I finally turned and spit the coffee into the sink, reaching for a paper towel to mop up my face.

  “Yeah, Draco’s here. Want us to pick up Curtis?” She paused. “Alright. See you there.”

  She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and looked at me. “I guess the fire marshal said we can go back to the house and see what’s left.”

  “Little late for that,” I replied.

  Charlie shrugged. “But they don’t know that. The ’rents want to see if there’s anything left to salvage. You wanna come help?”

  “Sure,” I said, rinsing out my mug.

  “I doubt we’ll find anything,” Charlie replied glumly. “It was pretty much just ash and stank coming from the pile. Who knew burned down houses smelled so bad?”

  I raised my hand and laughed when she punched me. “What?” I asked, laughing. “Don’t you remember our place after it burned?”

  “Vaguely,” she said, walking away. “Text Curtis and tell him to get his ass up. He’s coming with us.”

  I texted my brother, checked the fire map for the thousandth time in the last week, and cleaned up Charlie’s coffee cup while I waited for the two of them to get ready to go. Where the hell was Kara? No matter how mad she was, it was pretty shitty of her to be gone when her best friend was going to see what was left of her house. Frankly, it was out of character. The two of them had been there for each other during every big event in their lives.

  I got my phone back out and texted Kara.

  Where are you? Headed over to my grandparents place with C and C to see if there’s anything left. Meet us there?

  I watched to see if she’d reply, but got nothing.

  “I texted her, too,” Charlie said, coming back into the room in jeans and a flannel. “I figured long pants and sleeves were the way to go.”

  “Good call,” I agreed.

  “You have any work gloves?” she asked as she piled her keys, a mask, and her wallet on the table. “I don’t really want to ruin my riding gloves.”

  “I’ve got plenty in the truck somewhere,” I replied as Curtis came through the front door without knocking. “They’ll probably be way too big, but they’ll work.”

  “Everything always hurts worse on the second day,” he groaned, stretching his arms gingerly above his head. “How you feelin’, brother?”

  “I feel fine,” I lied.

  “Right,” Charlie scoffed. “Let’s go, Tyson and Holyfield.”

  “Which one is which?” Curtis asked as we followed her out of the apartment. “Am I the biter?”

  “You’re definitely Tyson,” I confirmed.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Charlie replied, glancing at me. “You definitely looked like you’d resort to biting if you needed to.”

  “I wouldn’t need to,” I said easily. “We takin’ my truck?”

  “I’ll follow you in my car,” Charlie replied. “Just in case you want to leave before I do.”

  “I’ll ride with you,” Curt told Charlie, following her as we went separate ways.

  “Chicken,” she said, squawking like one.

  I didn’t hear what Curtis said back to her because I’d reached my truck and was too busy pulling the seat forward to look for the gloves I knew were there somewhere. It took a few minutes to find them because behind the seat was the one place I left completely trashed. I was always stuffing shit back there that I knew I’d need later. I sorted through jumper cables, a folded up tarp, an extra jacket, a small toolbox, a beanie, two baseball caps, a pair of socks, a stack of mail, and a couple of water bottles until I found the grocery bag that held five or six pairs of work gloves. By the time I’d thrown them on the passengers seat and climbed into the truck, Charlie and Curtis were already gone. I guessed I was following them.

  The ride was uneventful and I pulled up to my grandparents’ place right behind my parents. It looked like it was all hands on deck. Both sets of grandparents were already there. So were Callie and Grease, Lily and Leo, Will and Molly—I searched through the group and smiled.

  “You’re here,” Reb called as she hurried toward me. “This is so sad! Poor Farrah and Casper.”

  “Hey, sweetheart,” I said as she hit, her arms wrapping around my torso in a bear hug. “You came out to help?”

  “Yeah,” she said, still holding on. “But Dad said I need to be really careful because there’s probably all sorts of sharp shit and chemicals.”

  “Truth,” I agreed. “You want a pair of gloves to protect your hands?”

  “You got some?” she asked, finally letting go.

