Page 63 of Micah
“No…clue.” I whisper back. “He’s fixating. I haven’t seen him like this. He keeps asking if Evie's coming. He won’t let up.”
“What is it about this woman that’s got him obsessed? I mean, she’s had a lot of shit piled on her, but we’ve seen people in rougher shape. We didn’t fucking redecorate an entire apartment for them…I can’t believe I fucking used the word redecorate.”
I chuckle at the disgust in his voice. “I don’t know what caught him, though you know he’s got a sweet spot for women in general, though this is on a whole other level. But I’m not going to argue with him. Holly wants Evie to come, so we might as well prepare.”
“Fuckers,” Colt yells. “This way. I saw these unicorn curtains online. We gotta go find them.”
“Fuck me,” Kade says, his expression void of hope. He knows we’re going to die in here.
Two hours later,we’re attempting to roll glittery pink paint on the wall in the nicest apartment on this floor. It has a great view of the lake, and Colt insisted this was the perfect one for the girls. Sometime in the last few weeks he’s gotten his hands on a princess bed, complete with canopy. It’s propped up in the living room, waiting to be assembled. Kade and I are going to get stuck with that job, guaranteed, considering Colt is useless with tools. We own fucking garages, and he still doesn’t know the difference between a Phillips and a Robertson.
“Fuck,” Colt yells again, glaring at the ceiling. There’s another blob of pink paint marring the expanse of white.
“Why the fuck didn’t we hire somebody to do this? For fuck’s sake Colt, last time we painted a wall was…never. We’ve never fucking painted.” Kade’s waving his roller around in frustration. He’s somehow managed to get more paint on him than the actual roller. His eyebrow is pink.
“It can’t be that fucking hard,” Colt says, rubbing a frazzled hand over his beard, leaving a trail of pink glittery paint in its wake. “I mean, you just roll it in the paint, then slap it on the wall.” We all eyeball the gobs of paint dripping down the wall.
“We…suck,” I mutter. Colt’s staring at the wall like he wants to light it on fire.
I slap him on the shoulder. “It’s ok. We’ll call someone on one of the crews to come paint.”
Kade pulls out his cell to contact someone from our maintenance crew as I guide Colt out of the room.
“Ok?” I ask. I hate to see him looking so dejected.
He grumbles, pulling himself up to sit on the granite kitchen counter. These units are finished as nicely as ours are, but on a smaller scale. It really would be perfect for Evie and her daughter.
“Why do you think she hasn’t agreed to come?” he asks, staring down at the light wood floors.
“Why…care?” I wait for his fiery eyes to shoot up to mine. “Why do you care so much? I don’t have a problem with it. I just wonder what’s going on with you?”
“I honestly have no idea. There’s just something about her that I can’t stop thinking about. I mean, she did the right thing, she fucking saved Holly, and what did it get her? Her fucking life was torn apart. It makes me so…angry.”
“You want to fix it for her?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Then that’ll be it? You’ll get her settled, then let her live her life?”
“Yes,” he says, making it sound an awful lot like a question. I hide my smile, moving to look out the floor to ceiling windows.
“You…are…hooked.”
He opens his mouth to deny, but stops. “I don’t know. I just can’t stop thinking about her.” He slides off the counter, moving to stand next to me, bumping his shoulder against mine. “Declan had more photos in the file. Of her before, and of her little girl, Mia. She was hooked up to so many tubes and wires in some of them…she was so tiny and so sick. She should have a princess bed, you know? And Evie, well, she was so thick and strong…lush and healthy, you know? Now she’s wasted away. I don’t like it.”
I study his face, seeing a hint of something that worries me. “Colt.” I say in warning. “I recognize that look on your face. Don’t. Don’t interfere in her life. Let her make the choice, man.”
He scowls at me. “Why shouldn’t I interfere? She would be better off here, where I…we can help her.”
“He’s right,” Kade says, walking into the room. “She would be better off here. There’s no doubt about it. Sounds like she’s in a shitty spot. Jim will be here in twenty minutes to finish the painting, by the way.”
Wanting to ease some of the tension in Colt’s shoulders, I throw Kade under the bus. “Kade wants to propose to Becca.”
“You dumbfuck,” Colt breathes, looking like he’s been punched in the head.
Kade scowls and throws an actual punch at Colt’s head, which Colt parries easily, of course. “Why the fuck are you saying it like that? What the fuck is wrong with wanting to marry the woman I fucking love?”
Colt exhales heavily. “Brother, take a minute and really think about your answer…why do you want to marry Becca?”
