Fallen: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by Rebecca Barber

  Zach groaned and scrubbed his hand down his face. “Geez, Mom. I don’t need to hear about that.”

  “Well you started it. Besides, I’m not dead. I deserve a good nap now and again.”

  “Stop! Please for the love of all that’s holy, stop talking about… about that.”

  “You’re never going to be able to think of it the same way again, are you?” I asked Zach who looked like he was about to throw up all over the floor.

  “Never! Where’s Ava?”

  “Asleep in your bed.”

  “I’m going to check on her,” Zach declared before fleeing like someone had lit his ass on fire.

  As I sat down at the kitchen table, Linda handed me a glass of water before sinking into the chair opposite me.

  “You really like him, don’t you?”

  I couldn’t lie. I didn’t even want to. “He’s a great guy.”

  “I know. I raised him. But that’s not what I mean, Lily, and you know it.” Nodding my agreeance, I let her continue as she looked towards the door where he’d vanished through a moment earlier. “And he’s fallen for that little girl.”

  “I don’t blame him. It’s impossible not to.”

  “You’re right about that. But she’s not the only one he’s in love with.”

  27

  ZACH

  After I’d bundled the girls into the car, not being able to think of any other way to string out their visit, I threw a load of laundry into the machine. I had three-day shifts starting tomorrow and then three days off, and I couldn’t wait. I loved working. I loved the guys I got to work with each and every day, but right now I had a huge list of shit I wanted to get done.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Mom called.

  As I sat down at the table, she slid a plate piled high with steak and vegetables towards me. After pouring drinks, she set her own plate down which was half empty.

  “Is that all you’re eating?” I wasn’t really happy by her tiny portion.

  “I’m not very hungry.”

  Something wasn’t right. I watched as she pushed her carrots around her plate before sipping at her water. When I tried to engage her in conversation, it was like talking to a brick wall. She wasn’t giving me anything. Even mentioning Ava’s name only got me a strained smile.

  When she set her knife and fork down, I swallowed my steak and picked up my drink taking a long gulp. I had a feeling I was going to need it.

  “Zach, I want to talk to you about something,” Mom began.

  I could see how nervous she was. She was fidgeting and refusing to meet my eye. I hated this bullshit. She was my mother. My only mother. The mother I’d moved halfway around the world to be close to. Whatever she wanted to talk about, I was going to listen.

  “What’s up?” I asked cheerily, wiping my mouth with my napkin.

  “The lease on my place is coming to an end…”

  “Already? I didn’t think it was so soon.”

  “End of next month.”

  “Okay.”

  “I want to move.”

  “Where to?”

  “Here.”

  “My house?”

  “Not necessarily. I want to move to Sunnyville. I’m over here all the time anyway. With you living here. And Lily. And the shop. I like it here. It’s less…”

  “Less what, Mom?”

  “Less lonely.”

  Fuck that hurt my heart. I knew she wasn’t doing well over in Kellyville and I’d done my best to get over there as much as I could, but obviously I hadn’t tried hard enough. I’d let her down and left her alone and I hated myself for it. I’d do better. I wouldn’t let her down again. I refused to.

  “I’m so sorry, Mom. I didn’t…”

  “Zach, you have nothing to be sorry about. I’m your mother, not someone you need to save.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Because you’re my mother, I should be looking after you.”

  Reaching over, I took hold of her hand, feeling how cold her fingers were.

  “Sweetheart, you’re a good man. You’ve got a huge heart and I’m so proud of you. But you’ve got your own family now. They need to be your priority. I just want to, if it’s okay with you, be close enough to be a part of that life.”

  “Mom, you’re always going to be part of my life. And I’d love to have you closer. These last few weeks have been great. I mean, I come home to cooked meals and a clean house. I haven’t eaten frozen pizza once.” My smartass response made her smile before she pulled her hand out from under mine and slapped my shoulder.

  “I’m not going to be your housekeeper, Zachary.”

  “So, are you moving in here?” I asked, mentally adding more renovations to the never-ending list. If Mom was moving in, I needed to get her bathroom finished off and her room. The rest could wait. I wanted her to be comfortable and feel at home.

  “Not sure yet. Haven’t really gotten that far. I wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I started making any firm plans.”

  “Well, I just need to know when you want me to help you pack the rest of your stuff and where I’m delivering it.”

  Rising out of my seat, I stepped behind her, wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and kissed her head. She smelt like home. It was always the same smell. The scent of my safe place.

  “I’ll let you know.”

  “Okay then.”

  She picked up her fork and started eating, this time normally. Obviously, the weight of the conversation hadn’t been sitting well with her, but now it was out there, she could relax.

  “So, Lily said she talked to you about her wanting to adopt Ava.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What do you think? Really think?”

  “I think it’s the right thing to do. I think it’d break her heart to have to give her up,” I admitted.

  “Not only her heart,” Mom added.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Zach, that little girl lights up your world. She might not be yours by blood, but you love her just the same.”

  “I do,” I confirmed. There was no point in denying it.

  Mom rose from the table and started clearing the dishes. “Leave them. You cooked; I’ll clean up.”

