Beck gave an unhappy nod, and Dr. Davies and I watched them walk away.
“How’d you get involved with him?” he asked.
“Old family friend.” I shrugged.
He pursed his lips. “That why you were holding hands?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t everything?” He studied Tug through narrowed eyes. “Is he sober?”
I glanced at Tug. “I’m not at liberty to discuss any medical condition he might have.”
“Oh, wow. Listen to you.” He gave a snort. “You know, if it hadn’t been for the friends Beck’s made here—”
“You’re the veterinarian Tug told me about?” I was sick of trading barbs without introductions. “I’m Luke.”
“Lindy,” He held out his hand to shake. I took it. “Beck thought they were friends, and what he did—”
“Tug told me.”
We turned our gazes toward the seawall where Beck was shouting, “Because you’re an asshole.”
“I know. I know I’m an asshole.” Tug spoke low and made placating gestures. Beck was having none of it.
“You left me with nothing. You knew I had one way to keep my head above water, and you stole that from me. What was I supposed to do for cash, huh? Take my cue from you and get on my knees for whoever had five dollars?”
Tug blanched.
“Do you get that I could have died?” Beck poked his chest. “Callie and I could have starved or been murdered while we slept or—”
“Callie?” I asked Lindy.
“The dog.” He pointed out what I’d missed before. Next to Beck’s guitar case, the boy who’d been singing earlier held the leash of a very worried chocolate Lab.
“Ah.”
“You might be in for a similar fate.” Lindy watched the boys argue. “Tug was on the streets a long time. I don’t know if he’s good with people anymore.”
“I hear you,” I acknowledged.
Beck shouted and waved his arms while Tug stood perfectly still, hands folded in front of his dick like he was waiting for Beck to kick him in the nuts. Another man came up behind me.
“It’s not impossible, exactly. Tug can change if he wants to badly enough.”
“Yeah?” Lindy turned and introduced the newcomer. “This is Cooper. He’s a good friend to both Beck and me. Cooper, this is—”
“Luke,” I said. Cooper and I shook hands. “I’m a friend of Tug’s.”
“Nice to meet you. Even though it had to be under these circumstances.” We all watched as Beck and Tug continued arguing.
“You believe in second chances?” I asked Cooper.
“Yes, I do,” said Cooper. “A man can find his place again, no matter where he’s been.”
It occurred to me that Cooper might be just such a man when the ASL interpreter I’d seen earlier came up to stand beside him. The way Cooper looked at him…
“This is my partner, Shawn.” Cooper wrapped his arms around Shawn’s waist.
“Pleased to meet you.” I gave him a nod.
“Pleased to meet you too. You came with Tug?” Shawn spoke and signed the words.
I nodded and signed, “Tug is my friend.”
Shawn’s smile went incandescent, and his hands flew. Something about how nice it was to meet me and how he liked it when people signed to him unexpectedly, and after that, I lost the plot.
“Slowly,” I signed. “I’m not good enough for you.”
He switched to signing and speaking again. “But you sign some?”
I nodded and signed, “I learned for work. A little. I’m a librarian.”
“Awesome.” Shawn leaned against Cooper’s side and laid his head on his shoulder. “Here’s all you need to know. Beck’s our boy, and Lindy’s our friend. If Tug hurts him again, no one will find his body.”
He’d signed that in such a cheerful, animated way, it took me a minute to parse out the meaning. Honestly, I couldn’t blame him. I kind of admired the sentiment. Woe betide anyone who hurt my friends.
“Fair enough.” I said and signed Okay.
“Heroin?” Beck shouted as he wrapped his arms around himself. “Jesus… Jesus.”
Lindy and Cooper and Shawn went toward them, and I followed.
“Maybe you could lower your voices?” Lindy offered. “This might not be the best conversation to have in the middle of a crowd, Beck.”
Beck ignored him. “I thought you were on meth. When the fuck did heroin come into play?”
“I did meth,” Tug admitted. “Meth’s just a party drug for me. Opiates are my kryptonite, but I’ve been sober nearly a hundred days.”
“Right.” Beck didn’t understand the achievement. His dismissal hit Tug between the eyes.
“That’s really good, Tug.” Cooper laid a hand on Tug’s shoulder. “Congratulations, man. Keep up the good work.”
“That is really something. Good for you,” Lindy agreed magnanimously.
Beck glared at them like they’d switched sides.
“You hurt people here, Tug,” said Cooper. “You know that, right?”
“I’m here to make the amends I can.” Tug lifted his chin. “I’ve got this, whatever it takes.”
“Are you prepared for the consequences?” Cooper asked. “There’s probably a warrant out for your arrest.”
“How could there be?” Beck was taken aback too. “I never pressed charges. I told Lindy I wouldn’t.”
“Whether you want to press charges or not,” I said, “in the case of criminal wrongdoing, it’s the state who will pursue charges against Tug.”
Tug reached for my hand. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here to start over. Whatever happens is the cost of doing stupid shit.”
Tug was scared. His hand was ice cold, his breathing shallow.
He didn’t know what was going to happen—whether he’d face charges and end up in jail or spend years paying Beck back by working a dead-end job. He didn’t know, but he stood there anyway, facing the future by putting his past behind him.
Cooper and Shawn exchanged a look. Maybe they knew what it meant to do the same. Tug was so shiny just then it almost hurt to look at him.
My heart ached with familiar pain. The urge to fix things, the urge to soften blows, to comfort the wounded, to make peace at any cost.
“He’ll be okay.” Lindy wrapped his arm around Beck. “It is what it is, Beck.”
I blurted, “Tug, I have some savings—”
“No.” Tug squeezed my hand hard. “I have to do this by myself.”
“I just meant—”
“Do you want me to start screaming right now?” Tug’s voice was all grit and growl. “That’d make it easy for the cops. They could arrest me and be done with it.”
“Tug, please,” I begged. Why did guys like him have to medicate their problems or rip off all their Band-Aids at once? It was fucking exhausting. I was fucking exhausted simply from caring for another human being, and Tug was just the tip of the goddamn iceberg if I went into the field with Echo.