The Chance (Thunder Point #4)(81)

“I wish I was there with you. Or you here with me.”

“Do you have any idea when you might be back?” he asked. In fact, he asked almost every day.

“I was hoping a couple of weeks would do the trick, that I’d get him settled and feel comfortable leaving him. Obviously that’s not going to happen. But, Eric, I’m trying, you have to believe me. I just can’t leave him unless I’m sure he’s safe.”

So Eric stopped asking.

Eighteen

Laine called or texted Eric several times a day and he did the same. Pictures passed between them—Laine sent pictures of her nieces, her father, the whole family, even the family manse from the outside, complete with manicured landscaping and long, bricked drive. To which Eric texted back, Holy shit! You grew up in that thing?

Eric’s texts and pictures were not quite as impressive. At least he didn’t think so. He had looked forward to taking Laine to his sister’s house in Bend for a family gathering, to introduce her to his family. Ashley had to work so he went alone. He texted a picture of his parents that, if there had been a pitchfork, could have been American Gothic. The picture of his sister and brother-in-law was a bit more friendly-looking. He had a niece and nephew, both nearly as old as he was since there was twenty years between himself and his sister, so the gathering was fairly large, but it was missing his girls.

He stayed very busy. He worked almost every shift while managing to give Justin a full-time work schedule, as well. The next set of pictures he sent were of Ashley and her boyfriend, Frank, on senior prom night. She almost brought tears to his eyes, she was so beautiful. Gina and Mac gave them and Mac’s daughter, Eve, and her date, Landon, a very nice send-off. Then there was an after-prom party at Cooper’s bar, which was closed to the general public and kept open for the kids.

Too soon, they were celebrating the high school graduation. The party was held at the McCains’ and of course he was included. Between the ceremony and the party, he managed to text Laine a couple of dozen pictures. These town kids had done so well for themselves—made their parents darn proud. Eve and Ashley would be commuting to community college together, but Frank was going to George Washington University on a full academic scholarship and Landon was going full ride to the University of Oregon and would play football for them. So, the boyfriends were leaving and the girlfriends were planning to catch up after the first year.

Eric told Laine about everything in great detail, sent pictures of every event, even the progress on the beachfront houses on the hill between Cooper’s bar and the town. He told her about every dent he pounded out, every piece of news about their friends, her friends, the town at large. And she kept him apprised of every detail of her life, which was now filled with doctor’s visits, medical tests, attempts to find the right home health-care people and get-togethers with her family.

And as the time seemed to crawl by, in what felt like a year, it had been a month.

He loved her rented house and loved the deck with its view of the bay, but going home at night, waking up there alone in the morning, was killing him. He saw her everywhere. He would come home and for a split second there would be the aroma of soup in the house...then it would disappear. He’d sit on the deck at night when a storm was rolling in and feel her snuggled against him, sitting between his legs on that chaise, and it could be so real he’d want to kiss her neck. He dreamed of her, reached for her, tasted her in his sleep. He loved her like he’d never loved a woman in his life and she was completely out of his reach.

He blamed some of this on time zones. All those sweet whispers he wanted to hear and utter, the erotic and blissful murmurings he craved—they just didn’t work into the world they were now living in. These private things weren’t easily said while he was digging around in an engine, or she was sitting in a doctor’s office. By the time he woke at 5:00 a.m. it was already eight in Boston and Laine and her father were in full swing. Not an optimal time to ask, “Tell me what you want me to do to you....” Late at night, when he was finally done killing time for the day, it was far later in Boston and Laine, exhausted from her day, was asleep. They could exchange I-love-yous and I-miss-yous, but those deep and sexy utterings...? It just didn’t happen.

What he’d begun to think of as one of the greatest romances in the history of man had become all business and local news and Eric felt like he was drying up. As each day passed by he felt she was getting further and further away.

He covered his grief with work. And with every breath he longed to touch her again.

* * *

Al Michel had found the month of May to be mostly torture. He, along with Eric and Scott Grant, vowed to make sure the Russell boys were looked after for a few weeks until they could finish the school year. Sally Russell went to a full-care facility just south of North Bend, an hour from Thunder Point. A foster home had been found for Kevin and Danny, in Grants Pass, at least a three-hour drive from Thunder Point. As soon as school ended the boys had been relocated. And Justin, who now had two full-time jobs, was left behind.

The men, Al, Eric and Scott, were present every day right up to and including that day that Justin had to give up his brothers. They watched over him, their eyes sharpened for any signs that he might be falling apart, that he could be in trouble or despondent. But, Al observed with some pride, the boy was not only strong, but also vigilant.

Justin arranged his schedule—days as a stock boy in the grocery store and nights at the gas station—so that he’d have Saturdays and Sundays free. Those days he got in his van and motored over to Grants Pass, picked up his brothers and took them to see their mother. He drove for hours and hours on those two days. On at least one of those days he worked at Lucky’s in the evening. He put in eighty hours a week. All he did at home, where he lived alone, was bathe and sleep and clean his clothes. He didn’t complain, he didn’t ask for favors. He was quiet, which he always had been. But he was cheerful to the customers at both businesses.