The Lost Days (Prairie Town Book 3) (8 page)

That’s my girl.
Nick thought with a grin as he stood from the table and offered his arm to her.

“Okay then.  I’d love to join you for dinner next Friday, Kelly.  Thank you.” Devin stayed where he was, still as a stone.

We’ll have to work on that.
  Nick determined as Kelly’s arm slipped through his and he guided her towards the door.

“Thanks for the cookies.” He stopped a few feet away from the door and gazed down at her, admiring the perfection of her face.  She was like a nymph.  Her hair framed her heart-shaped face perfectly, and those eyes?  Those lips?  Damn.

“It’s my pleasure.” There was that smile again.  “And I really meant it, you know.  He can join us for dinner.  I know he’s had a hard time and what kind of person would I be to make things worse for him?”

“You’re the terrific kind of person, Kelly Spencer.  Don’t forget that.” He
almost
leaned in to kiss her forehead. 
Almost
.  But then reality kicked in and he remembered they had only known each other for a little less than 24-hours.  He didn’t want to end up on her creeper list.

“Thank you for thinking so.  And,”—she lowered her voice—“It’s really kind of you to offer him a place to stay.  His family is, well, they’re not exactly the people you want to live with, even in your right mind.  This is probably the best place he can be right now.”

After she said goodbye and disappeared down the sidewalk, Nick remained on the steps with his hands shoved in his back pockets, allowing her words to echo in his mind.

“
They’re not exactly the people you want to live with, even in your right mind.”

What had she meant by that?  Were Devin’s parents sadistic bastards?  Was that why he’d grown up to do the things he claimed to have done?  What about his brothers?

The apple usually doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

No.  That was bullshit.  He was
not
his father.  Sure he liked to enjoy a cup of wine every now and then, or maybe a cold beer while grilling out, but he would never let alcohol control his life, and he sure as hell wouldn’t choose it over his own flesh and blood.

Devin deserved a second chance.

Closing the door and returning to the kitchen, he found Devin standing in front of one of his paintings—yes, his.  He’d painted it when he was in the eleventh grade and it was his best work to date.

“So, that was interesting, huh?”

Devin turned to stare at him and the guilt once again dimmed his gorgeous ocean-blue hues.  “I’m really sorry about that.  I...I didn’t know how to tell you.  I’ll understand if you don’t want me to move in now.”

“Who said anything about that?” He grabbed for their glasses and extended Devin’s towards him.  “Everybody makes mistakes, Dev-o.  Do you mind if I call you Dev-o?”

“It’s a little corny.” He snickered and rolled his eyes.  It was the cutest thing Nick had ever seen.  “But I don’t mind at all.”

“Good.” He clinked his glass against Devin’s and then lifted it to his lips.  “Here’s to new beginnings.”

“To new beginnings.” Devin echoed.

And maybe to new love,
Nick thought as he sipped at his wine with a smile.

D
evin

As he moved his stuff into an empty room upstairs, he couldn’t help but get the feeling that moving into a stranger’s home was highly uncharacteristic of himself.

He had gone home with the hopes of finding a warm and embracing family, but he honestly should have known better after what he’d encountered during visitation hours with his parents and siblings.

His mother was actually a very kind person.  She was just as any mother should have been: loving, caring, willing to give hugs on a whim, and always smiling.  But there was a sadness behind her smile, and he learned why a lot sooner than he wanted.

The men in his family were not good people.

His father was very cold and distant.  His actions screamed hateful, and after being in a room with him for an hour and feeling the hair on his arms stand on end, he knew living with him wasn’t going to work out.

Though his mind may have forgotten what happened in their home, his body seemed to remember just fine.  He didn’t like the sudden onset of fear he felt every time they were around one another. 

His brothers were just the icing on the cake.  Charlie and Lucas joked about his time at the institute and actually had the audacity to say he’d been faking all along.

Oh, if only that were the case.

But it wasn’t.

And they were jerks.

While lying in his supposed bedroom, he’d had since he was a kid, he thought long and hard about what steps he needed to take to put himself in a better environment.  Being around people like his brothers and father would not be beneficial.  In fact, Doctor Thompson’s voice boomed in his mind as he tossed and turned.

