Nobody Else

by Jaxson Kidman

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Everyone is alive and well. The roads are clearer than I thought they’d be. Let’s just hope you have power.”

  “I need to charge my phone,” Paige said.

  “Here, kid,” I said and grabbed a black cord plugged into the console of my truck.

  I gave her the cord but didn’t look back. I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Lindsay again. And I couldn’t stand that my brain and heart allowed that kind of thing to happen.

  The entire ride Kinsley stayed silent. She looked out the window and that was that. She’d pissed me off. I’d pissed her off. We weren’t talking. Typical Brice and Kinsley, only when I dropped her off at her house, I wouldn’t get the chance to talk to her and figure it out.

  That pained me even more.

  As I closed in on the last turn that would take me to her house, the anger started to swell inside me again. I really wondered what the fuck I was doing with her. I loved her with all my heart. I always had, and I always would. There was simply no getting over Kinsley. It would merely be finding a way to survive without her. Daring myself to fall in love with someone else.

  Yet look how that turned out with June. A fake romance based on feeding our addictions to the point where I was completely lost and she ended up in rehab.

  I rubbed my jaw as I made that last turn.

  Going up the cul-de-sac, my eyes locked on to Kinsley’s house. Kinsley and Ben’s house. My hands gripped the wheel tighter. I refused to look for more than two seconds. But my eyes did catch something.

  Tire tracks in the driveway.

  Which meant Ben was home.

  Kinsley finally decided to look at me.

  The look on her face made it very clear that she never told Ben she was with me, which I’d already figured. But now I’d have to face this fucking guy once again.

  “Oh, shit,” Linda said as she lunged forward.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  She pointed toward the windshield. To her driveway.

  “My ex… Paige’s father… he’s here…”

  “Paige, you stay in the truck,” Linda said. “I’m going to go have a chat with your father really quickly.”

  The situation went from uncomfortable to extremely uncomfortable as Linda got out of the truck. Because that was the moment Ben decided to make his presence known as he walked out of the front door of the house.

  I climbed out of the truck, no clue what I was supposed to do right then.

  I glanced over at Ben as he stuck his nose into the air like the pompous asshole he was. Dressed in fancy winter clothes, walking along the snow and ice-covered sidewalk.

  “Hey, Paige, why don’t you put on some music,” I said.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said. “They’re going to fight. They always fight.”

  “Your mom and dad?”

  Paige nodded with a sadness in her eyes.

  I averted my attention just in time to see Ben wrap an arm around Kinsley and pull her close. He planted a kiss to the top of her head and said something to her.

  Anger and jealousy hit a boiling point.

  I walked toward the front of my truck and saw Linda approaching her driveway. There was a beaten up pickup truck in the driveway and the door flew open. Out hurried a tallish guy who was obviously balding, wearing a paint-stained hoodie. He had papers in his hand and went right on the attack.

  “This is bullshit, Linda,” he shouted.

  “You came here in a snowstorm to tell me that?” Linda asked.

  “I want to make my point very clear to you. I won’t stand for this shit.”

  “We have lawyers to handle this, Dave,” Linda said. “Paige is in the truck…”

  “Who’s that? Your new boyfriend?”

  My back stiffened.

  To my right, Kinsley stood with Ben, his arm around her. His fingers spread wide and holding her tight. He shouldn’t have to hold her that tight. A real man would just put his arm around her, knowing she wanted to stay.

  I gritted my teeth, needing to get the hell out of the situation. Only I had Paige in the truck still.

  “That’s a friend of mine,” Linda said. “Kinsley’s friend…”

  I looked at Ben. His lip curled.

  More than friends… you have no idea what you’re up against…

  I hated myself for thinking that.

  Kinsley wasn’t a prize. She wasn’t a trophy. She was a beautiful woman with a broken heart. The last thing I needed to do was break it even more.

  “Do you want to see your daughter, Dave?” Linda asked.