  “Yeah, I do,” I said, leading her around the truck to get the bag of gloves. “They’ll probably be too big, though.”

  “That’s alright,” she said easily. “The ones at work are always too big, too, but I wear ’em anyway.”

  “You still likin’ that job?” I asked as I handed her a pair.

  “I really do,” she replied, grinning. “Everyone is so nice.”

  “They better be nice to you,” I said, throwing my arm over her shoulder as we made our way over to the group. “You let me know if anyone gives you a hard time.”

  Rebel laughed. “That’s what my dad and Uncle Tommy said, too.”

  I grinned, giving her a squeeze. Rebel was one of my favorite people on the entire planet. She’d grown up with us, and more often than not, there had been five kids running wild together. As we got older, though, things changed a bit. Reb had Down Syndrome, so while we would’ve gladly had her along for every single adventure, we’d grown in some ways that she hadn’t. She still needed stability and predictability in a way that we didn’t.

  She’d had a really hard time when I’d gone to prison.

  “Damn,” her dad, Will, said as we reached him and her mom, Molly. “Nice face.”

  “It’s not polite to comment on people’s faces,” Reb told him seriously. “Even if you’re curious.”

  “I was wonderin’ why you didn’t mention it,” I told her honestly. I should’ve known.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, clearly believing that the normal rules didn’t apply since her dad had broken the seal.

  “Yeah,” I told her. “I’m alright. But you should go ask Curtis why he looks so much worse than me.”

  Rebel grinned. “Did you beat him up?”

  “Hell yeah, I did.”

  She laughed and walked toward my brother.

  “Heard about your little scuffle,” Will said as we watched her go. “You get it out of your system?”

  “Mostly,” I replied.

  “You should get your eye looked at if it’s not better in a few days,” Molly said with a grimace. “It looks gnarly.”

  “Is that your professional opinion?” I asked. Molly was a nurse.

  “Hey, I’m off the clock,” she said jokingly. “But you should never mess with something that could affect your eyesight long term.”

  “Noted,” I replied.

  “Wish I could’ve seen it,” Will said with a small grin. “Looks like you went all out.”

  “You could say that,” I replied. “Where have you guys been?”

  “We’ve kept Reb home, mostly,” Molly said. “She’s still been working and stuff, but you know how she gets when shit is crazy. We didn’t want to overwhelm her if we didn’t have to.”

  “Fires are pretty fuckin’ scary for anyone,” I replied in acknowledgement.

  “She wanted to come out and help today, though,” Will said.

  “Of course she did,” I said with a nod.

  I looked over as another vehicle pulled into the driveway, recognizing Rose’s SUV. My stomach clenched. Hopefully, Kara had come to support Charlie even if she ignored me the entire day. I could live with that. I’d be pissed as hell, but I’d live with it.

  Only Rose and Mack climbed out of the SUV, though.

  “Kara watchin’ the boys?” I asked as they reached us.

  “No,” Rose said in confusion. “Isn’t she here with Charlie?”

  My stomach twisted.

  “No,” I said slowly. “She wasn’t home this morning.”

  “What?” Mack said, frowning.

  “Charlie stayed the night at our place and when she got home, Kara wasn’t there,” I replied. “I thought she must’ve went to your place.”

  “She didn’t,” Rose said with a shrug. She looked through the crowd again. “I wonder where she is.”

  “I’ll call her,” Mack said, pulling out his phone.

  “We left the boys at Tommy’s,” Rose told me as Mack called Kara. “Tommy said he’d follow us over once he knew Heather wasn’t going to completely lose her shit with that many kids.”

  “Please,” Molly said with a wave of her hand, “she’s a pro. She watched Reb all the time. She’s like a mohawked Mary Poppins.”

  Rose laughed. “With the vocabulary of a sailor.”

  “Beggars can’t be choosers,” Molly replied with a chuckle.

  “She’s not answerin’,” Mack said, putting his phone away. “Went straight to voicemail.”

  “Did she turn it off?” Rose asked.

