Free Wild Aces by Marni Mann

backward, and Cody’s mom has a tendency to make you go there.”
    “I know, Mom. And you’re right.”
    I had once loved spending time with Cody’s family. Now, I dreaded the moments they asked me to get together. My time with them was never about having fun and escaping the sadness that hung between us. It was about recounting all the reasons his death was unfair and allowing the sadness to swallow me.
    What was unfair was the reliving of it…over and over again.
    I had to move forward.
    Never had I considered declining their invitation to hang out, but maybe, someday soon, I would. Emotionally, I just couldn’t relive it again.
    “I did meet someone,” I whispered.
    She pulled the tissue away from her nose and smiled. “Tell me everything about him.”
    “His name is Trapper.” I couldn’t comment on his looks since I wasn’t sure about them myself, and telling her how tall he was sounded silly. “He’s a really good kisser. When there’s more to add, I’ll tell you.”
    She stood and walked into the kitchen, returning with another cupcake.
    “You never eat what you bake.”
    “I still don’t.” She set the cupcake on my plate. “But if you keep eating, I might get more out of you.”
    “I’m cut off for the night.” I pushed the plate away. “From cupcakes, too.”
    “You’re smiling.”
    I took a quick look around the living room. The color of the paint was the only thing that had changed since I’d moved out to go to college. That was one of the reasons I loved coming here so much. When I walked into Mom and Dad’s house, I could count on the same smells and the same feels and same love. There were no surprises there.
    But there were surprises outside of this house, and Trapper was one of them. He wasn’t the only reason I was grinning although he was a big part of it. I loved that I had gotten to a place that I could talk about someone other than Cody and not be filled with guilt. Everyone else in the past had been just a way to fill the void. But the void remained.
    Trapper was different.
    “Things are good, Mom. Real good actually.”
    She reached across the table and picked up the cupcake. Then she peeled off the paper wrapping on the bottom and took a huge bite. “What?” She had a smudge of frosting on her lip. “You’re doing well, so I think that’s a reason to celebrate.”
    “Oh, hell.” I walked into the kitchen to grab one and rushed back in to join her. “I’ll have another, but this is my last one, got it?”

Trapper
    Adrianna answered my call as I checked my watch and calculated what time it was in Boston.
    “It doesn’t sound like I woke you,” I said.
    “You didn’t.” There was pain in her sigh, and the swallow that followed told me she was sipping on something. I was sure it was something real strong. “I just got home from the compound.”
    There hadn’t been a pickup scheduled for tonight, so she should have been home hours ago. Something had gone wrong.
    “What happened?”
    “Please don’t make me relive the meltdown. It was…just terrible.”
    I leaned forward in my chair and pressed my palm against my forehead. “As bad as the last one?”
    “Worse. Wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep. The crying turned to vomiting, screaming…scratching. Jesus, Trapper, it was just like…” She didn’t finish her thought.
    She didn’t have to; I heard the word without her speaking it.
    You .
    It was just like me.
    Adrianna was good at dealing with that shit. She knew what to say, how to act. She usually knew how to fix it. My life had given her a hell of a lot of training.
    “Should I fly back?”
    “No need. I took care of things. Let’s drop it and give my heart a rest.”
    “Tell me about the sales.”
    She swallowed again. “Morrison and David are both paid in full. Everything has been processed, and both have arrived home safely.”
    Morrison had been an active client for a while, things taking much longer than normal to fulfill his request.