Chapter 2

"That went quicker than I thought." Tommy laughed as he pulled the car door shut, "Good job on those boards." Joel grunted in response. They were sitting in his truck at 6pm about to leave their client's house and have a free evening. Joel had counted on being here until at least 8pm. He found himself at a loss.

Tommy glanced at him, "Hey, do you want to get some dinner? I told Maria I'd be home late, so she and Bria are already eating."

"Sure." The tension in Joel's shoulders eased. He drove by silent consensus to their favorite bar in town. They ate BBQ and talked about the job they'd just completed, their next job, how the Longhorns were doing. All well-trodden subjects, the ones that filled their days working together. Then, later in the evening, something changed. Tommy met Joel's gaze with an uncharacteristic timidity.

"Look, I've been wanting to talk to you." Tommy spoke to the beer sitting in front of him on the bar, "My little girl, Bria, she keeps asking about you. Wants to know why her Uncle Joel never stops by."

Joel took a long sip of his beer. "She's old enough for you to tell her why."

"Sure, I already did, but she's sad about it. She wants to get to know you." Tommy turned to look at Joel, "Would you come over for dinner tomorrow?"

Joel didn't meet his brother's eyes, "I… can't." Ellie popped into his mind. Talking to that little girl a week ago had been difficult enough. He couldn't take another reminder.

Joel felt Tommy's rough hand on his shoulder, "I'm worried about you." He spoke quietly, "Everyone mourns in their own way, but it's been twenty years and you can't even look at your own niece." Joel looked up to see tears shimmering in Tommy's eyes. "That doesn't just hurt her, Joel. That hurts me." Tommy took a shaky breath, "I want you to be a part of my family."

"I thought we were already family." Joel retorted.

"You know what I mean." Tommy sighed, "Maria misses you too. She keeps asking me how you've been."

"That's mighty good of her." Joel muttered.

"Come on now. Don't be like that." Tommy sighed, "I… and don't get upset when I say this… but I'm worried about you still living in that house." Joel started to get up and Tommy grabbed his shoulder, "That place is like a museum of everything you lost. It can't be good for you to go back to it every day."

Joel yanked his brother's arm off his shoulder. "I don't need your concern." He growled. Then he was banging through the door on the way to his truck. Tommy's words rolled through his head throughout his drive home, and he only grew angrier.

"He has no idea what I lost." Joel snapped to the dash, "He doesn't get to tell me how to live afterwards." The cold night air had no response.

Once he pulled into his driveway, he yanked the key out and shoved open the truck door to find himself face to face with the same kid.

"Whoa!" Ellie jumped back, her eyes wide, "You trying to rip the door off or something?"

Joel stared at her in disbelief, "What are you doing in my lawn?" He snapped.

"Um." Ellie's gaze dropped to the ground, "I may be locked out again."

Joel snorted, "You must be a damn fool." He strode into the garage and started angrily grabbing bottles of water, "How hard is it to remember your keys?"

"Hey, fuck you dude, it's not my fault!" Ellie yelled from the garage entrance, "I know I put them in my backpack, but when I got home from school, they weren't there."

"Language." Joel snapped as he stood and turned to face the infuriating child, "And it sounds to me like you-" His words cut off as Joel processed what she said, "When did you get home from school?"

Ellie shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe 3:30?"

Joel checked his watch. 9 PM. "You're telling me you've been locked outside for almost six hours?" His brow furrowed in disbelief, "Have you eaten anything?" As if cued, her stomach rumbled loudly.

Ellie winced and wrapped her arms around midriff. "Yeah… I was going to ask for food this time. Last week, I had snacks and stuff in my backpack, but I don't really have anything this week." Joel looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time. She was so small. Her baggy sweatpants and stained, gray hoodie obscured her figure, but Joel guessed that if she took them off, he'd find arms and legs that were far too skinny.

"Where do you live? Where are your parents?" Joel demanded, "I need to talk to them."

"You can't talk to them. They're not home." Ellie scowled, "They're never home." She gestured vaguely over Joel's fence toward the small, rundown house next door.

"You live there?" Joel squinted at it, "I thought that place was still empty."

"Nope." Ellie replied, "Now there's me."

"That explains why I keep finding you in my yard." Joel sighed. He glanced back at his house, knowing full well he only had a bag of nuts and some milk in his kitchen. He found enough reasons to stay out of his house that he rarely ate a meal there. Tommy's words about the house being a museum of loss echoed in his mind. He shook the thought away.

"Alright, get in the car. We're going to McDonalds."

/

Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying it so far! I'll try to update fairly regularly, can't promise only three or four days between updates, but at least weekly. I've already written a couple more chapters than I posted so I'm ahead for now, but who knows how long that will last. Please leave reviews, I would love to read what you guys think!

oreowrites