The Maddox Brothers: Beautiful Burn Part 28

He sighed. "Do you have an address?"

"Hang on," I said, looking through my phone. "Thirteen-ten Manford Avenue."

The driver poked at his GPS and then sat back, resuming his mission to ignore me.

We pa.s.sed through a part of town I was unfamiliar with, and then turned onto a side road, driving for another two minutes. The Lone Tree Village sign made me feel excited for half a second, but then I remembered most of the things I'd taken from my parents were still at the Alpine barracks, and all that I had was inside my backpack.

The driver drove straight to the back where Tyler's building sat. He rounded the back and then pulled into the first free parking s.p.a.ce he found.

I stepped out onto the asphalt and waited for the driver to fetch my backpack. He handed it to me and turned for his door.

"Excuse me?" I said, following him.

He turned, annoyed. "It's been taken care of."

"Oh," I said, watching him open the door and sit behind the wheel. I took a step back when he reversed, watching him drive away and then looking up at building F.

111 was upstairs, so I climbed the first set, turned at the landing, and climbed another. Some of the clay-colored slats of the vinyl siding were missing, but it was in a nice neighborhood and the outside lawn was manicured-not that I was in any position to be fussy.

I pulled Tyler's key from my pocket and twisted it in the bolt lock. The mechanism clicked, and my heart began to pound. Standing in front of Tyler's apartment, preparing to enter his personal s.p.a.ce for the first time without him there, felt wrong.

The k.n.o.b felt cold and unwelcoming in my hand, but I twisted it anyway, pus.h.i.+ng through the beige door to a living room full of furniture and boxes. Tyler had warned me that the apartment was serving as a storage unit, but there were several stacks, leaving a walkway to a kitchen on the left and a hallway straight ahead.

I followed the path to the hall, feeling along the wall for a light switch. When my fingertips touched the toggle, I pressed up, illuminating a twenty-foot-long hall with eggsh.e.l.l walls and beige carpet-two doors on the right, and one on the left. I pushed through the closest to find a bathroom. I dropped my backpack and quickly unb.u.t.toned my jeans, shoving them down to my knees, sitting on the cold toilet seat and moaning as I relieved myself for the first time in almost twelve hours.

The faucet took a while to offer warm water. I looked around before resorting to drying my hands on my jeans. I gripped the edge of the sink as I tried to wait out the nausea and dizziness overwhelming me. I breathed in and was instantly comforted-the apartment smelled like Tyler.

With my bag in hand, I stopped at the end of the hall between two doors. I pushed the one on the right, seeing a room with more stacks of boxes, a stripped bed, and a nightstand. The door Tyler said was his was closed, so I twisted the k.n.o.b and walked through, the door hitting a stack of boxes and knocking all but two of them to the ground.

"s.h.i.+t," I hissed, dropping my bag to rea.s.semble them.

I wiped my brow, and then walked across the room to open a window. A fresh breeze blew into my face, and I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. I had been banished from the only place I'd felt at home, cast away from the only people who felt like family. I was alone inside a dusty storage house of a man whose d.i.c.k I was more familiar with than his hopes and dreams.

I rested my elbow on the windowsill, unable to fight the fluttering of my eyes. From that vantage point, I could see the mountains that huddled around the barracks. My eyes filled with tears, and they spilled out and over my cheeks, unrelenting until my entire body began to shake. I wanted to be in that rickety building with cold showers and uncomfortable beds so bad it hurt. I sniffed a few times and wiped my nose with my wrist, licking my lips, wis.h.i.+ng for another five or six rounds of vodka tonic-h.e.l.l, I'd have been happy with a twelve-pack of cheap beer, anything to make the pain go away.

I leaned against the wall, trying to keep the landscape in sight, but the only thing to do was to thirst for what I couldn't have, and close my eyes.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

Jojo clicked her seat belt and pulled away from the curb, mostly silent as she drove me to the MountainEar. Just a block away, she finally sighed and began to speak, but thought better of it. Her silence was welcomed. I knew what she was going to say, and she knew that I knew what she was going to say. People spoke too much and said nothing, which was the only conversation Jojo and I would have if she hadn't closed her mouth.

She parked and gestured for me to follow her in. "Desk is still there. You remember how to do this?"

"I don't see Wick's truck," I said.

"He'll be in later. He has a meeting with some vendors."

"For Turk's?" I asked, swallowing. My throat begged for the burn of whiskey-anything to quiet the craving I'd had since my eyes opened that morning.

"Yeah. You didn't go straight to bed, did you?"

"I tried."

"You f.u.c.ked up. Believe me, I'm not excusing what you did. But Daddy has been getting a lot of calls about your feature. I bet the Forestry Service is, too." She opened the door, and I followed her inside, pausing until she switched on all the lights.

"Chief was right to make me go home. I wasn't of any use there, and I made him look bad. I wouldn't blame him if he banned me from ever shadowing them again."

I walked into my office and Jojo followed, leaning her platinum locks against the doorjamb. "Me neither. But I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. When are they due back?"

