Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

Finally I hit the wall, and I just couldn't deal with talking to one more person. I stepped out onto the back deck and saw Bobby and his girlfriend, Kate, also taking a breather. He was sitting on one of the lawn chairs, legs stretched out. Kate was sitting on his lap with her arms around him, his head resting on her shoulder. I hated intruding on their quiet moment; God knows Bobby deserved a break from all this too. He looked up when he heard the screen door shut behind me.
    He gave me a tired smile. "Everything okay in there?"
    "Yeah, I just... needed a break."
    He nudged Kate and they immediately got up. "Understand. We'll go take over, you take all the time you need."
    He patted me on the shoulder as he passed me.
    "Bobby?"
    He looked back at me.
    "Thanks." It was one word, but the look between us conveyed much more and I knew he understood all that I was really saying. His eyes got shiny and he just nodded with a smile before turning back and continuing into the house.
    Finally... silence. Well, almost— I could still hear the murmuring of all the voices in the house and even that was too much right now. So, I walked down the three steps from the deck to the grass and then kept right on going until I was at the edge of the yard. I stopped at the big walnut tree that had been here as long as we had lived here, and settled down on the grass at the foot of it, not caring if my good suit pants got dirty. All I cared about was the clean stillness of the air, and how quiet it was out here. Truly alone for the first time in days, I felt the heaviness start to crash in on me. When I thought of my Dad I kept going back to the last time we'd talked in person, at Christmas, arguing about school. I just kept seeing his angry, frustrated face. That was the last time I'd seen him alive.
    I heard the sound of footsteps approaching and I swiped furiously at my wet eyes.
    "Hey, Little A."
    I turned my head to look up at him. My lips parted on autopilot to say something but the huge lump in my throat kept any words from coming.
    Chase smiled sadly. "How you doing, kid?"
    Silent moments passed as I swallowed hard around words that still wouldn't come. Chase just continued on as if nothing was wrong. He placed his hand against the rough tree bark and looked upward. "Man, do you remember all the time we spent in this tree house when we were kids?"
    I stood up and cleared my throat, my voice croaking as I finally spoke. "What do you mean by 'we?' You and Bobby spent time in it but Bobby never let me hang out in it with you guys."
    "You were too little to climb up to it." He grinned at me mischievously. "But I seem to recall sneaking you up here a few times."
    I had to think on that for a few moments but sure enough I realized he was right.
    "That time you were chasing after Bobby and I, and you broke your Mom's favorite lamp?"
    I grinned. "And you brought me up here and let me hide with you for a while."
    "And she blamed Bobby for it because he was the only one left in the house!" We both called out the memory in unison and then busted out laughing.
    Next thing I knew, Chase was grabbing onto the ladder rungs still nailed into the tree trunk and hauling his big ass up the tree.
    "Chase, what the hell are you doing?"
    "I'm climbing up to the tree house." His voice was muffled and breathless as he yelled over his shoulder.
    "Dumbass, that wood is never going to hold you!" The tree house was seventeen years old. Not only was it tiny, but the wood was probably almost rotted. But, there he was, sitting on the rickety floor grinning back down at me.
    He smacked his hand against the wood to show how secure it was. "It's fine! Come on up!"
    I just shook my head. "You're crazy!"
    "Come on, Little A, are you scared? Do I need to come down there and haul your ass up here like I did when you were little?"
    I rolled my eyes, but I took my suit jacket off and dropped it on the ground and headed up the ladder. When I got up there, there was barely enough room for me to sit down, but I somehow managed to squeeze in next to his big football body. I hadn't been up here in years. I remembered how it had felt when I was little; I thought it was so cool that I could look down on all the world below. I'd felt so big.
    Chase reached up and ran his hand down one of the support beams next to us. "I remember the day your Dad built this. I watched from my yard for a while, as he stood among the pile of wood planks." His voice was quiet. A moment passed and