  “Don’t talk to me like that,” he shouted at her. “You think I give a shit about these people here? Let’s air this out. Tell everyone what you’re doing to me.”

  That’s when Linda’s face dropped a little.

  “Dave, please…”

  “Oh, now she’s going to beg,” he said. He looked at me. “She’s going to beg and act like the victim.”

  I turned my head and could see Paige staring forward.

  Watching this thing unfold.

  They had the family I should have had and couldn’t make it work. But to do this?

  “Tell everyone how you want more money,” Dave said. “So you can smoke your brains out some more. Like an old chimney. And drink yourself stupid each night. In front of my daughter.”

  “Maybe you should actually think about seeing her more,” Linda said. “Be a real father to her.”

  “That’s what I asked for,” Dave growled.

  “But you won’t follow through. Go ahead, Dave. Tell everyone that. Since we’re shouting in the street.”

  Linda waved her hands in the air. But the look on her face was bad.

  I stepped forward.

  Knowing it wasn’t my business.

  But my heart couldn’t take it.

  “Brice,” Kinsley said.

  I looked back and she broke away from Ben. He trailed right behind her, his eyes locked on to me.

  “Tell everyone how you’re a bitch,” Dave said.

  “That’s enough,” I finally shouted.

  I officially inserted myself into the argument.

  “Bro, this isn’t your mess,” Dave said.

  “It’s not hers either,” I said and pointed to my truck. “She’s watching you.”

  “Good,” Dave said. “She can see how rotten her mother really is.”

  “Dave,” Linda said, her voice cracking.

  Kinsley touched my arm and I shook her away.

  “Get in your truck and leave,” I said to Dave.

  I was channeling emotions from years ago. I saw flashes of images in my mind. Kinsley going into labor. Helping her walk - waddle - through the hospital. Everything. And then the silence in the room after it was all over. Kinsley asleep thanks to medication, but me wide awake. No baby in the room. No baby in her belly. No baby in my arms.

  “Don’t be a tough guy here, bro,” Dave said.

  “Why are you saying bro?” Linda asked. “Did your girlfriend teach you that?”

  “Oh, fuck off, Linda,” Dave said.

  That’s when I lunged forward. I grabbed Dave by his hoodie and shook him. I threw him back and he tried reach for his side mirror but missed and lost his footing, tumbling to his ass.

  “You piece of shit,” he said. “You’re dead.”

  “Come on,” I said and waved him on.

  “What the hell is happening?” Linda cried out.

  “You don’t talk to a woman that way,” I said. “You don’t treat your daughter this way either.”

  Dave scrambled to his feet.

  “Brice, walk away,” Kinsley said. “Please.”

  “Listen to her,” Ben’s voice added.

  That was the last thing I needed to hear.

  Dave took one step toward me and I threw a punch. My back was to my truck, so I wasn’t sure if Paige saw me hit her father or not. The moment my fist connected with Dave’s jaw, his eyes went wide with shock.
r />   I was punching a man I knew nothing about. Defending Linda when I didn’t know if she was wrong. Wanting to get the anger out of my body.

  Simply put… I was fucking jealous of this guy I just hit. Jealous because his daughter was alive and well. And I was angry, because instead of seeing that and enjoying every second with his daughter, he wanted to pick a fight with his daughter’s mother in the driveway over court documents.

  Dave fell back and down for a second time.

  “Holy shit,” Linda said.

  “Brice, that’s enough,” Kinsley snapped at me.

  I turned, and Ben was right there.

  Our eyes locked again.

  Without a word, Ben slipped right by me and became the hero as he offered a hand to Dave.

  Kinsley simply shook her head. “You should go.”

  “Let me get Paige,” Linda said.

  Everything around me moved fast. Ben helping Dave to his feet. Kinsley pissed as ever at me. Linda hurrying to get Paige out of my truck.