“This is your chance to prove yourself, Devin.  Show the world you’re a better person now.”

And God, he wanted to.  He felt like a completely different person, and definitely not the man who had kidnapped an innocent girl and her boyfriend. 

But where could he go?  What could he do?  He barely had his social security number memorized; he wasn’t ready to be on his own, was he?

He’d pulled out his laptop at 3 o’clock in the morning and thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t password-protected the damn thing.  It was one less worry he’d have.

Browsing the local classifieds, he came across a few different requests for roommates, but one stood out more than the others.

WANTED – ROOMMATE

27-year-old male seeks awesome individual to divvy rent, alcohol, and good times. 

He’d immediately been interested in the ad, but he wasn’t sure he could wait for morning to arrive to call.  If Devin had learned anything about himself over the last eleven months, he knew he was an impatient person.  Waiting didn’t suit him at all.

So that’s how he’d ended up on Nick’s doorstep a little after ten that morning, and now, here he was, unpacking his clothes and feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders.

He was away from the bad people.

He could be his own person.

He could keep being kind and good and warm.

Did he feel bad for leaving his mother there?  Of course he did, but he got the feeling she wouldn’t have left with him even if he’d begged her to.

As weird as it was, he got the feeling maybe he’d asked her to leave with him before, but he could never know for certain.  At least not unless his brain decided to cooperate—the chances of that were slim to none.

“Hey, Dev-o.” Nick appeared in the open doorway and stood there with a lopsided grin on his face.  “You ready for some lunch?”

At least Nick is nice.

As much as he wanted to believe Kelly’s invitation to dinner had been sincere, he was afraid she’d only done it as a favor to Nick.  He had no idea what their connection was to one another—aside from living on the same street—but she sure as hell wasn’t inviting him over to eat because she liked him.

After spending so much time in the institute, he’d really gotten a knack for knowing if people liked him or not.  So far, the record wasn’t good.

But Nick seems to like me.

If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have let him stay, right?

“I’m starving,” he admitted with a pat to his tummy.  “What’s on the menu?”

“Grilled chicken salad today, but worry not; tonight we’ll eat like kings.  And I’m really looking forward to next Friday; we’ll get to sample some of Kelly’s cooking, which I’m sure is fantastic.”

“That’s nice.” His gaze drifted to the window, and he peered out at the gray sky.  Rain. Perfect. 

“It
is
nice, but something tells me you’re not as enthused about it as I am.” Nick made himself at home—as he should have because it was
his
house—and plopped down on the futon.  The springs groaned beneath his weight.  He frowned and hopped up and down a few more times. “This probably isn’t going to be very comfortable for you.  Do you need help getting a real bed?”

“I’m sure I can afford one.” Or at least he hoped he could.  He wasn’t sure if he had that much money saved up, but his mother had mentioned something about bringing over all of his financial stuff later.  Hopefully, he had been smart enough to save
some
money.

Or maybe I was a complete idiot and lost all my money, so that’s why I tried to hold somebody for ransom like a freaking moron.

“Well, I don’t mind helping you out if you need it.  I bet it’s strange trying to start all over again in a place that should be familiar to you.” Nick gazed at him thoughtfully and tilted his head to the side.  “So you don’t remember your birthday?”

“Not right off, no.”

“Your middle name?”

“Jackson.”

“That’s a good middle name.  At least it’s not Eugene.”

“Eugene? What’s wrong with Eugene?”

“What’s
not
wrong with Eugene?  I despise my middle name.  Consider yourself lucky.” Nick fell back against the futon and rested his hands over his stomach, staring at the ceiling.  “It’s really boring in here.  Do you want to put up posters or anything?  I wouldn’t mind.”

“I don’t have any posters to put up.  My room back home is pretty bland.  Something tells me I didn’t really stay there very much at all.”

“So you like going out and doing things?” Nick perked up, lifting his head to stare at him.  “Me, too.  What kinds of things do you reckon you like to do?”

