Demi helps pick me up off the ground and hands Hadley over to me. Without a second thought, her, and Tate step protectively in front of us, causing tears to stream down my face at their visible outrage, even though it’s not warranted. This isn’t his fault. It’s mine.
“Guys, calm down. This was me. It—it’s all my fault,” my voice cracks as I try to hold back a small sob. I need to get my shit together so my daughter calms down. I hold her close and soothe her the best I can as she snuggles into my neck.
“No. This is on me. I’m sorry.” Cooper says, but he’s wrong. He’s all wrong.
“It isn’t. I—I…” I trail off, unable to talk to him at the moment. “He’s one of my neighbors and he offered his help with the yardwork because he has equipment that’ll make it all faster and easier. I just had a flashback from when the stock boy at the grocery store insisted on helping me because Hadley was sick and fussy that day.” I turn back to my new neighbor. “This is really just a big misunderstanding and really embarrassing. I’m the one who should be sorry.” I sniffle and pull my daughter in closer.
My girls put their arms around the both of us and whisper that it’s all okay and it’s moments like these that I know that they will be.
Twenty-Two
Breaking the neighbor was an accident
Cooper
November 2020
“Yo, Jace. Man, why didn’t you tell me that, one, our new neighbor is fuck hot. And two, that she’s severely afraid of men?”
“What the fuck did you do?” he curses at me through my speaker phone as I change out of my uniform and into some old ratty jeans that are so worn out, they feel soft to the touch, and a holey Miller Highlife shirt I’ve had since high school.
“I didn’tdoanything. Someone sure as shit did though. Someone broke that woman and I’m irrationally furious about it. Don’t ask me why. I don’t have the answer, other than watching her spiral into a full blown panic attack over my offer to help mow her lawn really fucked with my head.”
“Ah, fuck. My bad man. I didn’t think about it. I guess I assumed you and E would be too busy to meet her until the cookout later this month. And as for her being hot, well, I wanted to hold onto that one for myself a little longer. It’s not like any of us can call dibs. She’s a single mom who’s clearly been through something. I don’t know what, but the aggressive way she flinched at just the sound of my voice and the distance she kept at all times was triggering. I’m only guessing but she gave the impression that she stays away from men in general. I’ve seen it a lot, hell, I’ve lived it in my own way. Makes me think she suffers from small bouts of PTSD. I could be wrong but something happened to that girl. I think she’s stronger than she realizes. I saw the fire in her when we met. I think we could help her if she lets us.”
“What makes you think it’s all men she distances from?” I ask, genuinely curious so that I can… hell, I don’t know what I can do, but I damn sure don’t want her reacting the way she did earlier every time she sees me. Especially now that her friends convinced her to let me help them.
“When I did the inspection on old lady Peterson’s house, Janet showed up and she had no problem standing near her. Meanwhile she kept a minimum of a five to ten foot distance from me at all times. She kept Hadley even further when she could help it.”
“Is Hadley the daughter?”
“Yeah, cutest little ray of sunshine I’ve ever seen. She looks just like her mama except for those black ringlets on her head.”
“I noticed.” I agree.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s calmed down and is willing to let me come over and help but her friend had to offer to keep the little girl inside the whole time I’m there while she gets to know me. Apparently even being a police officer isn’t enough to reassure her that I’m not a bad guy.”
“You know better than anyone that not all badges are clean, just like I know not all soldiers stay on the right side of the war, and Ethan knows not every fire starts by accident. People choose every day to be evil just as often as others choose to be good.”
“I know you’re right. I do. I just hate it. Facing situations like this is the reason I do what I do. It’s never easy but I couldn’t bear it if that woman ever needed help and felt like she couldn’t call on me. My gut tells me something’s off. I need her to trust us, to trust me if the time ever calls for it.”
“Give it time, man. Let her get to know you. She’ll see that you’re a good guy. It’s impossible to miss. It’s why you’re my best friend—my brother. I don’t surround myself with shit people. Just no more breaking the neighbor, all right? I kinda like her and apparently so do you.” His resounding laugh booms out of the speaker, and it’s music to my ears.
“Yeah, yeah. I gotta go help her out. I’ll catch you later.” and then I hang up while he’s still laughing at me.
There was a time in our lives when I thought I’d never hear his laugh again. He came home from his fourth and final back to back tour overseas about two years ago and was honorably discharged with a purple heart after his platoon was bombed. He was one of three survivors and still bears the burn marks on his back from where he threw himself over the two other survivors, causing his clothes to burn into the scorched skin of his back.
He rarely speaks of it, but he’s a goddamn hero. If you try to say that he’ll outright deny it saying he was just doing his duty. If you look closely enough, you can see the love and anguish he carries for the men he saved and the men he lost that day.
His platoon sergeant had set them up for failure on that specific mission. Intentionally sending his soldiers out to die and now spending the rest of his life rotting in a prison cell. Good fucking riddance.
Most of Jace’s scars are mental one’s but after four months of spiraling after he came home from the hospital, Ethan and I begged him to get some help and he finally heard us. It was a long road, and the journey isn’t over, but he’s in a better place now. It helps that we all live together. Each of us chose difficult paths to follow early on in life. Having each other to rely on at the end of the day makes things slightly more bearable.
Now, two years or so later, he’s built up his construction company from the ground up and he’s a successful businessman as well as one of the hardest working men in this town. He keeps himself fairly closed off to people, but he’s personable enough to get by. We grew up in this town and it’s the kind of place where everyone knows everyone.
It’s why I’m so happy for him that he’s finding something so relatable in this Aria woman. His damage might not match her own, but maybe they can build a friendship up enough to help heal each other in ways that no one else in this town can.
