Yesterday Is Ours (The Yesterday Series Book 3)

by HJ Bellus

  “I won’t,” I whisper.

  Cody sprints back into the kitchen, ripping open the pantry door, digging around for Scotty’s favorite dog treat. The evil little pooch is right on her tail. Moments later, Cody joins us.

  “Nell.” He nods. “Long time. Nice seeing ya.”

  She purses her lips together. I pinch the back of her arm, warning her to play nice. “Yeah, you too, Cody.”

  “What?” Cody wipes her curls from her face, looking at Nell.

  “Dear Lord, we are going to need nicknames for you two,” I say.

  “Nope.” Cody places her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “Not for me. He stoleded my name.”

  We all erupt in laughter. Only if she knew the story behind it. One day she will when she’s old enough to understand the meaning of true love.

  “I’m fine with a nickname, but not sure if any my current ones are appropriate, though.” Cody pulls the chair out from the dining room table, settling in.

  “What are they?” Scotty steals the treat from Cody’s hand.

  I watch the big bad Cody Sterling grow pale and at a loss for words. It’s a rare sight and a damn adorable one.

  “Douche canoe,” Nell mutters low enough only I hear her.

  I walk over to the table, deciding to save Cody from the start of this awkward conversation. “How about we call Cody…” I place a palm on his shoulder.

  My Cody jumps in before I get the chance to finish my sentence, and quite honestly, I had nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  “I remain Cody.” She pats her chest. “Since you stoleded my name, you become Junior.”

  Cody, or shall I say Junior, mulls over the idea, tilting his head, acting as if he’s in deep thought. “Sounds like a plan, Stan.”

  “Perfect.” Cody claps. “What’s for dinner, Mom?”

  “I’m going to order pizza and salad from your favorite place.”

  “Yes.” She fist pumps the air. “Nell, you staying?”

  “Naw, squirtanator. I’ve had a long day. I’ll see you on Friday when I pick you up for dance.”

  The two of them exchange hugs, kisses, and then top it off with their secret handshake. It’s a ridiculous ritual the two do every time they part. I follow Nell out, leaving the two Codys at the dining room table, deep in conversation about pizza toppings. Just from the first few suggestions exchanged, I can tell they’ll never see eye to eye.

  “Love you, Nell.” I wrap my arms around her and squeeze the crap out of her. “You’ll always be my person.”

  “I love you, too.” She pinches my ass, causing me to jump and squeal then rub out the pain.

  “So, something else happened today.” I pause, wriggling my lips back and forth. If she blew up over Cody staying here, then she’s going to lose her ever-loving shit with the next news. “You know I was taken off surgeries for a while. But what I didn’t tell you is that I was written up for my actions when Cody woke up in ICU. I was told to stand down and never did. Garrett took it to the hospital board, and they put me on paid leave today until they decide what to do.”

  “What?” she screeches. “What in the hell? Why did they wait so long and can they do that?”

  I nod, answering every single one of her questions. I wrap my arms around my middle, warding off the bitter cold. “I have no idea why they waited so long, but I could guess it’s Garrett’s doing. He warned me I’d regret leaving him, and I guess he came through.”

  “He can’t pull that bullshit.”

  “Well, he is my supervisor and has every right to report incidents for review.”

  “God, I hate him. Junior,” a full megawatt grin appears on her face when she uses Cody’s nickname, “is looking better and better all the time.”

  “We are just friends. Nothing else.”

  “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” Nell slaps my ass and trots to her car, doing a few whirls in the middle of the snowfall.

  The girl loves the snow. She’ll be on the mountainside for days enjoying the snow. She’s a ski bum who lives for the season. I never understood it since she’s so girly, but the woman shreds the snow or whatever you call it. She’s been teaching Cody while I stay in the lodge, cuddled up with a good book and coffee.

  I shut the front door and lock it out of habit. A thunderous yell comes from the kitchen, followed by shouting.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  I race into the kitchen to find Cody whipping his leg in the air with Scotty dangling from his big toe. He has his teeth sunk in, with no signs of giving up anytime soon.

