Honor

Chapter 75

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

E vie

I run my fingers over the fabric of the yellowing curtains hanging in the kitchen window. The bottom hem on the left one isn’t perfectly straight. I lean closer and realize almost immediately that they were hand-sewn. I can’t help but wonder if one of Reid’s grandparents made them, or maybe it was him or his sister.

As I let the fabric fall from my fingers, I hear a noise at the front door. All of the warnings my mom subjected me to about intruders and protecting myself storm through my mind. I quietly open one kitchen drawer to find a multitude of plastic container covers. The next drawer contains a variety of kitchen utensils, so I reach in and grab the first thing I can get my hand around. It’s a garlic press.

I curse under my breath, but since I hear the front door creaking open, I don’t have time to go in for something that’s a more suitable weapon. This will have to do.

Naturally, I made the rookie mistake of leaving my phone on the coffee table. That’s in the next room, so unless I can call 9-1-1 with only my mind power, I’m on my own here.

Do I call out a warning or barrel into the room with the garlic press in view? Would that even scare a rat away?

I take a breath as soon as I hear footsteps approaching me.

“Evie?” an all-too-familiar deep voice calls out. “Are you in the kitchen?”

I step into view so Reid can see me. “I’m here.”

His gaze drops to the garlic press. He bows his head slightly. “My grandpa used to make Italian food every Sunday. He was a shitty cook but the best grandfather who ever lived.”

I place the press down gently on the counter. “Tell me about him.”

“I will.” He nods. “I have a lot to tell you, but first, I want to know how you ended up here. Natasha is covering the calls coming into the office. Kevin hadn’t reached out to me today before he texted to tell me you were here. How did you two connect?”

I understand his curiosity, so I answer without any hesitation. “Lottie bought the house next door for Randall. It’s his wedding gift.”

“Shit.” His face lights up with a smile. “That’s one hell of a wedding gift. He loved that house. He’ll love that gift.”

I nod. “She was dropping something off today for the couple who sold the house to her. I came with her, and while we were standing on the sidewalk, Kevin stopped by to check on your house.”

“My house,” he repeats in barely more than a whisper.

“He said it’s your house now,” I clarify because I don’t want to misspeak. Maybe Reid still views this as his grandparents’ home. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t sold it yet.

He nods. “He’s right. It’s my house now.”

“I recognized his voice and his name, of course, from when he called the office looking for you,” I continue to explain how I wound up standing in the kitchen of his childhood home. “He told me he usually keeps up with the maintenance, but since his injury, he…”

“Kevin is hurt?” he interrupts in a rush. “What happened? Is he all right?”

The concern in his voice and his expression is genuine. I can tell he’s worried about Kevin, so I offer the reassurance I know he needs. “He took a fall and broke his arm, but it’s healing. He’s doing well.”

“I’ve been putting off contacting him because…well, it’s never…it’s just never easy to talk to him, Evie,” he stammers through that sentence. “He’s a reminder of many things I’ve lost. Many people I’ve lost.”

I want to ask about all of them, but I need him to set the pace of this conversation. I haven’t experienced profound loss like he has. I don’t have a grasp on how to navigate any of it.

“My parents died in a car accident,” he says. “It was so long ago that the memories of them are fleeting.”

“I’m sorry, Reid.”

He nods faintly. “My grandparents raised me here. In the house my mom grew up in. I slept in the same room she did when she was a kid. That helped. I think that helped me feel close to her when I needed it the most.”

I smile softly. “I saw a picture of her on the mantle. You look like her.”

“I do,” he agrees. “Melody looks more like our dad.”

Besides the pictures on the mantle from when she was a child, I’ve only seen photos of his sister on social media. She’s lovely. Her smile is infectious. I imagine she brings joy to any room she enters.

He rakes a hand through his hair. “I need to say something to you, Evie. I need to talk to you about yesterday.”

“About what I overheard you talking to Baden and Vance about?”

He nods. “When I agreed to be Randall’s best man, I had no idea he owned Azelius.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I agreed to be his best man for an important reason.” He curls his finger, signaling he wants me to follow him into the living room. I do, and when we reach the mantle, he picks up one of the picture frames. He stares at it for a moment before he moves it into my view. “I agreed to be his best man because the greatest man who ever lived made me promise I’d be there for Randall for the rest of our lives.”

I gaze down at the picture of a man I assume is his grandfather. “Is that your granddad?”

He nods. “Buster Aitken.”

“He looks kind.”

He smiles at me. “Kind, strong, hard-working, forgiving. He only wanted the best for me, and I let him down.”

I motion for him to take a seat on the couch. “Why do you think that?”

He stops just short of the piece of furniture and shakes his head. “I used to sit on this and watch movies with my sister and grandparents. Then, one day, I decided that wasn’t important anymore.”

I can tell this house is a source of pain for him, and yet I can’t bring myself to suggest we leave. I’ve never seen him this vulnerable or this open. This is the Reid I’ve longed for. This is the man I knew existed beneath the gruff exterior he presents to the world.

“Priorities change when we grow up,” I offer as words of solace. “I’m sure your grandparents knew you loved them still.”

He sets the picture frame down on the table. “I didn’t tell them often enough. I should have said it ten times every day so they knew how much I appreciated everything they did for me; so they knew how much I loved them.”

I’ve heard that regret can eat at a person’s soul. I’m witnessing that now.

Before I know what’s happening, his hands are cupping my face. He tilts my head up slightly until our eyes meet. “I will never make that mistake again. I love you, Evangeline. I need you to know how much I love you.”