Page 4 of Never Alone
Aunt Jenna squeezed my arm. Quinn hugged me from the other side and reminded me, in case I'd forgotten, that I'd be addressed as “Lieutenant” from here on out.
Jamie set the cake out.Congratulations, Lt. Weston!in blue piping. Mrs. Thompson's. The same one I'd carried in from the truck.
I ended up at one of the long tables with a plate in front of me and most of the crew around it.
"How's the place coming?"
Keith, the younger of the Davis brothers, was an architect. He'd drawn up the plans for my kitchen and made me widen the doorway over my objection, the way he always did—not an argument so much as a closed door. I'd widened the doorway, and he'd been right. He'd been helping quietly ever since.
"Front bedroom's down to subfloor."
"Original under the carpet?"
"Oak."
"Good."
Sean leaned in from the seat next to mine. "Hold on. You bought a house?"
Sean had been at 33 before I came on. He'd left after the Carolina Furniture Depot fire, gone up to Greenville to work in his brother's supply shop. He'd met Carol up there. When he came home with her, his brother had helped him open his own store in Havensworth.
"Couple of months ago."
"And you didn't think to come see me?"
"I figured I'd come when I had a list."
"Come anyway. Whatever you need for it, bring me the list, and I'll cut you a price." He clapped my shoulder. "Tools, lumber, fixtures. Anything."
"Thanks, Sean."
"So." Martinez was on the other side of the table, beer in hand. "Three bedrooms. Any plans to fill that, Lieutenant? Or are you fully committed to living with the ghosts?"
"I'd be happy to introduce you to them when the place is finished."
The table laughed.
"No, thank you, Lieutenant. There's a reason I don't watch horror films."
Elena leaned forward across her plate. "Are you actually doing all the work yourself, Cole? You're not hiring anyone?"
"I prefer it that way."
Sam clapped me on the shoulder. "When the place is done, you're hosting the next barbecue. Just let us know if you need help with anything in the meantime."
Everyone had something to say about it. Half of them at once. Martinez said he was bringing sage.
I looked around the table. Sam at my shoulder. Sean across from me. Davis and Keith leaning over their plates. Martinez pretending to be afraid of a house. Elena watching the whole thing with the small, steady amusement she watched everything with.
Aunt Jenna and Quinn were at the next table over with Carol. Jamie was carrying out a second round of something from the kitchen. Jack and Ben were back on the grass with Biscuit, tossing the tennis ball she still wasn't going to chase.
I'd lost my parents twice—once to death and once to whatever my mother had become. What I had instead was sitting around me in this yard and had been the whole time.
I was fine alone. I just hadn't been alone in years.
CHAPTER 2
Tessa