  “No. No.” Cody jumps up and down, trying to grab Scotty. When she does get hold of him and tugs, Scotty doesn’t budge, only sinking his little fangs deeper into Cody’s flesh.

  Cody continues to cuss and groan in pain. I’m able to reach into the chaos, grab Scotty by his middle, and pry the jaws of life from Cody’s toes. Once he’s released, blood soaks through Cody’s sock.

  “Mom.” Cody’s chin quivers as she points at the mess. “Mom.”

  She grows panicked. My little rough and tough tomboy doesn’t handle blood well at all. There will be no way in hell she follows in my footsteps.

  “Baby, go get me a damp rag, the ouch medicine, and a Band-Aid.”

  She nods, tears welling up in her eyes.

  “Naw, you don't have to. It’s not that bad.”

  “Yes, it is, Junior.”

  “I’m going,” Cody offers before darting out of the room.

  I kneel, tugging off his sock. “So I, uh, should’ve warned you about Satan, also known as Scotty, demon dog from hell.”

  “That would’ve been helpful.” Cody winces when I give the sock a final tug, pulling it from his foot. “He’s a little prick. The bastard attacked me out of nowhere. I wasn’t even moving my feet or playing with him.”

  I reach up, ripping a paper towel from the top of the island. “Yeah, so he’s very protective of Cody. I can’t tell you how many times the little ass has nipped at me.”

  “Are you serious?” His eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

  “Dead serious.” I begin dabbing around the bite to see what I’m dealing with. “Two weeks in and I nearly took him back to the pound, but Cody was already in love with him. Those two do everything together. So my guess is Scotty was jealous Cody was paying attention to you.”

  A warm fingertip grazes under my chin, urging me to look up at him. “Why did you name her Cody?”

  My fingertips hover over the wound. I don’t look away or flinch at his question. It’s time the truth comes out. Cody’s dad didn’t even know. He thought I was crazy for giving our girl a boy name, but he was a gentleman and let me name her.

  “Because I love you and always have and knew the only other thing I could ever love as much as you would be my own daughter.”

  He cups my cheek, brushing his thumb along my jawline. “Thank you for telling me.”

  That was easy. He doesn’t pry for more information or make the situation uncomfortable.

  “Here, Mom.” Cody shoves the items in my face then turns to Scotty, who followed her up to her room. “Bad boy! You’re getting a whipping.”

  Cody shakes her pointer finger at her dog. Scotty’s large ears droop down, and he tucks his tail between his legs.

  Junior whispers, “Will he bite her?”

  I shake my head no, knowing what will come next. She scoops the dog up in her arms, squeezes her eyes shut, bringing her hand up in a spanking motion, but when it comes down, she pats Scotty on the bum. It’s nowhere near a spanking. Hell, it probably feels good to the pooch. Junior stifles down a laugh.

  “You don’t bite Junior again or you’ll get another whipping. Do you hear me, Scotty?” She tucks her best friend under her arm and trots up to her room.

  “Now that’s the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.” Junior shakes his head.

  “See, now you can understand why I can never get rid of that little bastard.” I finish cleaning up the blood around the bite. I decide not
to tell him I’m putting peroxide on it and just do it quick. There’s only a slight jump, and before you know it, he’s bandaged up.

  I brush my hands off in a job well done before popping up and washing them. “So, what kind of pizza do you like?”

  He quirks an eyebrow at me.

  “Fine.” I shake my head. “Do you still favor Canadian bacon, pineapple, and jalapeno?”

  “Nailed it.” He relaxes back a grimace expression on his face. “But I can eat cheese pizza with extra cheese.”

  Drying my hands, I smile. Of course, he’s already willing to give into Cody like he did for me so many years ago. The poor man memorized the periodic table when I was obsessed with it instead of going to movies and the normal things teens do.

  “I got you covered.” I wink at him. “Hey, are your pills in your bag upstairs?”

  He nods.

  “Okay, I’ll grab them while I’m ordering the pizza.”

  “It’s fine.”

