I lay on the cool bathroom tile and prayed for my life to be over. I couldn’t take any more. I hadn’t felt that bad since my using days. It was a good reminder of what those times were like because some days I wanted nothing more than another hit or at least a drink. I couldn’t do either.

“Is everything okay in there?” Maggie called from the doorway.

“I’m still breathing, but I don’t know about okay yet.”

“Breathing is good. May I come in?”

How could I tell her no? It was her place, but I didn’t really want her to see me sprawled out on the floor. I tried to sit up and quickly abandoned that thought. I was going to leave as soon as I could move, so it didn’t matter. “Sure.”

She came around the corner and smiled. “Yep, this is pretty much what I had envisioned in here.” The humor left her voice and she spoke a little softer. “How are you feeling?”

“Not great.”

She walked over and placed two more waters next to me. “I don’t want you to get dehydrated. You may not feel like it, but you need to drink a little.”

“Thank you, Maggie.”

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as she did the night before. “How do you know my name?”

“It’s what Beverly called you last night. I got her name from the nametag.”

She seemed to relax and nodded. “Okay, but since you know mine, what’s yours?”

“Brody.”

She nodded. “That fits.” She stuck her hands into her back pockets. “I’ll leave you alone in case you need privacy again. Hopefully, you’re on the downhill side of things and it will be over soon.”

“What kind of apples are they?”

She shrugged. “I never cared to find out. I just heard to stay away from them.” She started to walk out but turned and pointed at me. “And I listened.” The humor was back. I heard her laughing as she walked down the hall.

* * *

I’d fallen asleep on the floor after the last bout of evil had left my body. I had only meant to rest for a few minutes before going to my truck, but I must have been more exhausted than I thought. I woke up with a blanket over me and a cup of coffee next to my head.

I sat up slowly, but my stomach didn’t protest as it had done the afternoon before. I slid to place my back against the wall, abandoning the blanket but taking the coffee. It was still warm, so it hadn’t been left there long. I wanted to throw it back like a shot and get some energy into my body, but I didn’t want to take that chance.

After a few sips, I stood, folded the blanket, and grabbed the coffee cup before heading back out to find Maggie. I was grateful she didn’t kick me out, as she should’ve. She didn’t know anything about me, and if she’d ever learned of my past, I’d never be allowed within ten feet of her.

I stepped into the hallway and walked toward the front until I heard a noise behind me. I decided to follow it. I passed the women’s locker room but didn’t hear anything from that room. I kept going. Farther down and to the left, there was a door propped open. I peeked around the corner and saw Maggie pouring a cup of coffee.

“Do you have a little bit more to top mine off and heat it up?”

She startled a little but smiled when she turned and saw me. “It’s good to see you survived the night. How many of those apples did you eat before you found yourself in front of my gym?”

“A couple.” It was more than a couple, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I grabbed all the apples I could reach. I took the coffeepot she stepped aside from and added a little more to my cup to warm it. I needed the extra energy to make up the drive time.

She looked into her coffee cup and hesitated before she took a drink. “Oh, we have sugar and creamer if you need it.”

“No, I’m good with black.” I took a drink and felt the awkwardness set in. We had nothing to talk about. I knew nothing more than she had a gym and lived off coffee. “If you have this coffeepot, why did you go order a pot of coffee from Beverly?”

“I ran out and didn’t feel like going to the store.” She shrugged. “Besides, she makes much better coffee than I do.”

“I don’t know. I think this coffee is pretty good. You can’t really screw it up as long as it’s coffee and not coffee-flavored water.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I don’t understand weak coffee.” She looked around. “So, what are your plans now that you’re upright?”

“I’ll probably hit the road pretty soon.”

“Where are you going?” She took another drink.

“I have no idea.”

Her forehead scrunched at my admission. “You have no idea? I thought you were going home or something. How, I mean, it’s none of my business, but how are you going to pay for things like food or hotel or gas for your truck if you don’t even know where you’re going?”

She had a point, but she was right when she said it wasn’t her business. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re running from.”

“I’m not running from anything.” I set the coffee cup down. “My life is in order, and there’s nothing keeping me anywhere.”

“Okay, but anyone who hasn’t put roots down is running from something. I know because I used to run, too.” She set her cup down and walked toward the door. “But, keep running if you want to and keep struggling to get fed and put gas in the truck. I don’t give a fuck.” Her hands flew up as she walked out.

I finished my coffee and took my phone out of my pocket. It was almost dead, but I hadn’t used it at all the day before so there was a little battery life left from charging it the morning before in the truck. I didn’t text that time. I pulled up Tim’s number and took a deep breath before hitting the call button.

