Page 66 of Refurbished

“Oh, sweet boy. Of course. I am a grown-ass woman and can be friends with whomever I want.”

There was no doubt she saw the relief on my face. Then I smiled. “I overheard some things that hurt me deeply. Things I can’t easily accept.”

“Oh.” I knew she would repeat what I said, but maybe that would put some closure to the situation. At least he would know I heard him and wasn’t going to get more deeply involved, only to be hurt even more when he left. “I’m surprised. Usually, my son is kinder than that. I’m really sorry he hurt you.” Amelia didn’t try to defend Angus. She simply heard what I said and apologized. This further proved what I already knew about her: she was an amazing, classy woman.

“Thank you so much. It’ll be okay. I just felt like if he felt a certain way about me, it would be easier for us to stop things now than continue getting attached.”

She nodded her head. “I understand. You will always be someone I admire and want to be friends with.”

That made me feel good because I had really started to enjoy having her to talk to. “I’m really glad.” We wrapped up our meal, and she insisted on paying for it. She gave me a big hug before we left, and I walked her to the curb and waited with her until her car arrived. “I’ll text you about coming to see the Sanctuary in the next few days if that’s okay.”

“I can’t wait to show you around. Letting you see the vision we… I have for the future.”

As she pulled away, I walked to my truck. At least I had one person in my corner, which made me feel better. She didn’t seem to judge what was happening between Angus and me. I hated that I might not get to talk to the people I was getting to know from The Dapper Duck, though at least I had Zach. When I got home, loneliness enveloped me. Only months ago, being alone was exactly what I wanted. Nobody to bother me, nobody behind my walls. I got Barnaby out of the trailer, and we headed to the barn. He looked around, and I wondered if he noticed that Angus and Ramsey weren’t here.

“We’re going to spend some time with the bears.” He cocked his head at me, clearly listening to what I said. When I entered the stall, he lay down at the door. Sitting in the fresh shavings, I propped myself up in the corner and waited for the cubs to come to me. The first two were completely hand-raised and would end up living here their entire lives. The new ones would hopefully be released back into the wild in the next few weeks, since they primarily nurse from their mother and only got a bottle of extra nutrients every other day. Their mom was almost completely healed, and we already had a place for them to go.

I leaned back, and the bundles of fur crawled all over me, then started falling asleep. The one thing I knew without a doubt was that I loved the place I had created. I am going to turn it into something even more amazing. Closing my eyes, I pet the cubs. I hadn’t slept well the last few days; they were so warm, and I felt pretty comfortable.

“Eion. Hey Eion.” I was on my side, bear cubs curled around me, and I was strangely content. Blinking awake, I recognized that Zach had called my name. Sitting up slowly, my shoulder hurt because I had slept on my prosthetic. I might have to spend tomorrow with it off, giving the skin some time to breathe and the joint some rest. That was if I ever got up off the barn floor. I smiled.

“Hey Zach. What time is it?”

“It’s 8:30 a.m. I saw you there, and you looked so comfy, so I fed everyone, but I wanted to ask you about maybe a couple more animals.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to make sure I understood. “You have a couple of animals you want to bring here?”

He swallowed and seemed nervous. “Yeah. Um, it’s two goats and another alpaca.”

“We could accommodate that. How do you know about these animals? Why would they need the Sanctuary?”

“Um. Well. My mom lives. Well. They are kept by a neighbor who doesn’t really care for them. They need to be rescued.”

“We can’t kidnap animals, Zach.”

“I know. I know. But if they willingly let me take them, can they come here? I sneak them food and feed them what I can, but they would do better here.” His enthusiasm was contagious.

“Everything has to be above board, but they can come here. Let me ask Angus—“ My heart thumped hard, and my eyes started to sting. “Shit. Yeah. Above board, Zach.” I got up quickly, and I could hear Barnaby grumbling. The need to run to the trailer and close the door to hide from the world was nearly overwhelming. I walked at a normal rate and was glad to be inside, where I didn’t have to face anybody. I needed a shower after sleeping in the bear stall all night. Sitting exactly where I left them were the boxes of stuff for Angus, and the check was on top. When I got out of the shower, I barely felt better, but at least I was clean. The boxes were still there mocking me. There was lunch meat in the fridge, so I made a sandwich and picked up my phone. There was a message from Angus.

ANGUS

Can we please talk?

I looked at it and set my phone back down. When Trey left, I never stood up for myself. He said terrible things and then walked away from me. This time, I was going to stand up for myself and remind him that even with my injury, I was a better man than he was because I didn’t pretend to love him. I had loved him with my entire heart and had hoped for a forever together. These were things I wanted to say, but I left the message unanswered. After reviewing additional bids from contractors, budgeting for the following month, and drafting an offer for Zach to work full-time, I picked up my phone.

EION

Yes. Eleven on Friday.

ANGUS

Thank you.

That gave me a few days to get my head together and practice what I would say. He screwed up, and I was a catch. Someday I will find someone who appreciates me, or I won’t, but that would be okay. Being with Angus had given me the confidence that I had been missing for a lot of years, and if nothing else, I was glad for that.

Chapter thirty-two

ANGUS