  “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  I’d just finished stacking the dishwasher when Mom reappeared with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. “Should I be worried where you’re going at this time of night?” I teased. “Do I need to give you a curfew?”

  As far as I knew, Mom hadn’t dated since Dad. She’d never even mentioned the idea. I’d like to think I was old enough and mature enough to be okay with it if and when the time came, but I wasn’t sure. I’d be better than Maddy, that was for sure. Maddy had been Daddy’s girl, and when we lost him, for a period, we lost Maddy too. She went off the rails, and I know Mom spent many, many nights pacing up and down the porch worrying. It would’ve devastated her if Maddy had been lost to us forever. We’d already lost Dad, losing her too would’ve been more than we could survive.

  “Ha ha. You think you’re so funny. If you must know, I told Lily I’d stay at her place for a few days and give her a hand with Ava. She didn’t tell you?”

  “Not a damn word,” I muttered, rubbing that spot on my chest that was suddenly aching.

  “It’s just to help her out while she’s down an arm.”

  “Oh, makes sense.”

  “Then why do you look like you did when I told you Norbert died?”

  “Did you have to bring Norbert up?”

  “Zach, you loved that dog, and you were eight when he died. It’s okay that you spent a week sleeping in his kennel, crying yourself to sleep.”

  “Still can’t believe you tell people about that,” I grumbled, my eyes watering as I remembered the damn dog who’d followed me everywhere. He was the world’s best dog and my best friend, even if he did sleep on the end of my bed, snoring and farting.

  “It was adorable, Zachary. And so were y
ou. Now, if you could stop pouting, I’ve gotta get going.”

  “I’m not pouting.”

  Mom walked over to where I was leaning against the sink, drying my hands on some paper towels. She hugged me before grabbing her purse and heading out the door. “Stay safe, Zach.”

  “Always,” I confirmed, and Mom disappeared, leaving me standing in my all too quiet house.

  Wandering around, I catalogued everything I wanted to get done and began wondering where I was going to find the time to do it all. Feeling restless, I grabbed a beer and went and sat outside on the step. Staring up at the night’s sky, I dug my phone from my pocket and shot off a text to Maddy. I don’t know why I wanted to talk to her; even though we’d once been close, those days were long gone. Maddy was my sister and I loved her, and God forgive anyone who crossed her because I had no hesitations of going into battle for her, but with time and distance we’d grown apart.

  Zach: How’s life in Sydney?

  My message was pathetic, but I didn’t know what else to say. When she didn’t reply, I stuffed around with my phone, losing time playing some stupid game. I should’ve done something productive like gone for a run or headed to the gym, but that seemed like a lot of effort. When the rain started falling, I headed back inside, plugged my phone into my charger and climbed into bed.

  The next three days were monotonous. My alarm woke me with the sun, and I fell out of bed, changed into my running shorts and was out the door five minutes later. Running the same five-mile loop I’d been doing for weeks, right by Lily’s front door. Then I was home eating breakfast and showering before heading to work. At lunch time each day, I’d head down to the florist to check how things were going, only to get reamed out from Lily for checking in. Damn woman was stubborn as a mule, much to Mom’s amusement. I’d tried lying, saying I was there to talk to Mom or see Ava, but she wasn’t buying it. Apparently, Lily didn’t like the fussing. Wasn’t going to stop me from dropping in, if anything I was highly entertained by her attempts at a tantrum. I’d grown up with a drama queen; hell Maddy had gone on to be an actress, so Lily was going to have to up her game if she wanted me to buy the annoyance she was trying to sell.

  After my last shift for the week, I’d headed to Hooligans for a beer with the boys, which turned into two. Then three. Then before I knew it, Samuels was helping me into the back of an Uber, sliding in beside me and taking me home.

  After drinking my body weight in beer, Samuels had been tasked with getting me home safely, I was in no state to do it myself. So, he bundled me into an Uber and got me inside before passing out on my couch. When I woke late the next morning, I had to move. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. But it was more than that. If the dodgy renovations were responsible, something we’d find out in the coming days once the investigators worked their magic, then like hell was I letting a tradie get anywhere near Lily’s place. I’d do it myself. At least then I’d know it was done right and she was safe.

  Leaving Samuel’s ass in the air and snoring on my couch, I threw my tools in my truck, grabbed a coke from the fridge and headed over to Lily’s. I had work to do.

  28

  LILY

  Four days with my arm in a sling was four days too many. The knot kept digging into my neck, I barely got any sleep, tossing and turning most of the night, and getting dressed was another nightmare altogether. And if that wasn’t bad enough, this week Ava, my sweet, beautiful little girl, had morphed into the devil. She screamed. She was awake all freaking night and slept like an angel all day. On top of that, she wasn’t eating, and I was beyond stressed.

  Linda kept assuring me that it was nothing, that she was just feeding off my frustrations, but it didn’t seem to matter how many times she repeated it, I just couldn’t accept it. After I dropped my barely eaten burrito on the floor at lunch when Ava screeched, the only thing stopping me from getting up and taking her to the doctor was Linda’s calm head. The woman was a Godsend. She wasn’t my mother or even my family, but she’d stepped up and was saving my ass. She was everywhere I needed her to be even before I needed her. She’d taken over bathing Ava, changing her, and rocking her to sleep. I hadn’t realized it was even possible but I both loved and hated her for it. There was no doubt she was saving my ass, but I hated that I couldn’t be the one to look after her.

