“Of course, we’re friends now.”
I have to laugh at the easy way she answered. “If people ask you about the guy who saved you, what do you say?”
“I tell them my hero, Caelin, saved me.”
Those words bring tears to my eyes and I think she sees it because she wraps her small arms around me, holding tightly. “Thank you, Caelin,” she whispers.
“You’re welcome, Justice, and thank you for being who you are.”
We hug each other until I think we’re both coming through on the other side of this mess. When we pull apart I think we both look better. “How about we go ask Drew if it’s okay for you to help us.”
She’s quick to smile, and I know she’s not okay, but I think she’s going to get there. She’s up and into the house before I am. Reaching down, I grab my cut, shrugging it on, feeling more like a member of the club, than I ever have. All thanks to a little girl who managed to bring tears to my eyes.
Chapter Seven
My alarm blares on my bedside table. I reach over, shoving it into the floor by accident, but today I’m not dreading getting up and going about my life. Since Justice and I had our conversation, about a month ago, things have changed for the both of us. Every day after she gets out of school, we meet at the clubhouse. The two of us and Dad have been putting the final touches on the new communications office. It’ll be revealed to everyone in the next few days.
That’s right, she’s going to school with her sister again. Some days are better than others, but I’m proud of her. She’s making good decisions, and she’s not letting anyone tell her what to do.
Me? I had enough credits to graduate, got my damn diploma and now I'm living life how I want to. Speaking of, I smell breakfast and damn it smells good. I take a shower in record time, running down the stairs with still-wet hair.
“Morning,” I grin at my mom as she stands over the stove, cooking eggs.
“Morning to you too, I got your orange juice already.”
“Do you think I should start drinking coffee?” I ask her seriously.
“What?”
“I mean I am a man now, shouldn’t I start drinking coffee?”
She laughs as she plates my eggs, along with some hash browns and a couple of pieces of sausage. There’s a plate beside mine, a new tradition she and I have started. We have breakfast together before we head to work. Sometimes Dad eats with us, sometimes he doesn’t. Looks like this morning, he’s sleeping in.
“Just because people drink coffee doesn’t mean they’re grown-ups. Were the guys giving you a hard time at the shop?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “I’m the youngest, and truthfully I should be prospecting, but we all know about that,” I wrinkle my nose.
“It’ll be over soon, Caelin. It’s their way of showing you they respect you. They really do like you, son. You’ve done an amazing job.”
“Thanks,” I shrug as I sprinkle hot sauce over everything on my plate, then take a huge bite. “I just feel like they see me as a kid.”
“Honey, you’re seventeen. You are a kid.”
“Sometimes I forget I am,” I admit.
I don’t even say it in a melancholy way. It is what it is, I’ve never felt like a child, even when I was acting out, trying to get attention.
“But you are, and you have to earn your place,” she advises. “You’ll be fine.”
“I know,” I squirm in my seat. “It’s just… I don’t even shave.”
“Oh my God!” She laughs. “Is that what’s bothering you? Tyler still doesn’t get a super full beard, you know that’s because of the blood that runs through your veins. If I were you I’d want this gorgeous hair anyway,” she runs her fingers through my hair. “Which would you rather have?”
I think for a minute, taking another bite of my food. “The hair,” I decide. “Chicks dig the hair.”
“Oh yes they do,” Dad says as he shuffles into the kitchen. “It’s why she married me,” he points to Mom as he fixes his plate. “She couldn’t say no to the hair.”
Mom laughs, her cheeks going pink. “Yeah,” she rolls her eyes. “That’s exactly it, Tyler Blackfoot, that’s exactly it.”
As I sit back watching the two of them, I smile. Things aren’t perfect and they never will be, but being with my family and doing what I love? Without a doubt, this is my home, and I’ll be damned if anyone takes it from me.
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Caelin (Heaven Hill Shorts Book 1) Page 4