Rhett
“Rhett?” My mother hollered my name just as I entered the back door into the kitchen. I walked toward the refrigerator and opened it up to grab a few more beers for the guys when I heard her voice again, only closer this time.
“Hey.” I turned around to see her standing in the doorway holding a laundry basket full of clothes. “Something came for you in the mail today.” She pointed toward the counter where an envelope sat.
The look on her face was hard to read; she almost appeared somewhat sad.
“I thought about just throwing it out, not even telling you it came.” My stomach dropped as I looked back at the manila envelope. “But then I figured that wouldn’t be right for me to do.”
I stood in the same place, the refrigerator door still opened wide, beer bottles held tightly to my chest with one hand as I tried to decide if looking was worth the effort.
“It’s just that you’ve been happy lately,” my mom added, regaining my attention. “You and AJ have something so sweet, and it’s just been so long since you’ve heard from her that I’d hate for you to stumble back into that old funk again.”
“I’ll…uh…” Fuck, I had no idea what I’d do. “The guys are waiting for me.” I stepped back and closed the refrigerator door. “I’ll get that later.”
I didn’t stick around, only rushed from the house and back toward the barn I’d soon call my place. My mind raced with each step I took. Mom was right. It had been a long time since I’d heard from Harley, so why now? The last time I’d had any contact with her it was on my last birthday, nothing but a short and simple text.
Happy Birthday.
That was it; that was all I got. I didn’t even take the chance to respond back, so why should I care now?
The problem was easier said, because for the next three hours the only thing I could think of was that damned envelope. With each passing minute, I found I only grew more pissed off.
Why now?
Why when I’d found someone who’d made me happier than I’d felt in a long time?
“We still on for Friday?”
I smacked the nail into the plank of wood a little harder than necessary and looked over to find Mikey watching me with an arched brow. “Trouble in Happy Land?”
When I didn’t respond, he just chuckled.
“Come on, man. AJ can’t still be pissed about the other day, can she?” He was referring to the morning that Uncle Gavin and he showed up to find her and me going at it on the newly installed countertops in the kitchen. She squealed, I laughed then covered her up until they backed out of the doorway to allow us both to right ourselves.
“AJ’s fine,” I told him.
“Well, I know that,” he wagged his brows, “but I’d say she’s more than fine.” When I shot him a glare, he grinned wide. “Honestly, though, what’s going on with you?”
I lowered the hammer and leaned back against the wainscoted wall I’d been working on diligently. “Harley.” One word was all I offered, and his shoulders sagged in defeat as he turned around and also leaned back against the same wall.
“She's back?”
“No,” I looked over at him, “not physically anyway. She sent something in the mail, and when I went inside earlier Mom told me it was there.”
“What’d she send?”
“Didn’t look.” I still wasn’t sure I wanted to. “I guess I just can’t figure out why now. When she left we’d made plans to go to college together, we’d made plans for our lives together. I know things change, I get that now, but she just stopped, ya know? She quit calling, she quit responding, it all just ended. Now here we are, and out of the blue she sends whatever the fuck she sent.”
“Let me ask you something.” Mikey turned toward me, resting his shoulder to the wall and looked directly at me. “Whatever’s inside that envelope, is it gonna change the way you feel about AJ?”
“No.” I didn’t even need to think about that. “It wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Then you have two ways you can go with this.” He made it sound so simple. “You can open the envelope, or you can throw it away and forget all about it.” With a shrug, he walked away, leaving me alone with nothing more than my thoughts.
***
“Happy Birthday.” AJ sauntered up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, rising on her toes to press a kiss to my lips.
“Thank you,” I said just as she pulled back, her eyes opening to lock with my own. “I think I’d much rather hang out here with you than go out to some bar.”
“Then you’d take all the fun away from Mike and the guys. They’ve been planning this all week.”
“You should come too.” I gripped her tighter and held her close when she attempted to step back. I always felt better when I was holding her close.
“No way am I crashing the party the guys have planned for you,” she added, gliding her hands over my chest. “How about you call me when you get home, and if it's not too late, I’ll come over and give you your birthday present from me.”
“How about you give it to me now?” I cupped her ass and she squealed.
“April’s waiting for me in the car.” I pouted, and she traced it away with the tip of her finger. Just as she began to pull away, I opened my mouth and caught her fingertip with my lips, sucking softly. “You don’t play fair.”
