Free Thrive by Rebecca Sherwin Page A

scratched the surface. Like all those years ago, I knew Curtis was hiding himself from me.
    But he needed to give control as much as he needed to exert it. I wasn’t the only one who needed protecting. I realised, as he fisted the bed sheet and mumbled something incoherent, that he saved me once before, by sending me away. We would have torn each other apart if he hadn’t. I’d had the gift of Thomas Radley – I’d had the love I’d never dared to dream of. He taught me to be brave, strong, and he taught me to love. I had to remember that. I had to remember how special Thomas made me feel and how precious our borrowed time together was to me. I had to use it to save Curtis. I had to love him the way he deserved, but had never allowed himself to feel.
    I decided to let him sleep, setting his coffee on the bedside cabinet, and I carried mine downstairs.
    “Down here, sweetie!” came the beautiful voice of Curtis’ aunt when my bare feet touched the ground floor.
    I found a door cracked open and stepped through it, descending the stairs to the basement. Lois was sitting at a sewing machine with music playing quietly in the background.
    “How did you know it was me?”
    She looked up at the ceiling, directly beneath the staircase. “It sounds like an elephant stampede when Curtis comes down them.”
    I laughed and accepted the stool Lois kicked out for me.
    “Maggie and I used to come down here a lot,” she mused, dropping her hands from her sewing machine to her lap.
    “Maggie?”
    “My sister. Curtis’ mother. We used to escape down here when the men pulled out the scotch.” I fought for breath at the thought of my father spending time here with his wife when he’d left his other family at home. “After she died it became the only place I could get Curtis to open up. We used to play down here a lot…it was like he felt her, and he became the happy little boy with two real parents again.”
    I didn’t respond. I tried not to think of anything but Curtis, and let Lois spend time with her thoughts, waiting for her to continue.
    “Phil and Michael never agreed on anything. Maggie and I had known Michael our whole lives, and he didn’t take to Phil. Curtis noticed. I think he thought he was the problem, but Phil resented Michael for never letting him in. I think the resentment passed to Curtis when Maggie and Michael died, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
    “I…” I paused and took a breath. “I…Curtis can be difficult. Men can be difficult.” I tried to laugh, but choked. “As long as they both love you, I think that’s what matters. Curtis adores you.”
    She smiled with pride and turned back to her machine. “He adores you .”
    I twisted my hands in my lap, realising why Lois had just opened up to me. There was a presence in the basement; I didn’t believe in ghosts and spirits – I believed those we loved stayed with us as memories and it was their memory that gave us faith. But I did believe in energy, in comfort, and accepting that comfort when unexplainable circumstances gave it to us. The basement was the place to open up and be honest.
    “I don’t know what to do.” I watched a knowing smile ghost Lois profile. She had opened up the discussion and she was letting me meet her halfway. “I’m afraid we’re going to hurt each other and if we do, there won't be a way back.”
    “You don’t believe in fate?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
    I sighed. “Yes, I do, but fate has been less than kind to me.”
    “It has been to Curtis, too. Maybe your reunion is fate’s doing all over again.”
    “Maybe,” I nodded, wishing fate was a person so I could kick its ass. “But how do we know it’s not going to rip everything away from us again?”
    “We don’t.” She shrugged and smiled over at me. “It’s why we have to make the most of every minute. Fate has a say, but if you make the first move, doesn’t it have to rethink its strategy?”
    “I never thought of