Page 27 of Same Rogue
“No, no, it’s not that. You haven’t settled into slowing down, so you have replaced your job by doing jobs around here, and you seem to think I need to do everything with you, and you are stepping on my time with my friends, and knitting, and sleeping in. I retired three years ago, and I was accustomed to my relaxation time. You wake up at 4:30 in the morning and think we need to have coffee together every day.”
“I’m making up for missed time with you,” Matt teased.
Gina rolled her eyes and handed Bridger a plate. “I’m going to need to share custody of him with you,” she joked. “Please find jobs you need done on your Rogue property and come take him off my hands. Put him to work!”
Bridger snorted. “Deal. There’s a lot to do. We’re still building it up. What days do you want to get rid of him?” Bridger asked.
“Mondays are Bunko parties with the girls, and he has been hanging around bothering everyone with his stupid dad jokes. Take him away from here on Mondays. Please.”
It was all teasing, and they were laughing, but Bridger actually wouldn’t mind the excuse of seeing them more often.
They ate and drank lemonade, and talked about unimportant things, just little chats to catch up, always avoiding the elephant in the room until their plates were empty and their glasses of lemonade drained.
Only then did Matt get quiet and watchful. Gina followed suit. “What’s on your mind, son?” Matt asked.
He was a heavyset man with thinning hair, glasses, and eyes the same shade of blue as Amelia. The look on his face was genuine.
Bridger let out a sigh and set his empty plate on the table in front of him. He shook his head. “I don’t know. Too much, probably.”
“You are missing Amelia?” Gina asked.
He nodded. “Always.”
They both nodded in unison, their eyes full of emotion. It was Gina who spoke. “Bridger, we’re selling the house.”
“What?” he asked.
“We’re selling it. We need something smaller. The only reason we kept this big old house all this time was for Amelia’s memories. For her room.” Matt slid his hand over her thigh and looked at the ground. Gina said, “Enough of our lives has been lived here. Our conversations still revolve around the loss, you know?”
And he understood. He wouldn’t be able to live in a place laced with so many memories and no way to make any more.
“We were going to call you and tell you,” Matt said. “We have just been putting it off. We went back and forth about it for a couple of years. I guess we were worried about you not having a place to feel her anymore. On days like today, you know?”
Bridger nodded, and wrung his hands, looking around the living room. He and Amelia had watched so many movies from this exact spot on this exact couch. He’d never thought about it being taken away. He’d found comfort in knowing he could visit here any time he wanted, but that didn’t register until this very moment, when it was being taken away.
But…he really did understand.
“I met a girl.”
Gina gasped and put her hand on her chest.
He felt awful. Briger hung his head, unable to see the hurt on her face.
“Oh, Bridger,” Gina whispered. “I’m so happy for you.”
He jerked his attention to her. “What?”
Her eyes were rimmed with tears, but she was smiling. She looked…happy.
“Boy, it’s time,” Matt said. “You’ve tortured yourself enough. You’ve suffered enough. It’s okay if all of us still live. Not just wait to die and join her. I mean…live while we have life.”
Bridger’s heart felt like it was breaking apart in his chest. He hung his head again and stared at the multicolor of browns in the carpet.
“I don’t know if you would like her, or understand her,” he said in a choppy voice. “She’s not like Amelia.”
“So?” Gina asked. “Is she nice?”
“I think so.” Bridger shrugged. “It’s new. There was some mix-up, and some paperwork got crossed, and we ended up paired, technically. We’re having that dissolved, but I keep finding reasons to see her and talk to her. My wolf settles near her.”
