Never Standing Still (The Never Duet #1)(4)

“I don’t know. I don’t have any work lined up down there at the moment.”

“Oh.” I hated the sadness in her voice. “Okay.”

“But I’ll make sure I come down for a weekend or something when I get a break.”

There was a long pause and I knew she was trying to formulate her thoughts. “Just promise me that one day you’re not going to leave and never come back?”

“Ella, you’re my best friend. I promise I’d never just disappear on you.” Even as I said the words I knew they weren’t one hundred percent truthful. I might disappear on her. I’d done it before. But things were a little different now and even though the tethers that tied me down were thick and strong, they weren’t unbreakable.

She took my promise to heart and I hoped I’d never have to break my word. We spent the next half hour talking about Porter and how much she loved spending time with him, but she still couldn’t remember him. I tried to assure her that even if she never regained that memory, she should give him the benefit of the doubt and just take things slow. Get to know him all over again.

“Well, I’m almost home so I’m going to let you go,” I said as I exited the freeway in Seattle.

“All right, and Kalli, don’t be a stranger, okay? I really do miss you.”

“I miss you too, Ella. I’ll let you know when I can make it down again.”

“Bye, Kalli.”

“Bye, Ella.” I disconnected and then concentrated on getting home.

Home, for me, was a weird place where I knew I should feel comfortable, but my home was almost like a second identity. I turned into a different person at home; had different goals and responsibilities. And as long as I was there, I transformed into my other self.

I pulled up to the house, parking next to the sedan in the driveway, then grabbed my bags and headed toward the front door. I’d made it halfway up the path when the door swung open and I saw him barreling toward me.

“Kalli! You’re home!” Before I could stop him, not that I would, Marcus had me in a tight and loving embrace.

“Hey, buddy. It’s good to see you.” Marcus was huge at six feet tall, two hundred and ten pounds, and still growing. He was just seventeen and I knew he’d be growing for a few years yet. It still amazed me every time I laid eyes on him. He was mammoth, much like his father had been.

“I tried to tell him to wait inside, but you know how excited he gets when you come home.”

I heard Nancy’s voice coming from the house and turned my head to smile at her. “It’s fine.”

Marcus pulled away from me and began his normal, incessant chatter. “Nancy and I went to the park today and she let me ride my bike. Don’t worry,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I wore my helmet. But then there were ducks and one big goose and it totally chased me on my bike. But I wasn’t scared, I just pedaled faster.”

“Hey, Marky, I’d love to hear about your day, but let’s go inside. Wanna help me carry my bags? You take this one and I’ll grab the other from my trunk.”

“Sure thing, sis!” he shouted, taking the bag from me and running back toward the house. Nancy followed me back to my car, offering to help.

“He’s been amped up all day waiting for you,” she said, smiling at me.

“How’s he been otherwise?”

“Good, actually. No big issues have come up lately.”

I smiled back at her. That was good news. I spoke to Nancy and Marcus nightly when I was away for work, but I was always nervous that I would be missing something important, or something would go wrong and I wouldn’t be able to get to him quickly enough. Besides Nancy, who was a godsend, I was all Marcus had in the world. The guilt of working away from him weighed on me heavily, but my job paid really well and it was the only way I could afford the care he needed and deserved.

“Great. I’m glad to hear it.”

Nancy helped me lug my bags to the house and once inside I listened to Marcus relive the last six weeks. As I unpacked my bags, he told me about every trip to the park, every movie Nancy had taken him to see, every exciting thing that had happened at school: he was a chatterbox. And I eagerly ate up his words. I wanted to know about his days, how he felt, what he’d done in my absence. When everything was in its place, put away, and organized, we went into the living room to find Nancy reading on her Kindle.

“Nance, you want to take the night off? I think I’ve got things handled around here, and you deserve a little time to yourself.”

“Well,” Nancy said with a smile. “How could I refuse an offer like that? There is a movie I’ve been wanting to see.”

“Oh, yeah?” Marcus said, his voice playful. “Why don’t you invite Mr. Bob to see the movie with you?”

Mr. Bob was Nancy’s longtime man-friend. They were both in their fifties and were the cutest couple ever. But they were both older and set in their ways, feeling no need to be anything more than, well, friends.

“You know what, Marky? I think I will invite Mr. Bob.”

“Mr. Bob and Nancy, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“Marcus, stop teasing Nancy. I’d be careful if I were you, Mr. Bob might not like you teasing her and he might be forced to hide all your Spiderman toys again.” Marcus’ face dropped and I could tell the idea of his Spiderman collection disappearing was enough of a threat to stop his assault on poor Nancy. “Now, tell Nancy to have a good time with Mr. Bob.”