  “How the hell would I know?” Mack replied. “Don’t even know where the fuck she is.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine, babe,” Rose said, sliding her arm around his waist. “She’s an adult. She can handle herself.”

  It took everything inside me not to make a comment about how well Kara had been handling herself for the last five years, but it wasn’t the place or the time for that kind of conversation.

  “I left a message to call me back,” Mack said.

  “Let me know when you hear from her?” I asked, trying to keep the worry from my voice. Where the fuck was she?

  “You know somethin’ I don’t?” Mack asked, staring at me.

  “Got into an argument last night,” I replied.

  “And?”

  “And she was pissed at me, but she was fine.”

  “What was the argument about?” Mack pressed.

  “Jacob Mackenzie,” Rose scolded, slapping his stomach. “That’s none of your business.”

  “Like hell it isn’t,” he said, glaring down at her.

  “Ignore him,” Rose told me. “He still thinks she’s twelve.”

  I didn’t respond. There really wasn’t any good way to extract myself from the situation without pissing off Kara’s dad. And I really didn’t want to piss him off, but it would be a cold day in hell before I told him what me and Kara discussed privately.

  “Come on,” Rose said, pulling at Mack. “Let’s go see where we can help.”

  “Don’t you want to know what they argued about?” he asked her in disbelief as they walked away.

  “Of course,” she said. “But I’ll find out how I always do—by waiting and eavesdropping. Have you learned nothing from me?”

  “Gotta admit,” Will said as we watched them go, “I don’t envy you dating my niece. Rose is going to be the mother-in law from hell.”

  “Don’t say that about your sister,” Molly scolded. She looked at me. “But he’s right. You’re kind of screwed in that department,” she said sympathetically.

  “At least you’ll always have a babysitter?” Will said, making me pale. “You know, when you guys are ready and shit. A long, long time from now.”

  “Good lord,” Molly said under her breath, glaring at me. “If you get that girl pregnant, I’ll castrate you.”

  My hands went involuntarily to my crotch.

  “Do you have those gloves?” Charlie asked as she came jogging toward us. “And why are you holding your junk, ya fucking weirdo.”

  I dropped my hands and handed Charlie the bag.

  “We’re just going to start at the outside and work our way in,” she said as she grabbed a pair. “Did Kara stay at Rose and Mack’s?”

  “She was never there,” I replied quietly. “No one knows where the fuck she is.”

  “As if we didn’t have enough shit to deal with,” Charlie said. “Mack seemed worried?”

  “No, just pissed that her phone went straight to voicemail,” I replied.

  “That’s good, at least,” Charlie said with a shrug. “If there was something to worry about, they’d be in a huddle commanding the troops.”

  “You think it has somethin’ to do with the club?” I asked in alarm. I hadn’t even let my mind wander in that direction.

  “Nope,” Charlie said firmly. “I think she’s being an asshole and making everyone worry for no reason.”

  I didn’t bother responding. What could I say to that? Kara had been all over the place lately, pulling me in and pushing me away over and over until I wasn’t sure where we were at. I hated to think it, but it had been a hell of a lot easier when she’d just been avoiding me—at least then I’d known what to expect.

  We got to work on the rubble, picking through pieces of the house—most of it unrecognizable. My grandparents were going to have to rent a dumpster or two in order to get the property cleaned up, there was no way around it.

  “I’ll be damned,” my Gramps Casper said from a few feet away. “Hey, Cam, you remember these?”

  “Is that my coin collection?” my dad asked, picking his way toward us. “I thought I lost that!”

  “You must have hidden it somewhere—” my gramps looked around “—in the kitchen or your old bedroom. Think that’s where I’m standin’, anyway.”

  My dad laughed as Gramps handed him the small metal box.

  “Well, fuck,” he said as he rifled through it. “Now I’ll never know where it was.”

  “In the kitchen or your room,” Gramps replied. “Hell, I just told ya.”

  “I wonder if any of these are worth money,” Dad said, picking up a dirty coin and rubbing it clean with his shirt.

