Chapter Thirty-Seven

The next morning, I was at the Inn having breakfast. I had a glass of orange juice, a slice of toast, and some eggs. Ann was eating breakfast behind the bar, snacking on bacon as she organized wine glasses and inventoried all the boiling pots. We were both still reeling in regards to Karen's wedding. It was approaching faster and faster by the moment and yet the gap to completion was only growing. All night, I wondered what happened at home with Popuri and Rick. I hoped Rick had sympathized with his sister. I hope he had comforted her. I worried, however, there was no comfort to be found in their household at the moment.

The phone rang suddenly. I had never heard the phone on the bar before. It had a high pitched ring, similiar to a phone I had heard in movies from thirty years ago. Even Ann seemed surprised. She pulled her bacon strip from her mouth and crossed to the phone, "Inn of Mineral Town, this is Ann speaking," She paused for a moment and listened before lowering the phone to her shoulder, "It's for you, Claire."

"Me?" I asked. I stood and walked to the end of the bar, accepting the phone from Ann, who went on with her morning chores, "Hello?"

"It's so nice to hear the sexiest voice in the world." It was Kai!

"Hey, you," I smiled, leaning against the bar. Ann grinned my direction, "How're you doing?"

"It is so busy at the restaraunt, Claire," He told me. I could hear the television on in the background faintly, "Every night, we get slammed with ten-tops back to back. Everyone certainly is in a festive mood around here. How are things there?"

"Oh fine," I replied, playing with the curly phone cord, "It's freezing here. I just bought a rooster, though, so I can start breeding chickens."

"No way, badass!" I could practically hear his grin.

"Yeah, his name is Bart," I laughed lightly, "Also, I'm kind of a bridesmaid right now."

"Kind of?" Kai asked, "How can you be kind of a bridesmaid?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story. But to sum it up, Karen asked me to be her bridesmaid with Popuri a few days ago... and well, there was a big fight and Popuri quit as the bridesmaid, so I dunno where that really leaves me."

"Wait, wait... Popuri quit? She quit her own brother's wedding?" Kai seemed shocked.

"Yeah, I know, it's crazy," I shook my head, "It was all because of a fight over wedding photos."

"I saw that Bridezilla show you were talking about last night," Kai said, "Gray and I watched it and it totally freaked us out. I swear, it scared me more than The Grudge did. Don't tell me the nightmare has come alive in Karen."

"It has," I sighed, rubbing my hand through my hair, "It's a big mess, Kai. Rick and Karen both seem very lost on how to make a wedding. Karen is bent up on the wedding party and Rick can barely even find groomsmen to stand with him. He asked me if you would be one of his groomsmen."

"Hahahaha, what!" Kai was laughing, nearly wheezing through the phone, "What the hell is going on there?! I am not going to be Rick's groomsmen. We'll end up tangled up in each other rolling down the aisle."

"I'd like to think you two are past that now since you're sleeping with me and not her."

"Ugh, don't remind me of what I'm missing out on right now," Kai replied, making me laugh, "Who is Rick's groomsmen?"

"Right now, just Cliff," I told him.

"Well, that all sounds like a mess," Kai said, "Oh, hey, Gray wants to talk to you."

"Oh, okay."

"I'll call again in a day or so, sound cool?"

"Yeah, that's fine, call whenever," I nodded, "I don't have much going on here with all the snow. Most days I'm just shoveling."

"Well, just..." Kai paused for a moment, "Hey, only seventeen more days until I'm back!"

"I really cannot wait," I said.

"Me either, Claire. Really," His voice was so tender. It made me yearn for him in that moment. I had done a good job about not focusing on the ache of missing him. I kept reminding myself of his return. I decided to hold back on telling him I had ordered a queen-sized matress and new bed frame. It would be a nice surprise when he came back, "Here's Gray," Kai interrupted my thoughts.

There was some shifting and whispering from the other end before Gray's voice filled my ear, "Hey, Claire, how's it going?" I felt another rush of deja vu. I gazed down the bar at Ann who was writing out an inventory of the wine's they had so she could order more from Duke before the weekend. Gray had used the familiar phrase. He had always greeted me on the phone like that when we were kids.

"I'm good," I finally said after realizing the silence had been lengthy, "How are you?"

"Surviving," Gray laughed, "I just wanted to tell you about my new job with your dad. Just finished my first week with him."

"Oh god," I groaned, "Tell me everything. What happened?" I sat down on the bar stool now, the phone cord stil twirled through my fingers.