  But I have the phone to my ear and am jogging up the stairs before he can move. I pass Cody on the way up. She’s heading down with a basket full of toys with Scotty right in the middle. With a quick glance, I can see Junior is about to be introduced to the world of coloring and sticker books.

  He has one bag, making it easy to find all of his pills. I glance at each label, making sure he was sent home with all of them. Even after being kicked out of his ICU room, I kept tabs on him through Trent. The bag tumbles to the ground when I whirl around to leave. His wallet tumbles out, laying wide open, causing a picture to free itself. My breathing hitches when I see the candid shot he took of me one day when I was studying. I knew he carried it back then, but by the state of it now, it’s clear as day he’s never taken it out of his wallet.

  In a rush, not wanting to think what that gesture means, I stuff everything back in the bag and place it on the bed. My legs move in a rush down the stairs.

  “You can use any color you want, but not yellow, okay?”

  “Why is that?” Junior asks, craning his neck to make eye contact with my daughter.

  “Because it’s my favorite and only one yellow comes in every pack and I don’t want you wasting it.”

  “Cody,” I scold her when I walk in. “You have plenty of yellow markers. You can share.”

  “Naw, it’s all right. My favorite color is brown.” He snags the fat brown marker.

  “Eewww, that’s the grossest color ever, Junior.”

  “Not to me.” He shrugs, beginning to shade in the petals of a daisy.

  “You are so weird.” Cody shakes her head, causing her rat’s nest of hair to shake everywhere.

  I grab a bottle of water and count out the pills Junior needs to take, holding back the one he needs to take with food, mentally berating myself for being so damn doctory. I can’t help it.

  “Here you go.” I slide the pills and bottle of water on the table. “I’ll get the one you need to take with food after dinner.”

  “Thanks, Doc.” He winks up at me. “But you seriously don’t have to worry about any of this. I got it.”

  “Okay.” I play with the hem of my shirt. “You’ve already done enough.”

  Junior picks up his cellphone, typing out a quick text then pulling up another browser window. It’s none of my business, I repeat over and over in my head. I can’t even imagine the amount of texts he has waiting on him. Friends…that’s what we are, and it’s none of my concern. It seems the determined monster called jealousy seated deep down in my gut doesn’t seem to care.

  “Hey, what’s your address?” He looks up from his phone.

  I twirl a lock of my hair, tilting my head. “Why?”

  “Jules. She’s so damn protective, wants to know.”

  “Oh.” I fire off the address, finishing right when the doorbell chimes.

  Junior stands faster than I thought possible and makes it to the door before me. In all fairness, I could’ve shoved him and beat him but didn’t think it was the best choice. He opens the door and produces a card from his back pocket before I even have the chance to argue with him.

  I clear my throat once the door shuts again. I’m stuck holding three boxes full of pizza and salad.

  “Cody,” I warn.

  “I’m not about to stay at your house, have you pay for my food and fetch my pills. Some things don’t change, Bertie, and one of them is me taking care of you.”

  “Thank you.”

  He follows me back into the kitchen, not so fast this time. “Just glad I tucked it in my pocket. I had it ready to check into a hotel room. Didn’t get a chance to grab my wallet from the bag when Nurse Ratchet swooped into my room.”

  I laugh out loud. “Let me guess. You’re referring to Cheryl.”

  “Yep, that woman scares the shit out of me.”

  “You can’t say shit, Junior. It’s a bad word.” Cody points her yellow marker at him.

  He actually blushes in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. I’ll clean up my mouth.”

  We settle in at the table, eating right from the boxes. I consider myself lucky since the other two both despise salad. I enjoy the whole thing, inhaling it. Natural conversation ensues as we chow down. It’s as if we’ve been doing this for years. Nothing is forced. It blows my mind when I think about it. Garrett never once sat at this table with us. He always claimed to be too busy. All excuses. It’s just another reminder I did the right thing.

  Chapter 10

  Cody

  A full night’s sleep does a man good. Crisp clean sheets, an unsupervised hot shower, and overhearing Bertie tuck in her little Miss Cody, I feel complete. Can’t explain it away and end up having more questions than before. I listen to the two of them talk to a picture of Cody’s dad and am left wondering.