“I honestly don’t know.  This has been trial and error for me.  I do know that I have a liking for cheesecake; my mother made me some to welcome me home.”

“Who doesn’t like cheesecake?” Nick grinned lazily and let his head fall against the pillow again.  “Is your mom nice?”

“She seems to be—how about yours?” He continued putting his clothes into drawers, glancing at Nick occasionally.

“She was really nice.  She was the best.”

“Was?”

“She died a few months ago—Leukemia.”

He turned to face him and instantly regretted bringing up the topic of his mother, but how could he have known?  This was part of the process in getting to know someone, wasn’t it?  Asking such questions wasn’t against the law, but it did make him feel pretty crappy for bringing up something so fresh and painful.  “I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to be.” Nick stood from the bed and rubbed the back of his neck, offering him another small smile.  “She had a full, happy life.  Well, it was full enough.  I made sure she was happy.  We traveled until she couldn’t anymore; I took her to see the Grand Canyon.”

“Sounds like an amazing time.” Toying with a loose string on the hem of his shirt, he chanced another glance in Nick’s direction and felt a warmth wash over him from the intense gaze he was giving him.

That’s not right, is it?
  He shifted nervously and broke eye contact, deciding the floor was much more interesting. 
Now is not the time to figure out my sexuality.  I’ve got too much to worry about—like finding a job.

“It was pretty amazing.” Nick said softly.  A few beats of silence passed between them before he cleared his throat and walked towards the door.  “So, grilled chicken salad is good with you?”

“Yes.” Devin’s head shot up and he nodded eagerly.  “Please.  That would be great.”

“Good.” He gave him a pat on the shoulder and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Devin alone with only his thoughts.

And a weird tingling in his stomach.

—————

K
elly

“Mama, I don’t want to go to Mrs. Harrington’s.” Justin groaned as he entered the kitchen and wrapped his little arms around her waist from behind.  “Her house is boring.”

“Mrs. Harrington isn’t that bad, Justin.  She does try to make it entertaining for you,” Kelly replied, and then she quickly stirred the pot of spaghetti noodles she had boiling on the stove. 

Two weeks had absolutely flown by.  Nick and Devin would be there at 7 o’clock sharp and she wanted everything to be ready by then. However, getting two kids packed up to stay the night with trusted friends, getting herself ready, and fixing dinner at the same time was proving to be difficult.

“Besides, you’re not going to Mrs. Harrington’s tonight,” she added with a smile. “You’re going somewhere else.  It will be fun.”

“Really?” Justin sounded more excited as he pulled away from her and ran to the table, pulling out a chair to sit down.  “Where am I going?”

“You are going to stay with Auntie Tula and Uncle Paul tonight.  They’ve even rented some movies for you and Skylar to watch.”

“Tula and Paul!” He gave a whoop of excitement and clapped his hands.  “I love Tula and Paul! And Skylar! Their house is so big, Mama.  It’s the biggest.”

“I know it is.” She nodded, glancing over her shoulder to gaze at him.  “And Tula would like it very much if you stayed the night again.  Would you like that?”

“Yeah! I love spending the night with Skylar.  We have so much fun!”

“Good.  You should go pack your overnight bag so you can—”

“On it, Mama! I’ll be back in a minute!” He darted out of the kitchen before she could get another word in.

“Don’t forget to pack your pajamas!” She called after him, but he probably didn’t hear her anyway.

Tula and Paul had been fighting to adopt for a long time and had finally gotten their first baby that past September, a beautiful little girl they named Harper.  They fell in love immediately and they were the best parents a kid could hope for, but they wanted to expand their family, as one often did after getting a taste of parenthood.  At least that’s how it had happened to her and Patrick.

In February, they adopted a 7-year-old boy named Skylar and their family was finally complete.  Kelly was so happy for them, and Justin thought the world of Skylar, so it only made sense that they planned as many play dates as possible.  It just so happened tonight was a perfect night for Justin to go visit his friend, and Tula had even encouraged it.

“Oh, you’ve got dinner with a man?  Of course I’ll watch Justin.  You need to meet a nice guy, Kelly.  I hope it works out.”