  After she’d buckled Ava into her car seat, she’d promised me tomorrow would be better before jumping into her own car and heading in the opposite direction. With Ava finally settled, I stood in the street outside the shop and just took a breath.

  Forty minutes later I pulled into my driveway, surprised to not only find Zach’s truck parked on the street, but stuff all over my front lawn. Putting the car into park, I climbed out and rounded the side to get Ava, but Zach was already there.

  “Hey,” he greeted with a lopsided grin.

  Holy fucking hotness, Batman. The guy was standing in front of me wearing deliciously low-slung shorts with a tool belt buckled around his waist, a pair of heavy work boots and a baseball cap. That’s it. No shirt. No tank. His bare chest was glistening in the sun, streaked with sweat and dirt and what looked like sawdust.

  When he reached through the door and lifted Ava out of her seat, a toothless smile covering her face followed by some gurgling and drooling, my heart melted.

  “Thanks,” I forced out, my throat as dry as the Sahara.

  “I thought you could use a hand.” Zach nodded, indicating the arm that was still restricted by a sling.

  Turning away, I forced myself to take a breath and grabbed my shit from the front seat. Including the mountain of Chinese food I’d picked up on my way home that I was embarrassed to be hauling inside.

  “How was your day, beautiful?” Zach crooned.

  I went to answer but thankfully hadn’t managed to splutter a response, because when I turned around, I saw he was one hundred and ten percent focused on Ava, who looked more than comfortable snuggled in his arms. Shaking my head, I squashed the disappointment and headed towards the house.

  I was just about to put my foot on the bottom step when Zach’s hand wrapped around my bicep. “Careful. Some of the boards are a bit loose.”

  That was an understatement and a half. Half my damn porch was missing. Turning back to face Zach, I asked the obvious. “Ah, Zach…what happened to my porch?”

  “Lil, your porch was a disaster waiting to happen. I knew it squeaked but damn! When I started ripping up the loose boards, the beams underneath were completely rotted through.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’ve still got to replace the steps but figured you’d need to be able to get in the front door, so I’ll do them tomorrow.”

  “Good call. But you know you don’t have to do this. It’s your day off. Shouldn’t you be sleeping or washing your truck or doing whatever it is guys do on their time off?”

  He shrugged off my question like it was nothing. It wasn’t nothing. It was everything. The man was building me a damn porch. “I’m going to need your input on what new railing you want. And I think you should put one down the steps.”

  “I can do that. But first, I need to eat. Come on inside and help me eat all this food before I make myself sick.”

  “You don’t have to feed me, Lily.”

  “And you don’t have to build me a porch, but here you are. So, get your cute butt inside.”

  “I’m filthy!”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Trying to look sexy with a run in your stockings and arm in a sling wasn’t easy, but I put as much sway into my hips as I could muster. I could hear Zach chuckling behind me which made me feel a bit better. The first time in a couple of days if I was being honest.

  “Have I got time to give Ava a bath and clean up first?”

  How could I say no? He was a complete mess and watching him give Ava a bath could make this bad day a whole lot better. Besides, Chinese food reheated. “Absolutely.”

  “Come on then, pretty girl. Let’s go
get you cleaned up.”

  Unsnapping his tool belt, Zach carried Ava towards the bathroom, and I heard the water running. After dumping the food in the kitchen, I ducked into my bedroom to change. Standing there in my underwear, staring at the cupboard, I had no idea what to put on. I needed to look cute but not like I was trying to look cute. Flipping through the rack of clothes, I hadn’t found anything when I heard Zach bellowing.

  “Lil! Need some help in here!”

  “Coming,” I replied, racing through the house.

  Rounding the corner, I stepped into the bathroom and burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. There was no way I couldn’t. The look on Zach’s face was priceless.

  “What happened?” I spluttered, covering my mouth to stop the giggles.

  “She exploded. Everywhere! I’m covered in shit!”

  Zach was flustered. I’d never seen him like this. It was so damn adorable. The guy ran into burning buildings for a living, had muscles on top of muscles but had been bought to his knees by Ava’s poo explosion. Ava was smiling and babbling away to herself, looking completely unaffected by the whole situation.

  “Can you please stop laughing and help me?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Get this shit off me!”

  “Oh, calm down. It’s just a bit of poo,” I snickered, opening the drawer and pulling out a couple of wash cloths – there was no way one was going to cut it.

  “Just a bit of poo? It’s running down my leg and into my sock!”

  “Oh, poor baby. Now move over so I can get to the tap.”

  Holding the cloth under the warm water, I started cleaning Ava up while she squirmed in Zach’s arms. He was holding her out in front of him, elbows locked and deep-set scowl on his face. If he was trying to express his disappointment to her, then she completely missed the point.

  It wasn’t until I looked up in the mirror and caught Zach shooting me an evil glare that I realized I was standing there in my underwear. Only my underwear. Could this day get any worse? I didn’t think it could.