all Birchbark born and raised—my dad’s brother, Travis’s father, being the only one who left. I used to wonder what it was like to live somewhere other than the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but the older I get, the more I realize this is where I belong.
I park in front of the home I grew up in, jog up the stairs, and knock on the door. Mom opens the door, a large smile spreading across her face when she sees me.
“Hey, Arch. This is a nice surprise.” She gives me a hug and a kiss like always. With my mom being an EMT and my dad being a firefighter, they’ve both seen some tragic things in their lives. Both my parents have always been the type to tell us they love us every time we say goodbye, to hug and kiss often because you never know what life will throw at you.
My sister, Cora, is a firefighter too, and I always thought I’d be an EMT like Mom, until we lost Travis. That’s when I decided I wanted to be a police officer. I had this silly idea that I could make a difference, but so far, I’m not sure that’s the case.
“Hey, Mom. Is Dad home?”
“Nope. He’s at work. Did you come to see him?” We head into the living room and sit on the couch.
“Nah, I came to see whoever’s here.” Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing here. Not that it’s odd for me to stop in.
“You okay?” she asks, brows creased in concern. Cora looks just like her, honey-colored hair and brown eyes. I have darker hair like our dad.
“I’m good. How are things going with you guys?”
We chat about work, Cora, her wife, Simone, and Dad. When there’s a lull in conversation, I find myself saying, “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course. You can always ask me anything.”
I rub a hand over my head, wondering why I’m asking this, what I expect to learn from it, and knowing she’s going to want to know why. The thing is, it’s come up in conversation before. It’s not like she has anything different to share. “You were there that day…with Ella Swift.”
She frowns like that’s the last thing she expected me to say, and I can understand why.
“I was. One of the most heartbreaking calls I’ve ever been to.”
“Was it just Easton and Morgan there with her?”
“Yeah. Rhett was doing something for college, and who the hell knows what Gregory was doing. Nobody likes to talk about it, everyone pretending he’s some kind of Birchbark royalty, but something’s off about that man. He was never there with those kids. When Allison died, he hired help, but it was often Morgan and Rhett running the household.”