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“Have you continued to devolve, or was I really that stupid when I married you?” she wondered.
“I am always available for punching Nick in the face if necessary,” Gabe promised. After the briefest of hesitations, he gracefully dodged the melee in the kitchen and helped himself to a frozen Snickers, which he devoured in two bites before squaring his massive shoulders and disappearing again.
Briefly, Riley wondered if her grandmother had murdered the bird that donated the feathers. Nothing seemed out of the realm of possibility when it came to Elanora.
“I always thought at some point I’d be the best version of myself and that things would come easier then. But nothing is easy. There is no best self. It’s all just hard work and sweaty, painful practice.”
“Yeah. Nice to see you again. This is my girlfriend, Riley. We’d stay and chat, but we’re leaving the country,” Nick said, dragging Riley to her feet.
“Anyway, the poor kid froze and just stood there on stage like a robot.” “They threw cabbage at me,” Riley whispered.
“You’d sabotage an HVAC system for me?” Riley whispered. “Baby, you know I would.”
“Just because they were assholes didn’t mean they deserved to die,” Riley pointed out. “Weeell…” Brian said, flipping the pages of the report and pointing to another comment. Weber looked green. “Jesus. On an obituary?”
“There have been some budget cuts around here,” Chris explained. “We’ve all had to make adjustments.” “That is a dirty lie. Weasel Face and that high-pressure system he’s marrying got big fat raises. The rest of us got screwed.”
Mrs. Penny pushed her hands away. “Relax, cray-cray. I’m saying you both act like old fogies. Hell, if I were five years younger and had the joint mobility of my thirties and a guy like Santiago? I’d be installing a sex swing in the living room. If you catch my drift.” Mrs. Penny’s drift was not subtle. “Ew.”
Where jail and justice had given Riley the peace she needed, it hadn’t been enough for Nick. He wanted more. Needed more. It was a constant, drumming beat in his blood. Not again. Not again. Not again. Not Riley. Keep her safe. Any means possible. I love her.
“Since you’re such a peaceful flower child, let’s start with the basics,” Nick said. “A jab is a—” Gabe’s gigantic fist flashed out and sucker punched him right in the nose, snapping Nick’s head back. “Fuck.” Nick swiped his forearm under his nose. “Yeah. That’s a jab, smart-ass.” Gabe grinned. “I have been wanting to do that for a long time.”
“I don’t know if anyone ever told you this, Nick,” Blossom said, approaching them after yoga class. “But your mom’s got a real stick up her ass.” Riley spit out the water she’d just swigged down. “Mom!”
“Death strips away everything we think is important only to reveal what actually is important,” Elanora said. “All souls remember their truth once the distortions of life begin to fade.”