“Not when it comes to you.”
I couldn’t, because each day I spent with her I only managed to fall a little further. This woman had me wrapped tightly around her finger.
“I’ll see you later?” She pulled her finger from my mouth and stepped back with a sultry smile upon her lips. “Behave.”
Watching her walk away was testing my strength. But I remained where I was until the door closed behind her and I was left alone. Dad and Mom were at Gran’s, and Grace was off doing whatever it was that teenage girls do with their friends.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I assumed it was Mikey hassling me about what was taking me so long. Lifting my cell, I looked at the screen and froze.
Harley: Did you get what I sent you?
I’d forgotten up until that point I still had her programmed in my phone. It’d been so long since I used the number or even received anything from it that it was easy to forget.
Before I could respond, though I still wasn’t sure I wanted to, another text came through.
Harley: Happy Birthday Rhett, believe it or not I really miss you.
The earlier buzz I’d felt from being in the presence of AJ was gone and had since been replaced with an irritation I found hard to simmer.
She missed me? What the fuck was that, she fucking missed me?
Without thinking, I lifted the phone and hit the icon in the corner that triggered a call. Hearing her voice on the other end only further ignited the fire inside of me.
“Hi.” That sweet, innocent tone that once made me feel all twisted up inside no longer had the same effect.
“You miss me? Why now? Why after all this fucking time you decide that now you’ll miss me?” I knew I was asking questions yet giving her absolutely no time to answer them. “What happened? Did pretty boy dump your ass and now you feel all alone? Reach out for the boy you left behind? Well guess what, Harley? That boy is no longer here. He’s moved on too, and he’s fucking happy.”
I hung up feeling no better about what had just taken place. This was bullshit. She fucking missed me, my ass.
There were no text messages that followed, no return calls, and I was glad.
When I arrived at the bar, Mikey was the first to see me, and by the look on his face, I knew he understood that I needed this night after all. Between Terrance and him, I was fucking hammered after the first two hours. I ended up mumbling what had taken place with Harley and how I found a great girl, now she was gonna screw it all up.
Mike drove my truck home and called Uncle Gavin to pick him up. My dad was waiting on the front porch holding his own beer in hand, wearing one hell of a grin on his face. “Hungover or not, tomorrow your ass is up with the sun to lay tile in that bathroom.”
I brushed past him, waving my hand out as I moved toward my room. I didn’t even take the time to get undressed before I collapsed on my bed and grabbed my pillow to pull it beneath my head.
I don’t know how long I lay there, my mind racing over the events of the last few hours. I just knew that things began to clear and seem less hazy as I rolled over, and the first thing I spotted was that same damn envelope that started this all.
Quickly I sat up, reaching out to pick it up and tore open the top.
I dumped the contents onto my bed and about ten different photos fell out. Some were of us when we were young, maybe early teens, others were more recent. Our junior prom picture, one of the two of us down by the lake, both smiling as if we had everything we could ever want.
Mixed in with the photos was a note.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately and the realization that I made the wrong choices are more clear. I ran across a box the other day, one filled with memories of our times together and it made me realize just how much I’ve missed you. How much I've missed us and the way our lives used to be.
My phone rang, and I jumped in reaction to the sound. Looking down at the screen next to me, a panicked feeling rushed throughout my body as I quickly gathered the items and shoved them back into the envelope. It was almost as if I thought AJ could actually see the pictures or something.
Once they were safely back inside and hidden, I shoved it in my drawer and grabbed the phone just before the call went to voicemail.
“Hey.” I tried for smooth and calm. “I meant to call ya, but I sorta passed out once I got back here.”
“It was that fun, huh?” AJ asked with a laugh, and just the sound of it eased the tension inside me.
“Mikey and Terrance made sure that I was feeling very little by the time we all left. I have a feeling my dad is gonna make me pay for it tomorrow, though. I distinctly remember something about tiling and getting up early.” I still felt a little unsteady on my legs and chose to sit back down before I fell.
“Chloe and Grace are dragging me off to the movies tomorrow to watch the new Pitch Perfect.” I hung my head and covered my eyes with my other hand, massaging my temples slowly. “But afterward I was thinking you and I could spend a little time together.”
“Definitely.” I was half tempted to tell her to come over now and most likely would’ve had my own place been all finished and ready. Just a little longer and I’d be out from under my parents’ roof. Not that I’d be much further, but I’d be out.