Free Harder (Stark Ink Book 1) by Dahlia West

out of his own room but stopped when he saw Adam standing in the hall. He was ready for work, minus the black apron.
    “Look who finally showed up,” Ava snapped as she glared at Jonah. She turned and stalked back to her bedroom leaving them alone.
    “Can we talk?” Adam asked, keeping his voice down.
    Jonah nodded and they headed to the kitchen. Jonah grabbed a soda out of the fridge and popped the top. He looked past Adam, out the sliding glass door and toward Sienna’s house across the backyard. “Guess last night didn’t go so well. So they’re going to school today?”
    “Yeah, she promised. No more skipping.” Adam tapped the counter with his knuckles. “Listen, we have to talk.”
    “So you said. I’ll mow the lawn when I get off work.”
    Adam shook his head. “It’s not that. I need you to call in sick to work this afternoon.”
    Jonah frowned. “Why?”
    “To stay with Pop,” Adam explained. “I have a client appointment. I can’t be here until late this afternoon.”
    Jonah set the soda down. “So why do I need to stay home? Is Pop sick?”
    Adam sighed, already feeling tired and it wasn’t even eight a.m. yet. Having to talk about this over and over was wearing on him. “Sit down.”
    Jonah looked surprised but took a seat at the kitchen table. For the second time that morning, Adam explained about Pop and the pickles. Jonah listened quietly with his palms spread out across the flat surface of the table. “Jesus,” he muttered. He leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his dark hair. “I mean… Jesus.”
    “Jonah, I know you agreed to help out more, but things are more serious than that. I think- I’m going to need you quit your job.”
    Jonah’s jaw dropped. “Adam, I can’t—”
    Adam raised a hand. “Hear me out. I’ll pay you whatever you’re making now.”
    Adam had wanted to hire another artist now that his loans were paid off, but it wasn’t going to happen now. It looked like he’d have to put off expanding the shop. Indefinitely. He thought of his mom who cleaned houses as well as the church for years to pay for Dalton’s football registration fees and summer camps. God knew she’d made enough sacrifices for them.
    “Ava can’t do it alone and I have to work. I’ll pay you whatever you need, but someone has to be with him.”
    Adam tried not to let on how difficult this was. By himself, he’d make just enough to keep the doors of Stark Ink open. Just barely. And who knew what Pop would need in the way of doctor’s appointments and prescriptions? Probably all the money Adam had managed to save to start with. As Jonah briefly considered it then nodded, Adam felt his family coming together but his dreams slipping out of his grasp.

Chapter Twelve
     
    Adam pulled up to the front of the house, on time thankfully. The client appointment had gone quickly and traffic had been good. He still had splattered ink on his jeans and some underneath his fingernails from his slapdash and piss-poor attempt to clean up his workroom before running out the door. As he entered the living room, he saw Jonah sitting with Pop who was surfing through the TV channels. Adam didn’t know if Jonah had said anything about where they were going.
    He cleared his throat loudly. “Pop, we’ve got somewhere to be today.”
    The old man didn’t look away from the television. “Where’s that?”
    “Doctor.”
    Pop grunted. “Ain’t going.”
    “We need to go,” Adam told Pop. “Your blood pressure meds need to be worked out. Mom did all that stuff, now we’ve got to figure it out ourselves.”
    He felt like shit about lying, but Pop might not agree to go if he suspected the truth. Or maybe he already had an inkling but didn’t want to talk about it. How much did Pop remember about the night before? It was impossible to tell.
    Jonah was eyeing the old man like he might do something crazy at any given moment.
    “So, we’ve got to be there on time,” Adam prompted as he