  I walked to my truck as Linda was walking back toward her house.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “It just…”

  “I get it,” Linda said. “Don’t worry about it. He deserved it.”

  When I got into my truck, I couldn’t remember a time I felt so alone. I was the one driving away, leaving everyone behind now. Because they didn’t want me there.

  I looked at my right hand and didn’t regret the punch one bit.

  The only thing I did regret was not punching Ben.

  “Here, you earned this one.”

  Lucky slid a beer across the bar at me.

  I still had sweat dripping down my back. I kept my hat on because if I took it off, I’d be dripping all over the bar.

  We had ended up cleaning half the damn neighborhood.

  I used a shovel while Lucky used his snowblower.

  I needed the physical activity to keep my mind semi-clear and to keep the anger from kicking up again.

  “Cheers, Lucky,” I said and lifted the glass.

  He gave a wave. “You were a work horse today, Brice. Bad day?”

  “No. Just being a good neighbor.”

  Lucky laughed. “Bullshit. But whatever. We got it all done. Couldn’t imagine some of them trying to clear that ice. Last year Mr. Robins over on Riverbrooke died. Too much time shoveling, and his damn heart gave out.”

  “Well, the only heart giving out is this one.”

  “You don’t have a heart,” Lucky said.

  “Thanks for that,” I said.

  I drank the beer and kept looking at my phone. I wanted to call Kinsley and apologize for what I did. Even though I didn’t regret it one bit. That guy deserved a punch on the jaw to shut his damn mouth. What I was thinking though when I did that… that wasn’t good.

  I swallowed hard, still shaken up that Lindsay had been in my mind so clearly.

  “Another one?” Lucky asked me.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Figure it’ll pick up in here in a little bit. Everyone will want to get out and talk about the storm. Be ready for it.”

  “You’re letting me drink and work?” I asked.

  “This is your last drink. Then get to work.”

  I took my time with the second beer.

  Right on cue, people started to show up. Everyone wanted to compare who saw what in the storm, who got damage, who lost power, who shoveled so much that their backs hurt.

  I hadn’t even finished the beer when I went behind the bar to get to work.

  Lucky walked up to me with a blue tin. “Here.”

  “What’s this?”

  “Cookies.”

  “Cookies?”

  “From Mrs. Jensen,” he said. “She gave them to Tommy to bring in. Her thanks to you for shoveling her driveway and her car.”

  “Cookies, huh?”

  “Hey, that woman can bake. Before the Parkinson’s took over, she was top notch. Made a good living off it. She rarely bakes anymore, so her making you cookies is a big deal.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll enjoy them then.”

  My phone went off in my pocket and I put the cookies down next to the register to check it.

  I realized right then that I’d made another big mistake.

  I never checked on April and Milo.

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  And it was April with a text message.

  I figured I was in trouble for not checking on her and Milo.

  It wasn’t that at all.

  She needed help.

  Need you, Brice. June just showed up…

  It was like going from storm to storm, literally. I made sure to prepare for the winter storm, only to be invaded by Kinsley, Linda, and Paige. And there was no way of truly preparing for that. Then I spent the day shoveling out those who couldn’t. And now I was on my way to April’s house.

  June just showed up…

  I had been waiting for that message for a long time. It was typical June to pick either the worst or the most random time to show up.

  As I got closer, I wondered if June was alone.

  Last thing I needed was to face off with another guy. Bad enough I had to stand there and watch Ben wrap an arm around Kinsley and hug her, probably only doing so to fuck with my head and heart. It worked. Then facing off with Linda’s ex, when I had no business doing so, but the notion of a man picking a fight like he was while Paige watched, I just couldn’t take it.

  There was a fancy looking sports car parked in front of April’s house.

  I shook my head.

  Leave it to June to somehow end up with an expensive car and drive it through Pennsylvania, not only during the middle of winter, but also the day after a major snow and ice storm.

