Page 93 of On the Slopes of Tahoe
Me
Hey
Been a while since we talked. Call me when you have time?
I take a deep breath, typing out one more because I’m tired of not saying what’s on my mind.
Me
I miss you.
I put my phone back into my pocket and head inside for a shower. I don’t get a response.
“Hey, Frank,” I greet the security guard sitting at the desk of Wes and Joss’s building.
“Mornin’, Mr. Kylie,” he says with a nod of his head and an almost-smile. I’ve learned you have to really work for a full smile from this man.
“I’ll keep asking you to call me Breck, but I know you’re going to just keep calling me Mr. Kylie,” I quip, and his lips tip up just a hint farther.
“You’re right about that. Visiting Mr. Anderson?”
“Yes, sir. Is Joss not here?”
“No, she left a while ago. Have a great day.”
“You too, Frank.”
I don’t bother knocking when I reach their apartment on the sixteenth floor, hollering, “Honey, I’m home,” as I enter.
There’s a bark of laughter from the balcony and Wes makes his way through the open glass door, wrapping me in a hug.Watching him work through the trauma of his crash, the PTSD associated with it and all that came after, was an inspiration. It’s part of what’s kept me going these last five months when things felt so hard.
It’s not lost on me that we both had Rory to help us get through the hard times in our lives, and that we had each other too. Wes found Joss, and look where they are now. I had Rory, and it makes my heart constrict thinking of where she and I are now. Seven thousand miles separate us, but there’s more than oceans spanning between where we were when I left and where we are today.
“Joss left pretty early?” I ask.
“She had a couple errands to run before picking Willow up at school. I’m thinking we order pizzas and just hang out tonight, sound good?” Wes says but there’s a twinkle in his eye, mischievousness in his smile.
“Yeah, sure,” I say, skepticism dripping from my tone. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing,” he says too quickly before pulling open the fridge. “Want a beer?”
“A cold one sounds good. Thanks.”
“Balcony?” He nods toward the door and offers one to me.
“Yeah.” I grab it and follow him out. “How was your trip? Do you leave again soon?”
He takes a long swig of the beer, resting his head on the back of the white wicker chair. “It was good, long. Joss and I are actually taking the next few weeks off.”
I snap my head toward him. “Really? Why?” I wrack my brain for a reason they’d be taking vacation time in April.
He shrugs, trying to hide a smile by taking another drink. Yeah, he’s definitely being weird.
“Y’all have anything planned? Another surf trip or something?”
“No, just spending time around here. We’ve been working nonstop since the honeymoon.” He pierces me with his ocean blue eyes. “What about you? Anything planned for the next couple weeks?”
I scoff into my beer. “Ha. No.”
