Fall to Pieces - Shari J. Ryan Page 0,5
meeting. You did this, and I don’t feel sorry for you. I feel sad for you. You lost out on your life.”
I swallow hard and drop the note back down to the table.
My thumb sweeps across the keypad of my phone and 9-1-1 appears on the display. My hand shakes as I press the phone to my ear.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“My boyfriend was a damn coward and swallowed a lot of pills. He’s dead.”
Chapter Three
Chance
I hop off the last rung of the ladder and unhinge the locks, yanking the rails down. It’s not supposed to rain for another hour, but the dark clouds are looking a bit ominous, which should make Mrs. Dunn crabbier than she already is.
The second I slide the ladder into my pickup, the metal storm door of this nineteen-sixties ranch, slams so hard it sounds like the hinge must have rusted out at some point over the last thirty years, just like the roof that has needed replacing for at least ten.
“Mr. Miller,” she calls out, waving a dish towel at me as if I was on fire. “Hold on now.”
“Yes, Mrs. Dunn. What can I do for you?”
As she makes her way over to my truck, she spins around on the heels of her pink slide-on slippers and stares up at the roof of her house. “Does that look more like Cedar Falls than Adobe Sunset?”
Dear God. Give it up, old lady. “No, ma’am, that there is Adobe Sunset.” I don’t have any of the packaging left with me because I had a debris pick up a few hours ago and the rest of the shingles won’t be here until the morning.
“I did ask for Adobe Sunset, didn’t I?”
“Yes, ma’am, you did, and I assure you Adobe Sunset is what’s on your roof. In fact, Cedar Falls has a touch more gray mixed into it.”
“Well, it looks gray to me.”
The clouds are coming in quickly and casting a shadow over everything including the trees that have become a couple of shades darker in the time Mrs. Dunn and I have been speaking.
“I will save the packaging tomorrow and make sure to show you that the shingles are, in fact, Adobe Sunset.”
Mrs. Dunn places her hand on her cheek, shaking her head with disdain. “Thank you, dear. Also, I thought you would have gotten a bit more done today, no?”
I run the back of my arm across my forehead, stopping the sweat that’s beading up on my forehead from dripping into my eyes. “I got as much done as I could e, Mrs. Dunn. I had some trouble stripping the original shingles.”
“Okay then, we’ll see some more progress tomorrow,” she states, affirmatively.
“Yes, ma’am, my partner will join me tomorrow too, so we should be able to finish up quickly for you.”
“Is your friend insured, Mr. Miller?”
“Yes, ma’am, Davey works for me.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he is insured, Mrs. Dunn.”
She gives a thumbs-up as if I said the magic words she needed to hear. “Okay then, have a nice night, Mr. Miller.”
I give the old lady a quick solute and hop into my truck, groaning along the way. I got into this business because the thought of working alone on top of roofs sounded like a dream. The work part is great, but the customers are a bit of a nightmare at times.
“Siri, call Pops.”
The moment I pull away from Mrs. Dunn’s house, I press on my breaks, noticing a bunch of grade school kids playing in the street. I didn’t think kids did that anymore. I also see their moms chit-chatting at the bottom of their driveways, and dads mowing their lawns. It’s the way life should be.
Just not my life.
“Calling, Pops,” Siri repeats.
“How ya doin’, son,” Pops grumbles into the phone.
“Not bad. Do you or Ma need anything before I grab a bite to eat?”
Pops clears the phlegm out of his throat. “No, no, we’re fine, son. Go on and eat dinner. Tomorrow night, I have someone coming to fix the oven though. Your ma is about to kick my ass out of the house if I don’t have that taken care of soon.”
“What’s the matter with the oven?” I ask him.
“It’s broken. How am I supposed to know?”
I toss my head back against the cushioned seat and shake my head. The Challenges with Ma and Pops aren’t getting any easier, and I know it will only get worse the older they get.
“I’ll stop by after work tomorrow then,” I tell him. I