  “Yeah, right,” my gram called. “I doubt a dime from 1982 is worth anything more than ten cents, honey. Sorry to burst your bubble.”

  “I had older ones than that,” my dad shot back defensively, holding the box to his chest.

  “If the only thing we find is that damn coin collection, I’m gonna be super pissed,” Gram said.

  We continued to sift through the rubble, but we didn’t find much worth saving. Some dishes made it, but they were mostly broken and unusable. We also found some wire coat hangers, metal knobs from dressers and most of an inversion table that Gram had bought to help Gramps’ back and he’d refused to ever use, saying he wasn’t going to hang upside down like a fucking bat. Eventually, we all just kind of gave up. There wasn’t much worth saving.

  “Hey,” Mack said, striding toward me. “Got a call from my pop. She’s in Montana.”

  “The fuck?” I asked, jerking my head back in surprise.

  “Guess she flew up this morning and just got there,” Mack replied. “So, she’s safe, if you were worryin’ about that.”

  “She plannin’ on stayin’ there?” I asked, anger making my movements jerky as I tore off my gloves. My arms were black all the way to my elbows, but from the wrist down, they looked clean, almost like a fucked up suntan.

  “No idea,” Mack said with a shrug. “But she’s with my parents and she’s fine. Doubt she’ll be there very long, though. They live in a damn RV. You can’t turn around without bumping elbows with someone.”

  “Thanks for lettin’ me know,” I replied.

  “No problem.” He turned to go and then paused. “Not sure what’s goin’ on with you and my daughter,” he said, meeting my eyes. “But I know her. She was just killin’ time until you got out. Girl don’t wait that long if she’s not invested—you know what I’m sayin’?”

  “I hear you,” I mumbled.

  “You’ve got shit all over your face,” he said as he walked away. “Probably should clean it up before those scratches get infected and you look even worse.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered under my breath.

  She’d left the fucking state. She’d actually got on a plane and left the fucking state to get away from me. Mack could say whatever he wanted and I was sure that he thought he knew what he was talking about, but Kara sure as fuck wasn’t invested in shit.

  “I’m in need of some rest and relaxation,” Charlie said tiredly as she met me next to my truck with Reb. “You in for pizza, beer, and a movie?”

  “And enough snacks to make us sick?” Reb added.

  I looked at Charlie’s sad eyes and Reb’s hopeful expression. “Sure,” I replied, even though I really didn’t want to hang out with anyone. “I need a shower first.”

  “That’s fine,” Charlie said. “We’ll grab the supplies and meet you back at my apartment.”

  “Where’s Kara?” Rebel asked.

  “In Montana with her grandparents,” I replied. “You’ll just have to make do with us.”

  “She what?” Charlie spat.

  “Yup,” I replied shortly.

  “I’m ridin’ with you,” Curt announced as he reached us.

  “Movie and beer at my place,” Charlie told him, shooting me a look that said we’d talk later. “Be there or be square.” She grimaced. “I’m turning into my mother.”

  “That’s okay,” Rebel told her seriously. “Your mom’s cool.”

  “You’re my best friend in the entire world, Reb,” Charlie said with a smile, reaching for Reb’s hand. “Swear to God. You know that?”

  “Of course,” Reb answered as they walked toward Charlie’s car holding hands. “We’re all best friends. The best friends ever.”

  “Did you say that Kara went to Montana?” Curt asked me as we climbed into the truck. “What the fuck is she doin’ there?”

  “Escapin’ the smoke,” I said sarcastically. The air was still shitty as hell and everyone had been wearing masks or bandanas over their faces on and off all day.

  “She seriously took off?” Curt said, leaning back in his seat. “Jesus, what a time to do it.”

  “No shit,” I spat as I started the truck. “Her best friend’s family home just fuckin’ burned to the ground and she took off without tellin’ anyone.”

  Curt looked at me, but I ignored him.

  My anger grew with each passing minute. How fucked up did you have to be to leave your best friend when she was dealing with something like that?