Page 31 of Finding a Melody
I reached over and squeezed his hand tightly. He returned the favor, staring down at our hands.
“And now?” I asked.
“I know they love me with all their heart. I understand that now. Things are a lot better. They had even asked me to move back home over the summer, but I decided to spend my last year as is. No point changing it.” He shrugged. “I lived with Aunt Laura for so long that it’d feel weird not too. I don’t want her feeling lonely and I like living with Justin. He does the chores.”
I snickered. How was I not surprised? Even Justin chuckled, having been silent by the door as he let Toby talk.
“Anyway, that’s the point I’m trying to make, Cadence. I want you safe. Physically, but also mentally. I can’t begin to understand your past, your thoughts, or anything. I never will, but I do know that your mental wellness is important too, and while your mom is locked up in a hospital, she still has the power to hurt you from a distance. Take care of yourself. And know we’re here too, to help you. To give you an ear to listen to if need be.”
I blinked furiously and glared down at the counter, not realizing how hard his words were hitting me. Coming from the goofball of the group, to be a topic to turn him so serious like this, maybe I did have to listen to him.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
I shrugged, swallowing hard. “What more do you want me to say? Okay. I’ll watch out for my mental wellbeing.” Even if I didn’t really get how to do that or what he meant exactly.
“Good.” He let me go and straightened from the table. “I’m going to go check in with the others.”
After he slipped out, Justin came farther into the kitchen.
“Need help?”
“Oh, fuck yes. I don’t know what I’m doing.” I looked down at the half-chopped up onion. I hated cutting onions. They always made my eyes burn and my face splotchy, like someone tossed a bunch of spices in my face. It always turned into a mess.
Justin came around the counter and nudged me to the side, taking over. “I’ll finish this up so you can prep the rest.”
More than happy to do so, I began cooking down the beef while the oven warmed up. As we worked together, we were quiet, Justin letting me get lost in my thoughts. Toby’s story still sat heavily in my chest. I didn’t want to imagine a little Toby living like that. It wasn’t who he was. I was glad he got the help he needed and he understood himself better for it. The way he was now, I had no doubt that if anything were to happen between him and his family now, he’d fix it. He was that kind of guy.
Better than I was, for sure.
Paxon and Bryan came in, heading to the fridge.
“How did it go?” I asked.
“Dad isn’t happy,” Paxon said. “But I told him what happened and why, and he understood. We’ll talk more once he gets home from work. Should be interesting.”
Paxon didn’t seem too worried about it so I tried not to be. It was hard. They were technically in trouble because of me.
“And your parents?” I asked Bryan.
“As expected,” Bryan said dismissively as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and disappeared back into the living room. Justin followed after him when Seth called out for him, leaving only Paxon with me.
With Bryan’s cold response, I couldn’t stop frowning, not until Paxon spoke. “Most likely, his parents won’t even realize he got in trouble until this weekend.”
“Oh,” I said and tried to focus back on assembling the dish.
“What are you making?”
“A recipe my dad used to make when I was little. It’s cheesy BBQ beef & biscuit.” I laughed. “Probably the only thing I know how to cook on my own.”
Paxon came over to stand next to me, his shoulder bumping against mine. He looked down at the pan cooking the beef and onion mixture. I turned it off and dumped it through a strainer I had already placed in the sink.
“Can you pull the biscuits out of the oven?” I asked.
He nodded and did as I asked as I stirred in BBQ sauce and just a little bit of mustard, mixing it in with the beef. I put it onto the biscuit base I created and sprinkled cheese on top.
“Wait!” Paxon called out.