Crescendo

Chapter 30

Soundtrack for this chapter:
Times Like These—Foo Fighters
Die a Happy Man—Thomas Rhett
Perfect—Ed Sheeran & Beyonce*

30

Theo

Jules had to go back to her apartment pretty quickly after our Vermont trip, and while I loved having her with me all the time, it was best for both of us. She needed that independence, and I'd never take that from her. As for me, I needed some time to myself after our trip to Gabe's grave.

I talked to Gabe often. The night after I was finally able to say goodbye to him, I sent him a few words as I laid in bed. "Thank you for bringing Jules into my life. No matter what anyone says, I know you were up there pulling some strings. I'm sorry it took me nearly a decade to come see you, but I'm happy I was finally able to say goodbye."

Life went back to normal in a flash. I was back at the station just two days into the new year, and our first few days were full of small fender benders from the snow, a few people who'd slipped on ice, and the occasional kid who fell into a frozen pond (I avoided telling Jules about those ones, fearing a lecture from her on the time I took her skating).

Around the middle of January, I readied myself for a twelve hour shift by getting up way before the sun. I nearly fell on the floor in shock when I found Aiden making toast in the kitchen that morning.

"Shit. Was it cold enough to freeze hell last night?"

That one earned an eye roll, so at least my brother wasn't too far out of character.

"Good morning to you too, T."

"Why're you up?"

He grabbed the toast that had just popped out of the toaster and slathered it in peanut butter. "New year, new me, I guess."

"You realize the new year started two weeks ago, right?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, better late than never. Gonna start going to the gym at least three times a week."

"That's a good plan. If it's a day I'm not working, I'd love to join you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's never a guarantee that I'll get to work out at the station, so this will at least make sure I'm getting some sort of exercise during the week."

"Okay. Cool. You gonna be around this weekend?"

"I think we all are. We're supposed to get a storm tonight, so I'm going to call Jules later to see if she wants to get snowed in over here."

"That'd be fun."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. I like Jules."

"Me too."

He took a bite of his toast, then, seemingly out of nowhere asked, "You gonna marry her, T?"

"Definitely." Didn't even need a second to consider it.

"Can I be one of your groomsmen?"

"Maybe."

His eyes went wide for just a moment before I started laughing.

"Obviously you'd be one of my groomsmen, Aiden. I can't imagine getting married without you and Danny up there with me."

"Never thought you'd be the next one to get married. Especially with how long Dan and Marnie have been together." He got up, and he even put his dishes in the dishwasher. "See ya later, T."