Forever Never

by Lucy Score

Brick Callan had no idea that he was one grocery aisle away from his worst nightmare.

Remington Honeysuckle Ford. Remi Honey to family. Trouble to him. Hell.

As someone who’d spent half a lifetime cataloging everything there was to know about Remi, Brick knew something was wrong.

Remi finished loading the dryer and pushed the start button. The tinny vibration on top of the appliance signaled a new message. Mom: Don’t forget to clean the lint trap! That’s how fires happen. Remi: I know, Mom. I’m not 10! Guiltily, she stopped the dryer and emptied the lint trap before restarting it.

“That reminds me. Family dinner tonight. Seven o’clock. Be there.” Darlene started for the door. “And don’t bother telling me you’re too busy or you don’t want to intrude.”

Glancing up, he spotted the neat row of blue and yellow boxes on the shelf. Kraft macaroni and cheese. When they’d been alive, his grandparents kept it stocked just so they could make her some whenever she stopped by. He’d continued the tradition, even though she hadn’t set foot in the house since his grandmother’s funeral.

Remington Ford had never once in her entire life been fine. She’d been wonderful. She’d been devastated. She’d been on top of the world. She’d been shattered. But never something as flat or normal as fine.

“Mac and cheese? You remembered.” She looked up at him with a real smile, and it hit him dead center in the chest. Ah, fuck. This was a huge mistake.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Brick could hear the smile in her voice. “That’s why everyone thinks I call him Brick. Because he’s so big and strong. But really it’s because he’s impermeable. Indestructible.”

“I yell at everyone a lot,” Remi said, feeling defensive. “So does Mom,” Ian said. “Ian!” Kimber snapped. “See?” the boy said smugly.

If the girl ever witnessed a crime, Hadley Olson would be able to tell the cops the perp was left-handed, how many tattoos he had, and what color his eyes were.

He liked to think that he took a moment to consider letting her fall, letting her suffer the consequences. But he didn’t. He never would. Instead, she landed neatly in his arms as if he’d been created with the sole purpose of catching her.

She didn’t sit in chairs like a normal adult. There was no straight-backed posture for Remi. She hugged one knee into her chest, her other foot swinging as if she couldn’t tolerate stillness for even one meal.

“You ever get your head checked? Seems like you get an unnatural amount of headaches.” “Only when I talk to you,” he shot back.

“Oh, Trouble?” She paused mid-climb and glanced down at him, the mountain of a man waiting in the shadows to catch her if she fell. “Don’t wear those shorts again.” “Why not?” “You know why and because I said so.”

“You’re gonna fall and break that face, and then I’m going to be pissed.”

“You can help me plan outfits around these shorts.” Audrey looked down at Remi’s legs. “Why?” “No reason. I just feel like wearing them for the rest of the summer.”

“How are you going to live a full life if you can’t take a full breath?”

The man just couldn’t stand back and let her self-destruct.

“I didn’t order these,” she said, despite the fact that her stomach was now audibly growling over the scent of fresh red meat. Brick loomed over her from across the bar. “You’ve had two drinks strong enough to put down a full-grown man, and you barely touched anything on your plate last night.” “Stop looking at my plate.” “Start eating.”

“Brick?” “What?” “Did you know your hand is on my ass?” “I am aware,”

“Brick?” she looked up at him with sad eyes. Her lower lip trembled. Damn it. Be strong, man! “What?” God. What was she going to ask him, and would he be able to say yes? More importantly, would he be strong enough to deny her? “Will you please make me some mac and cheese?” His shoulders sagged in relief. “Yeah, baby. I’ll make you some mac and cheese.” She smiled up at him. “You take such good care of me.”

Fuck temporary promises. If there was a man out there who scared her, he wouldn’t rest until the scales were balanced.

“This is why I came back,” she murmured against her pillow. “Why?” “You make me feel safe.”

He was halfway across the street when he realized whose sweatshirt she’d worn to bed.