  The day’s events drained me, leaving me no energy to stay up late into the night thinking everything through. As soon as my body landed on the mattress, I was out. Woke up to a note by my bedside, telling me that she ran Cody to school and will be back soon. A bottle of water and my morning pills is right next to it.

  I shake my head at Bertie’s thoughtfulness. The woman’s heart is the biggest I’ve ever seen or come across. She’s something else. I down the pills then decide on another hot shower.

  When I make it down to the living room, Bertie is perched on the couch with her legs crossed, messy bun perched on top of her head while she studies her computer screen. She nibbles on her bottom lip and twists her nose. There’s no denying something or someone is stressing her out.

  I clear my throat, not wanting to scare the shit out of her.

  “Oh, hey.” Her head pops up. “Sleep well?”

  “Like a damn baby,” I reply.

  “I left a bagel, cream cheese, and some fruit out for you.” Her attention goes back to the computer screen.

  “Thanks, Bertie.” I don’t tell her that Jules packed me my favorite protein shakes and I already downed one. I clean up the food she left for me, deciding an apple sounds good. The inside of her house makes me smile—it’s simple, not extravagant. It’s perfection. Cody’s drawings and goofy photographs of the two of them are plastered to the front of the refrigerator by colorful magnets. Most of them are yellow.

  Speaking of yellow, the doorbell rings. I’m pretty sure I know what’s waiting on the other side.

  “I’ll grab it,” I holler.

  Of course, Bertie ignores my comment, meeting me at the door.

  A tall, skinny, nerdy boy stands there with bags full of groceries. “Delivery for a Cody Sterling.”

  “That’s me.” I open the door wider, helping the young kid carry the bags in.

  “Thank you.” I nod, feeling all sort of weird. I’ve never done this before. Am I supposed to tip these home delivery people? God knows the tiny town I live in has nothing like this. Not even close.

  “Have a nice day and thank you for using our service.” He bops down the steps, practically skipping to his car.

  “What is this?” Bertie asks, e
yeing all the bags.

  “Well,” I run my hand through my still damp hair, “I went online last night with the intentions of ordering Cody a pack of yellow markers. Came across this home delivery place and figured I could help out with groceries.”

  She reaches into one of the bags, pulling out a jar of spicy nacho cheese, then snags the bag of Puffy Cheetos. “Yet another thing that hasn’t changed over the years.”

  “Give me that, you thief.” I reach out for the bag, but Bertie is quicker, holding the bag over her head while racing back to her spot on the couch.

  “Oh, don’t you dare.” I take the seat next to her, not missing the fact she snaps the lid to her laptop shut before I can see what was on the screen.

  My junk food bone is hankering hard for a binge. I sure as shit haven’t had any in a long time. Bertie struggles, twisting the lid off the top of the jar of nacho cheese.

  “Give it here, weak sauce.” I grab it from her when she protests. “I thought your hands were skilled.”

  Bertie winces.

  “Shit, too soon. I wasn’t thinking.” The lid pops from the jar, and sharp cheese scent fills the air.

  Bertie bends forward, and I swear to God if she bursts into tears, I have no idea what I’ll do. What happens next is the last thing I expected to hear. She erupts into a fit of maniacal laughter. She doesn’t stop until she’s wiping tears away from her eyes.

  “You should’ve seen your face when you realized what you said.” Now she’s clutching her stomach.

  I bump her shoulder with mine and mumble around a mouth full of Cheetos, “Asshole. Not funny.”

  We sit in silence for a long time, dipping our Cheetos and crunching them down.

  “Do you think this is weird?”

  “What?” I ask, licking my fingers.

  “Us. This,” she responds.

  “First off, this,” I point to our mid-morning snack, “can never be considered weird. It’s the food of the gods.”

  “Idiot.” She smacks my shoulder. “I’m talking about us. Do you think it’s weird?”

  I shrug. “Not weird, but maybe a bit odd and surreal.”