“So tell me, how’s my future brother-in-law?” Mila asks Caleb as she leans over the bar to hug him. “Rumor is you’re on the mend and a total badass who took down some douche bag stalker.”
“All in a day’s work,” Caleb jokes back at her. “Looks like we’ll be seeing you around a little more nowadays, huh, Mila?”
“Yep, I’m here to stay.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Caleb
It’s been two weeks since Keller was arrested and in that time so much has happened, my head is still spinning. Mila stayed with us for the first week and although the house was crowded and crazy, it was a lot of fun having her around.
I also got to finally meet Ruby’s parents when they came down to help Mila move into her apartment. It was nerve wracking given everything that had happened, but they have been great, surprisingly chill about it all, actually. I still feel like I owe her dad big time for setting me up with Ed, but he kinda brushes it off every time I try to talk to him about it. Ruby’s family is amazing, but it doesn’t surprise me, given everything I know and love about her.
Ed did manage to get my suit dropped too, which is a huge fucking relief. It was hard enough trying to make ends meet back when I had no money, but to be in debt to the tune of two million dollars, I knew I’d never be able to dig myself out of that hole. It would be like going back to being under Ray Bowen’s control and there is no way I can live with that kind of pressure.
Not again. Not when it nearly killed me the first time.
Ed now wants to go after the university about Keller, maybe try to get Ruby and some of the other students he attacked some money after their claims were repeatedly dismissed by everyone as being nothing more than hysterical overreactions. I kind of like that idea, but I think Ruby is still on the fence about it all. She still has a year of school to go and I know that’s her focus right now.
We aren’t completely sure how the whole thing with Keller is going to play out anyway. Whether there will be a trial or if I’ll be expected to testify, but we’ll worry about that when it happens. For now, the university has fired him, and he’s currently sitting in a jail cell where he can’t touch or hurt Ruby or anyone else ever again.
That’s all I care about.
“You ready to go?” Reid asks, walking into the kitchen, Sie right behind him.
“Yep.”
“Where’s Ruby?” my sister asks.
I grab my keys and phone. “She has class, but she’ll come down later.”
“She doesn’t want to come?” Sie asks, her brows narrowed in confusion. She and Reid had class earlier this morning, but I think they would’ve skipped it for this. And I get Sie’s confusion about why Ruby isn’t coming. I’d been the same at first, but when Ruby had explained it to me, I got it. Kind of loved her even more for it actually.
“Nah,” I say, smiling as we head toward the front door. “Says this is something for the three of us to do together. She’ll be down later, don’t worry.”
Sie glances at Reid who just shrugs as if to say whatever and then the three of us head out and down toward the main part of town. The bar is quiet when we arrive, but Ken is waiting for us. I’m sure he’s wondering how the fuck we are making this happen, three college age kids who should be broke as fuck, not buying a bar, but he’s never asked and I haven’t volunteered.
Most people don’t know about the money we have and it’s not like we’d explain it if they did. That shit is tied to our past and we don’t share that history with anyone. We never have. Outside of the three of us, the only other person who knows is Ruby. And as much as I hadn’t wanted to accept what Reid gave us when we left Providence, I am grateful at what it’s been able to do for us now.
“Hey, you ready?” Ken asks when we walk inside.
“Hell yeah,” Reid says, clapping his hands together once, clearly excited.
Ken grins before turning to me, a brow raised as if in question. “Yep,” I reply. “And seriously, thanks for considering this when we came to you about it. I know you didn’t have to, but we appreciate it.”
Ken waves my thanks away. “You guys made an offer, it was good, I accepted,” he replies as though it’s no big deal. “But for the record, I am glad it’s gonna be in safe hands.”
“Why are you selling anyway?” Reid asks, as though the thought has only just occurred to him.
Ken pulls a stack of papers from the drawer and sits them on the desk. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he starts, reaching for a pen. “The bar wasn’t doing great and I’m not getting any younger, so figured a change of scenery might be good. Then of course this one came in and totally turned the place around,” he says, gesturing to me. “Which actually worked in my favor because it drove the price up,” he adds, giving me a wink.
“Good one,” Reid says sarcastically, as he punches me in the arm.
Ken laughs. “Okay, I’ll leave you guys to read through everything while I go enjoy one last beer in my bar.” He puts the pen on the desk and walks out, closing the door behind him.
The three of us stand in silence, staring at the papers on the desk that are going to change everything. Not just for me, but for all of us.
But despite how much I want this, how desperately I want to prove that I can make it work, there’s still an element of nervous anxiety coursing through me. Although I’m getting better at recognizing it now, at controlling it before it gets out of hand, it doesn’t make this any less scary.
Liz tells me it will get better with time, just like everything else I’m dealing with. It’s all going to take time. And I know I have to be patient about it all, but there are days when it’s hard because I long to go back to the person I was before all of this happened. To the guy who wasn’t afraid of crowded rooms or of losing his shit over nothing or of the fucking shadows or noises in the night.
I hate what Providence turned me into. Hate that my decision to stay fucked up so many things, not just for me, but for Reid and Sie too. I want it all to be over and a part of me thought it would be when Keller was arrested and my suit was dropped.
But as Liz keeps telling me, my trauma runs much deeper than that. Deeper than Ray Bowen too and even though I still have this love-hate relationship with the whole therapy thing, I have to admit, it is helping. Talking to Liz, getting these thoughts and feelings off my chest has helped. It’s also allowed me to start talking to Reid and Sie more too. I’ve been sharing with them some of the things that happened, some of the things I felt. It’s helped, just like Sie coming with me to see Liz has helped too.
The relationship the three of us shared was never broken because of this, but there were still things we all needed to say and do to make it whole again.
I’m grateful we’ve been able to do that.
“You sure you guys want to do this with me?” I ask, my voice quiet as I look up at my best friend and sister.
Sie’s eyes are wide, a concerned look on her face as she watches me. Although she and I have talked more about everything that happened after she left Providence, about all the shit I had to deal with, there are still things she won’t ever know about. She doesn’t need the burden of that knowledge, even if I know she still wonders at times.