“I was wondering when my big, bad brother was going to call and beg me for money. You lasted longer than I thought.”

“Look, asshole, I shouldn’t have to beg you for fuck. That’s my money, and you have no right to do what you’ve done. Put it back in the bank and we’ll call it good. If you don’t, I’ll call Ryan and have you arrested. Don’t think I won’t. Brother or not, you will not fuck with me.”

The first time I found myself in trouble, Ryan Wilcox was an assistant district attorney. He prosecuted me and sent me to prison. I got out, cleaned up my act, and started a rehab center with my brother Tim. The second time I found myself on the wrong side of the law he was the district attorney and he did everything he could to keep me out of prison. I didn’t deserve his mercy. I shouldn’t have been given the chance.

“Ah, there’s the Brody I know and loathe. It’s time to come home. You’ve licked your wounds enough.”

“Licked my wounds?” I scoffed. “You’re the one who sounds hurt. I just want my fucking money. Now, are you going to give it back to me, or do I need to call Ryan?”

“Go ahead and call Ryan. He’s the one who gave me the idea.” Tim hung up.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm myself down. I looked at my phone and the battery was flashing red. I needed to charge it before I made any more calls. It was probably no use. Ryan Wilcox may have been the district attorney back home, but he was on Tim’s side. Neither of them wanted me to leave.

“Someone stole your money?” Maggie was standing in the doorway.

“Something like that.” I looked around the room. “Is this a kitchen? Or at least supposed to be? You have a washer and dryer in here.”

“Yeah, this used to be a restaurant before I changed it into a gym. I didn’t need as big of a kitchen as they needed, so I took the space and used it to expand the restrooms and include showers. That cost way more than I had anticipated, so I haven’t gotten the appliances back in here. The washer and dryer were essentials for the towels. Not everyone will bring one from home for the shower.”

“That makes sense.”

“I do need to figure out the other appliances, but it’ll probably be more washers and dryers to keep up with the towels.”

“You’ve got the most important one.” I tapped the coffeepot. “Listen, thanks for letting me crash here last night. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I owed you one for helping me get that machine in here.” She crossed her arms, looked down at her shoes, and cleared her throat. “If you want to earn some cash, I have a few other things I could use some help with today.” She looked at me. “But if you need to get going, I understand. I’m sure you’ll find something at the next stop.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I bought out the entire strip and the other stores I’m converting to classrooms. I want to offer different classes so women will be more inclined to come here. Right now it’s all about weight training and the not-so-fun cardio machines. I know women will come to classes.”

“So, you need to knock down walls and—”

“No, I paid for that to be done when I had the showers installed. They just ate my entire construction budget with different things they kept finding. I have to paint and install the flooring myself. I have one room painted, so I thought if you could help me install the floor, I could get one class up and running.”

“And hopefully your cash flow?”

She placed her hands into her back pockets. “Something like that. I have money to pay you, and we’ll get lunch at Bev’s if you feel up to eating.”

I rubbed my chin as if I were considering her offer. Truth was, I had to take it. I just wanted her to think it was a struggle for me to stay and help her. I wanted it to appear more of a favor to her instead of my desperation for money.

“I have one more condition.”

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “What’s that?”

“Where can I charge my phone?” I had a call to make as soon as we were finished.

* * *

It was going faster than I thought it would after I saw all the steps to it. It wasn’t a regular laminate flooring. The concept was similar, but I never had to install a rubber layer first. I thought it would’ve been a quick way to earn some money and get back on the road, but I would’ve been lucky to get the floor done in one day.

Maggie was actually helping to install the floor. Most of the girls I’d been around would ask for help, but then the guy just ended up doing it alone. She probably just wanted to save herself some money and didn’t want me there longer than I had to be to get the job done. Whatever. It worked for me. I needed to get on the road and find a hotel for the night. My body was sore from sleeping on the bathroom tile and all the work I was doing on installing the floor.

I sat back on my heels and wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my arm. “At this rate, this should be finished before lunch.”

“Uh, it’s after two.”

“Oh.” I looked at my watch. “No wonder I’m starved.”

“We can take a break and head over to Bev’s if you want.”

I looked around at the section we had left. “Yeah, we might as well. It’s only going to slow us down if we don’t refuel. I’d like to get this finished today.”

“It would’ve taken me a week if I installed this myself.” She stood up and brushed her jeans off. She stretched and caused her chest to stick out farther.

I looked back down to the floorboard I was working on. “It probably would’ve taken a couple of days, but I don’t see you letting it get the best of you.” After I secured the board in place with a tap on the back with the rubber mallet, I set it down and stood, stretching my own back.