  I knocked on the door as a cold chill swept across April’s front porch. It felt like getting punched in the jaw. The whipping wind with the leftover snow and the icy cold in the air. I clenched my jaw tight, trying to figure out how to handle this situation and everything else in my life. Amazingly, I thought I was doing the right thing by moving this way to help take care of Milo while June went into rehab. Now I was in love with Kinsley (not that I ever stopped loving her) and was watching all our lives crumble around us.

  The door opened, and April stood there.

  She looked as exhausted as anything.

  Her hair was messy, and her eyes looked tired from worry and tears.

  “Hey,” I said.

  She closed her eyes and shook her head.

  “Where is she?”

  “Kitchen,” April said.

  “April, look at me,” I said.

  She looked up at me again. “Where’s Milo?”

  “A friend’s house.”

  I sighed with relief. “Okay. That’s good. Right?”

  “I don’t know anymore, Brice,” April said. “Please help me.”

  I entered the house and took off my jacket as I walked to the kitchen. Part of me couldn’t imagine June actually sitting in April’s kitchen. Because there was no way in hell June would have gotten through rehab.

  But there she was.

  Sitting at the counter. Her hair damn near white because of how blonde it was. Done up nicely, sort of pulled back, some strands left to hang. But trust me, those strands were carefully chosen to look that way.

  I leaned against the doorway to the kitchen and cleared my throat.

  June looked at me and her big blue eyes went wider. Her lips were cherry red, and her mouth made an O shape as she jumped to her feet and hurried toward me.

  Wearing white sneakers that were too new. Tight jeans. A loose-fitting flannel and a way too tight top under it, not worried about letting everything bounce and show as she raced toward me.

  “Brice,” she cried out as she dove at me.

  Her hands dug into the back of my hair as I put one arm around her. She smelled like she had bathed in perfume.

  To me, it was the same old June.

  “June,” I w
hispered. “How are you?”

  She broke the hug and quickly grabbed the scruff on my face. “Did you forget how to shave?”

  “Winter.”

  “I like it. It’s rugged and sexy as fuck.”

  “Good to know you approve,” I said.

  Her eyes were super wide and super bright.

  Shit. She was super sober.

  I wasn’t sure I ever knew the sober version of June.

  “Look at you,” I said. “You clean up nice.”

  “Forget about the last time you saw me,” she said.

  “What? That was a good look. Hair pulled to the side. Wearing sweatpants with holes in them. That really baggy sweater, right?”

  June rolled her eyes. “I was a mess, Brice. Such a mess.”

  “Well, June, we all were. We all are.”

  “I’m good right now. I swear.”

  “You look good, June.”

  She stepped back and put her hands to her hips. Typical June, she had to do a little dance, her hips sliding left to right with a seductive motion as she turned, showing off everything she had.

  I turned my head and saw April coming back into the kitchen.

  Sisters… but totally opposite people. The jealousy and worry that poured from April was so obvious.

  “So, June, what, uh, what brings you here?” I asked.

  “Seriously?”

  “Well, yeah,” I said. “I mean, to be fair, you’ve been out…”

  She shook her head and strolled back to the counter to get her coffee mug. “See, it’s not that simple. You two wouldn’t understand.”

  “What don’t we understand?” April asked, a little contempt showing in her voice.

  I side stepped and gently touched April’s wrist.

  Easy… don’t start a fight.

  “You can’t just come out of that place and jump into real life,” June said. “It’s a different world. There are people I have to meet. Check in with. Things I have to do. It’s overwhelming once you’re out.”

  “Because real life is real, June,” April said.

  “I know that,” June said. “And so is addiction. I’m sorry that I let you all down.”

  June’s guilt was nasty to deal with.

  April pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.

  “Okay,” I said. “June, it’s really good to see you. You look good. You really do. I think what you don’t quite get is…” I walked through the kitchen slowly and put my jacket on the counter. “I’ll just say it the only way I can.”