“Jesus, Brick. You scared the life out of me. Where are you going?” “To get you.” He said the words simply as if they weren’t meant to give her solace and hope and make her feel weak in the knees.

“You could have been killed.” “But I wasn’t.” “You broke your arm. That’s still too much for me.”

He wanted to get on a plane, fly to Chicago and purposely knock the teeth out of every blogger and journalist who dared write lies about her.

Jesus. Even in his sleep he was a possessive bastard over the woman who would never be his.

He wanted Remi’s face to be the last thing he saw at night before he shut his eyes, the first thing he saw when he opened them. He wanted her laughter echoing throughout the house.

“I showed up for the same reason I do everything.” “What’s that?” she pressed. She was getting lightheaded and hoped she wouldn’t do something undignified like pass out at his feet. “For you, Remi.”

Her mom was going to murder her. And when Chief Ford was done murdering her, Brick was going to get in line.

“I swear to Christ, if you ever leave your house without your inhaler again, I’m going to lock you up.”

“You didn’t call, but I came anyway. That’s the way this works. You will always be my problem.”

“Why do you have a news alert set for Camille?” she asked. He looked at her long and hard. “Because she matters to you.”

“Remington, anyone who ever makes you feel as if you’re hard to love is a damn fool and doesn’t deserve to be in your world.”

“Keep fucking breathing, baby doll.”

“You will ask me for anything you want. And I’ll give it to you. Do you understand?”

Do you realize how lucky you are that she held out for you this long? My daughter has the attention span of a gnat. If she didn’t feel something powerful for you, she’d be working on divorce number two to some idiot she met at Burning Man or an organic cheese tasting by now.”

“Don’t be happy for me yet,” he said grimly. “I have to go lay down the law with her.” His brother snorted. “That’ll go well. What kind of lining do you want for your casket?” “Flannel,” Brick said, shooting the smallest of grins over his shoulder as he stomped down the hall.

“You didn’t ask. You just need to accept it. You’re standing for Camille. I’m standing for you. This Vorhees asshole doesn’t know it, but he’s breathing his last few free breaths.”

“You wanted to know why I married Audrey? You should be asking why we divorced. Because of you. Your name is the last word I breathe every night. Your face is the one I see when I close my eyes. I couldn’t hide that from her.”

Just like she’d done with his life, his blank canvas, she added color, layering it, texturing it, turning the void into something more beautiful than he could have imagined.

“It’s like the one upstairs.” His voice was hoarse. She stood there in his t-shirt, looking smug. “Of course it is. It’s the same song. I’m just a lot more talented now.” She’d painted their song before. She’d remembered dancing with him. Had wanted to commemorate that moment. She’d loved him then and now.

“Brick, I swear to God, if you turn it into something like ‘Remington Honeysuckle Ford, will you get tacos with me tonight?’ I will be ordering an extra large body bag and digging a real big hole in the Grand Hotel’s rose garden.”

“Are you telling me you’d turn me down for tacos?” She felt a smile tugging at her lips. “Of course not. I’m not an idiot. I’d eat the tacos and then bury your body.”

“You’re going home.” “But I want to watch my mom yell at these guys.” Remi pouted. “I’ll re-enact it for you later,” he promised. She heaved a sigh. “Fine. But I want you to do the facial expressions and the accents,” she insisted.

I’ve always looked up to you, and that’s never once changed. You’re a hell of a guy, Brick. I hope I’m just like you when I grow up.”

“It’s about fucking time,” she said. Then she grabbed his face and gave him a smacking kiss right on the mouth. “Welcome to the family.” With that, she opened the front door and went inside yelling, “What’s for dinner?”

“I don’t have much more to add besides I can’t imagine a better man for our girl. You’ve loved her through the bright spots and the dark. You’ve never once not been there for her. Never once not protected her even from herself. A father can’t ask for anything more than that. And I know I’ve had a lot of wine, but I would be honored to call you son.”