"It's a political fire. A lot of news stations covering it. They'll be out the full fourteen days."

She stood. "If there are a lot of stations covering, maybe I should go down there."

Anger and jealousy ignited every vein in my body. Jojo had a family ... She needed to stay the f.u.c.k away from mine. "They wouldn't let me up there, Jojo, and I'm seasoned. I know their procedures and a little bit about fire behavior. No offense, but they're not going to let you on the mountain."

She winked at me. "When have I ever taken no for an answer?"

I forced a smile, glaring at the s.p.a.ce she stood in before she rounded the corner to her desk. Just minutes later, I could hear her on the phone, squaring away the details of her coverage of the Alpine crew.

My eyes burned, but I willed away the tears, refusing to cry in front of Jojo. I typed in my pa.s.sword, feeling like the day I'd updated it was a lifetime ago-so full of hope that I was capable of change.

Jojo's phone slammed, and she peeked around the doorway again. "Can you hold down the fort this week? I'm going south."

"Are they going to let you cover the Alpines?"

She smirked. "They don't know it yet, but yes. The Colorado Springs hotel, right?"

I nodded, holding a brave face until Jojo waved and the back door slammed shut. My face crumbled, and I covered my face with my hands, sucking in deep breaths.

It wasn't so surprising that I had f.u.c.ked up, but that I had ruined something for myself that I loved. That thought led me to Tyler, and I knew I was ruining that, too. There was a dark part of me that just couldn't let myself be happy, and sabotaged anything good before I could lose it.

The phone warbled, and I sat up, cleared my throat, and picked up the receiver. "The MountainEar," I said, my voice breaking a bit.

"How's your first day back?" Tyler said. His deep, smooth voice made everything else disappear.

I wiped my wet cheeks, clearing my throat again. "It's great. Home sweet home."

"How's the apartment?"

"It's great. Thank you."

"Did you go there?" he asked. I could almost see the look of disbelief on his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I went there. You do have sheets on your bed, and they're clean."

He sighed. "Ellie..."

"I know."

"No, you don't know. I miss you like crazy. Being on the mountain, wreaking of smoke, exhausted and covered in dirt is my favorite place to be, but it's not the same without you. Something's missing now."

"The sheriff?" I teased.

He breathed out a laugh. "I'm serious. I wrote you a letter. All the guys are giving me so much h.e.l.l."

"Taylor most of all, I'm sure."

"The fire's so close, we're taking s.h.i.+fts and staying at the hotel."

"You're not sleeping at fire camp?"

"Nope. Taylor's been taking off into town somewhere. I think there's a girl."

"There's always a girl."

"Not one intriguing enough to hang around during the few hours we have off from a fire."

"You probably haven't heard yet, but you will. Jojo's on her way to cover the Alpines."

"Jojo?" Tyler said her name with disdain. "Why?"

"I told her about all of the news outlets covering the fire. She thought the magazine should have someone there."

He sighed. "f.u.c.k, Ellie, I'm sorry. I know that has to hurt."

My chest felt heavy, and my eyes began to burn again. "I did it to myself."

"Doesn't make it suck any less."

"You're right."

He was quiet for a moment. "I wish I was there."

"Me, too."

"Twelve days, Ellison. I'm coming for you in twelve days."

"Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking about drinking. A lot." When he didn't respond, I continued, "I don't think this is going to be as easy as I thought it would be."

"Who is that woman who kicked you out of your house?"

"My mother?"

"No, the other one."

My cheeks flushed just thinking about her. "Sally."

"Yeah. Her. You should call her. You have her number, don't you?"

I rubbed my temple with my index and middle fingers. "She doesn't work for my parents anymore."

"Even better."

"I'm not asking her for help, Tyler. I loathe her. I refuse to give her the satisfaction."

"You're saying it's wrong for her to feel satisfied about helping you? I think that's the nature of her job."

"Satisfied in the way a scheming, smug, rat-faced c.u.n.t would be satisfied, not a life coach."

"Well ... maybe you can just try to stay busy. Keep your mind off it until I get there."

I considered his suggestion, one project immediately coming to mind. "Your apartment needs some work."

"Don't you dare."

"I'm serious. That will take me at least twelve days. Can I unpack for you?"

"No."

"Please? It will look like a real apartment when you get back."

"Absolutely not."

"Why not? Are you afraid of what I'll come across in those boxes? What? Is there like ... skin suits or shrunken heads or something? Don't tell me you're ashamed of your p.o.r.n."

He chuckled. "No, I just don't feel right letting you do that."

"You're letting me stay in your apartment. I'd say it's a fair exchange."

The line was quiet for a few seconds, and then Tyler sighed. "You don't have to, but if you want to, and it'll keep your mind off things, be my guest."

My smile faded. "Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't f.u.c.k Jojo."

"What the f.u.c.k, Ellie? I didn't f.u.c.k Jojo when I had the chance a year ago. I'm definitely not going to now."