Today's Promises (Promises #2)(32)

Flynn is ready for bed already, clad in boxer briefs and a tee. I grab my own sleepwear and start putting it on. “I think the party will be good for everyone,” I say quietly.

As he crawls into bed, he says, “It’s great that we have our own car now too. We won’t have to borrow Bill’s. Plus, now we can stay as long as we like. Cody won’t be disappointed that we have to leave at such-and-such time.”

“Yeah,” I agree.

One positive development as of late is that we recently reached our first savings goal and were able to purchase a car. It’s just an old Ford Focus, one that looks like it rolled off the assembly line a long, long time ago. But, damn it, it’s not terrible. And, better than that, it’s all ours.

As I tug my sleep shorts up my legs, I add, “Having our own transportation sure makes planning a day like this much easier.”

Flynn fluffs up the pillows so he can lean back against them. When he has them the way he likes, he says quietly, “It’ll sure be nice to see Cody again. To tell you the truth, I can’t wait.”

It’s touching how much Flynn loves Cody. I stop what I’m doing so I can smile over at him.

“It’ll be nice for both of you,” I say. “It seems like we’ve been working so much and dealing with all that case stuff all the time that we haven’t seen Mandy and the twins in freaking forever.”

Flynn folds his arms across his chest. “Well, now we’ll see them real soon. And it’s always a good thing when we’re all reunited.”

“It is,” I agree. “It sure makes me feel better.”

He pats the space next to him. “Come on, come to bed. Let’s get some sleep. Work was a bitch today and I’m ready to crash.”

“Okay, one sec.”

After a quick pit stop to the bathroom, I crawl in bed next to a clearly very drowsy Flynn.

“Nothing bad happened at work today, right?” I inquire as I place my hand on his smooth chest.

“No, no, nothing at all,” he replies, yawning. “It was just the usual—another long-ass day.”

I kind of want sex, but Flynn is clearly beat. I watch as his eyes flutter open, like he’s trying to stay awake. But after a minute, they close and he’s dead to the world.

“Men,” I murmur. “How can they fall asleep so damn easily?”

I’m tired, but sleep never comes easy for me. And tonight, after a good forty-five minutes of tossing and turning, I just give up. Slipping out from under the covers, I head to the bathroom to raid my candy bar stash.

There’s comfort in routine, and after consuming a bar and a half, I feel pretty even-keeled. Chocolate, and the invitation from Mandy, has lifted my spirits, but I know I’m quite a long ways from well.

Still, I don’t feel the need to compulsively clean anything on this night. And, later, when I finally do find sleep, I only have one minor nightmare.

And that, for me, signals that there’s hope I will someday be whole.





Flynn



Saturday arrives, and by mid-morning, Jaynie and I are making the trip up to Morgantown for the twins’ birthday.

When we arrive, I discover Josh is home this time. I finally get to meet him, and we hit it off just fine. We shoot the breeze while Mandy and Jaynie head to the kitchen to get things ready for the party.

But even with the girls out of the room, the twins are still running around, interrupting us every five seconds and making my interaction with Josh limited, at best. I’m actually glad when, a short while later, Mandy has a sudden crisis and sends us on an unexpected errand to pick up more ice cream at the convenience store down the road.

Finally!

It’s my first opportunity to talk with Josh with no one around and no interruptions. A little man-to-man time never hurt anyone, and I’ve found it usually results in some unexpected disclosures.

To move things in that direction, when we leave the house and are walking across the lawn to his truck, I remark to Josh, “Wow, Mandy sure is a flustered mess today. It’s usually not like her to go off the deep end over something as small as not having bought enough ice cream for the party.”

“It’s more than that,” Josh mutters.

Ah, there is something I’m missing here. I suspected as much when Jaynie opened a tub of Neapolitan a short while ago, only to discover it’d been dug into pretty good. She mentioned this to Mandy, who then started wringing her hands. Mandy also turned about ten different shades of red. And then, after apologizing to everyone in the room, which seemed really unnecessary, she asked me and Josh to go buy more.

“What do you mean, it’s more than that?” I ask once we’re in the truck.

Buckling his seat belt, Josh says, “It’s just that Mandy should have bought more in the first place. We could have avoided this whole situation.”

Situation? Since when is ice cream a crisis?

When Josh nervously runs a hand through his blond hair, I sense he needs to talk. Hey, I know that feeling all too well.

“What’s really going on?” I ask him.

He releases a pent-up breath. “It’s just… Mandy, sometimes…”

“What?” I press.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. But know in advance, this is gonna sound crazy.”