Room for You(32)

“Brody. Brody, wake up.”

I pried my eyes open and lifted my head to see who was calling my name, as pain shot up the right side of my neck. I must have fallen asleep in a funny position, but I was groggy and last thing I remembered was watching Baseball Tonight’s Web Gems with Kacie sound asleep on my lap. Where was she, anyway?

“You okay?” Fred asked in a loud whisper.

I rubbed the pain away. “Yeah, I’m fine, Fred.”

“Let’s go fishing again.” A wide grin crossed Fred’s face, making him impossible to turn down, even though I wanted nothing more than to crawl up the stairs to my room and go back to sleep. I grabbed my phone to check the time but all I noticed was the little envelope lit up in the top right corner signaling a text from Kacie.

“Sure, Fred, I’m up for fishing again. Just give me a minute to use the bathroom and grab a quick bite and I’ll meet you out there.”

His face lit up as he reached down and patted my shoulder. “Sounds good, see you in a few minutes.”

I gave him a little wave as he disappeared out the back door and then turned my attention back to my phone.



HEY! I WENT TO BED BUT I DIDN’T WANT TO WAKE YOU BECAUSE YOU LOOKED SO PEACEFUL. SEE YOU AT BREAKFAST. :)



Relief washed over me. I was slightly worried after her little nap last night, she would wake up feeling like she’d made a huge mistake and possibly regret last night, especially that kiss.

Holy shit, that kiss.





“Thought maybe you’d bailed on me,” Fred said as I sauntered down the hill toward his run-down red canoe.

I ran my hand through my hair and forced a smile at him. “Nope, just moving slow this morning, sorry.”

“No problem.” He hopped out of the canoe and walked around next to me, motioning to his small wooden death trap. “Let’s push her off and hop on in.”

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind fishing with Fred at all, it was actually really relaxing. We just had a really long day yesterday, both physically and mentally exhausting, and I didn’t exactly sleep well sitting straight up on the couch overnight.

I liked Fred, but I loved sleep.

It really was a beautiful morning out on the lake though. The fog was still sitting just on top of the calm water, the birds were just starting to chirp, not a soul around. Fred and I paddled about fifty yards from the shore before he spoke again. “This look good?”

“Sure. Looks great,” I said in between yawns.

“You’re gonna let the flies in,” he teased.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me today, I’m never like this.” I reached down and scooped up a small handful of lake water and splashed it on the back of my neck, hoping the shock of the chilly water would wake me up.

“Well, sleeping on that couch like you were all night certainly doesn’t help. I’m glad you came out here with me though, I want to talk to you.” He stared off in the distance and squinted his eyes. “I’ve known Sophia and Kacie for about ten years now. Sophia and I have grown to be great friends, and Kacie … well, she’s like a daughter to me, Brody.” He looked me square in the eye and I focused right back on his. “I don’t know how much she’s told you about her past, but when that little prick left her four years ago, it devastated her.”

Kacie hadn’t filled me in on many details yet, so part of me felt like I was betraying her by listening. The other part of me didn’t dare interrupt him because I wanted every bit of information I could get about her.

He continued, “When she called her mom from Minneapolis and told us that he was gone, we immediately went into worker-bee mode. Painting rooms, putting together cribs, buying stuffed animals … all so they would feel at home when they got here. When they did finally arrive a few days later, they weren’t ten feet in the door when Kacie set the girls down and collapsed in her mom’s arms. She didn’t leave her bed that whole first week.” Fred took his glasses off and used his pointer finger and thumb to rub his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was tired also, or if he was getting choked up reliving this. “Sophia would make her food and take it in to her. An hour later she would go get it and bring back an untouched plate along with a small trash bag full of tissues. She was crushed, heartbroken.” He let out a heavy sigh.

I put my hand up before he started talking again. “Wait, I don’t get it. If he was such an *, wouldn’t she be happy he was gone?”

He looked down at the bottom of the boat, kicking at loose paint with his worn out leather boots. “I’m sure she didn’t tell you anything about her dad either?”

She hadn’t said one word about him. I just shook my head, not sure I wanted to hear any more about what she’d gone through.

“I can’t say too much about that, I wasn’t around when he was. All I really know is that he was Kacie’s hero. She followed him around like a shadow her whole life, a real daddy’s girl. Then one day, he up and left Sophia and Kacie when Kacie was ten. Divorced Sophia and left her for another woman, never really kept in touch with Kacie either. When Kacie found out she was pregnant, she was hellbent on keeping her family together and giving the girls all that she didn’t have. Then when Zach left, she felt like she was not only reliving everything with her dad again, but she’d somehow failed Lucy and Piper too.”