"Well, I walked in for my first time. I wore my coveralls and hat as usual, thinking they'd probably give me a company jumpsuit. Your dad was the only one there so far. It was... mm, maybe a quarter to seven. He was working on invoices in the trailer office when I came in. He was... very friendly. He was a really nice man, actually. He told me I was nearly overdressed. He was wearing only a plaid button up-"

"A black vest, blue jeans, and black work boots?" I asked, cocking my eyebrows up.

"Yeah, actually," Gray seemed caught off guard, "I took my jumpsuit off to a t-shirt and jeans and he said that was fine. He even gave me a cool new company hat. We sat down at his desk and he reviewed everything with me again. I got some coffee and he had brought some fruit to the office that morning. We ended up sitting around and chatting because turns out, and this will be interesting, we are the only two who start at seven in the morning. We're technically the project leaders so we have to get everything prepared and handle the office work. The rest of our workers come don't come in until eight-thirty, Claire. I've been alone with your father all week for an hour and a half."

"Well, has anything happened?" I was nearly biting my nails in anticipation.

"We've talked... a lot," Gray replied slowly, "The first day, he seemed to have no clue as to who I really was. Did you know he has a picture of you sitting on his desk?"

"Shut up, no he doesn't."

"No, he does. It's a picture of you sitting on the front steps of your house. You're wearing this blue spaghetti strap dress. You're, like, a teenager or something."

"Oh, that must have been homecoming my sophmore year," I said, recounting the blue dress that was too tight in the waist but too loose in the chest, "That's the only time my parents took a picture of me. I don't know why they did. That's one of the few times my parents told me I looked nice."

"He talked about you the first day," Gray continued, "He was asking about me and I was vague about being born in The City but moving to the country to study the art of blacksmithing. I asked about him, and he said he'd lived in The City his whole life, but was thinking about moving somewhere quieter."

"What, no way," I was astounded.

"Yeah, Claire, did you know your parents divorced a year and a half ago?"

"They did?" I don't know why I felt hurt to hear this, "Did he say why?"

"He told me that he and his wife had a strained relationship with their daughter, and that they felt remorseful for the way they treated you. I'm guessing that remorse for the way they acted divulged into anger and finger pointing between them and they... broke up," He cleared his throat, "By the next day, I actually felt comfortable with him and I decided to just tell him. I went in the next morning. Our desks face each other, so I looked him straight in the face and said, 'Mr. Hanes, I know your daughter, Claire. And you know me, too. I was her best friend, that Gray was me.'"

"And? What did he say!?"

"He said he had a feeling, but didn't want to assume. And then he said... thank you."

"Thank you?" I echoed.

"He said I was the only good thing you had when you were a child," Gray took a breath, "He's a changed man, Claire. After you moved out, he was given time to reflect. I think separating from your mom helped him become someone new in his old skin. He asked me where you were and I told him you were a land owner in the country now. He wants to speak with you. I said I'd try to see what I could do."

"Oh, well thank you for not just telling him, I appreciate that," My heart was hammering in my chest, "I don't know how I feel about all of that, to be honest. I can't imagine my father as anything but a angry man who was always drunk an hour after his shift ended."

"He doesn't drink anymore, though. I asked if he wanted to get a beer after work yesterday," Gray told me.

"My father... stopped drinking?"

"I'm tellin' ya, Claire. He's changed. And everyone at work respects him."

"Wow, I'm just gonna need time to process all of this," I pressed my hand to my forehead, "Otherwise, how do you like the job?"

"I'm loving it so far, thanks for asking," Gray replied, "I'll let you get to that thinking, I suppose. Did you want to talk to Kai again?"

"Yes, please," I said, cradling my head in my hand now. I felt a threatening headache. There was more shifting.

"Yo."

"Did you just hear all of that?" I asked.

"Yeah, it was a rollercoaster," Kai replied, "I think you should call him."

"I think I want to think about it," I told him, "Eighteen years in their house was hell. Now that I'm actually getting comfortable and starting my life for real, he wants back in? He had his chance to bond with me, didn't he? I've finally got land and a steady income. I have my own house and someone I can love. I don't need him."

"Well, I defintely think you have a lot more to reflect on," Kai supressed a sigh from his end of the line, "Really break it down and sort it out, y'know?"

"You're right," I released my own sigh instead.

"Go take a hot bath and lay down, it'll help. And make sure you're eating. I'm not there to keep an eye on you," I let out a laugh, "That's what I like to hear. Call me if you need anything at all, okay? I'll see you soon."

"Bye," I said, trying to cling to the last of his voice.

"Bye, Claire."

The line went dead shortly after. I listened to the dial tone for a few moments before hanging it up and rubbing my face. Ann looked over at me and I looked to her. We were silent for a moment before I said, "Damn, it's just one thing after another."