Until You Feel At Home

Chapter Eight

Brandon

The funeral home was depressing, but the funeral home's office was even worse. Everyone spoke in hushed tones. Brandon had half a mind to ask if they were worried they'd wake up the dead.

He was exactly right when he told Claire that he would be useless. Claire made all the decisions, from flowers to who would speak at the service to which urn his dad would rest in. She occasionally looked to him for his opinion and he would say something complacent like, "That all sounds good to me" or "Yeah, he would have liked that." His words seemed to reassure her, and he tried to pay no mind to the way his stomach flipped when he saw her smile at his encouragement. It only took one visit to set up the whole event, and they left with a funeral fully scheduled for two days later.

The planning had definitely worked up an appetite. Claire asked where they should go eat before they even reached the parking lot. Brandon, surprisingly, did have an opinion on this. One that he was reluctant to share.

"There are two restaurants that could support a crowd for a funeral luncheon, but only one that my dad actually liked to eat at. I'm not a fan, myself, but if my dad had a say he'd want the Earnston Lodge. We could go there and you could give it a try?"

She nodded. "Works for me. I'll follow you?" She turned to face her car as she awaited his reply.

"Yep." He said and waived. His stomach turned. He wanted to offer to drive her. He also had no intentions on letting her pay, even though she offered to get him dinner if he went to the funeral home. He knew he wasn't being as helpful as he should be; the least he could do was drive her to dinner and get her food. He just couldn't find the words to offer, and even if he could, he didn't think he'd be able to force them out. So he sat in his truck and watched her car trail behind him as he made turn after turn to the restaurant he kind of wished would burn down. "Please don't be there, please don't be there." He murmured to himself as he grew closer.

The likelihood was that she would be there. The Eastern Lodge only had two hostesses, and his ex was one of them. From what he understood, she was there on weeknights and took off on weekends. She would be there, and so would Claire. The thought gave him the motivation he needed to offer Claire a ride. He fished his phone out of his pocket and called her.

"Hey, you okay?" She answered. He couldn't help but notice that she was immediately worried for his well being.

"Yeah. Are you staying above the diner?"

"I am, why?"

He cleared his throat. "Why don't you drop your car off and I'll drive you home after. The restaurant doesn't have great parking." He lied. He bit down on his tongue until he drew blood. Why would he say that? She was going to see the parking lot in a matter of minutes.

"That works. Thanks!"

"Cool. See you there." He hung up without waiting for a reply and whispered 'fuck' alone to himself. He turned toward the diner and plotted on how he was going to recover from his bluff. He knew the diner well, and could picture the crooked sign reserving a parking spot for Claire, or whoever else might rent the studio above the diner. It was often empty, just like the flat. She pulled into the spot and rushed to the passenger side of Brandon's truck.

"Thank you for offering to drive. I'm desperate for a beer, and probably shouldn't drive tipsy in a town I don't know. Or at all I guess, right?"

He snorted. "Are you even old enough to drink?" He knew she was, but he was hoping a couple teasing jabs would distract her from the fact that he had randomly invited her into his truck.

"I'm 22, Brandon. And that makes you... what- 26?"

"I'm afraid so. The dark ages." She chuckled and it gave him goosebumps.

"What's so dark about 26? Besides having to get your own health insurance."

He shrugged. "You're in the second half of your twenties. The pressure is on. Do something with your life or get accustomed to being a nobody."

Her voice lowered. "And what are you doing with your life, Brandon?" He could feel her eyes on him.

His mouth felt dry. "Right now? Psh." He shook his head. "I still haven't squared away the health insurance thing."

She laughed again, and he stopped resisting the pull at the corners of his lips.

She looked back out to the street. "How well can this place really support a luncheon if it has shit parking?" She asked, logically. And here he thought for a moment that he might be able to avoid giving a better reason to drive.

"About that." He said, "The parking isn't really that bad." He looked over to her and caught her staring back. He'd have thought she was frozen if it weren't for a quick blink of her eyes as she waited for him to explain further. "I offered to drive you because I wanted to talk to you before we got there or went in."

"What about?" He heard the sound of her picking at her nails, and felt a pang of guilt for making her feel anxious.

"The hostess is my ex." He watched as her eyes widened in surprise. "What's that reaction for?"

"Nothing." she shook her head nonchalantly. "I'm just surprised, I guess."

"Surprised I have an ex? Shocking that anyone would leave me, I know."

Claire rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you felt the need to warn me."

He sighed. "It didn't end amicably."

"What do you mean?" She pried.

"I don't want to go into the gory details, honestly. And it's not like this will be the first time seeing each other since then, it's unavoidable running into each other when the whole town is small enough to walk in under a day. But still, if you sense tension, that's why."

"You realize that by not sharing the details I have to assume the worst, right?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "You have to?"

She nodded. "You probably stole money from her. Or you found out you're related. Ooh, did you cheat on her with her mom?" she gasped. "Her dad?!"

He scoffed. "You may think that's funny, but I've actually met her mom and dad and now I've lost my appetite."

"Did she break up with you because you wouldn't let her use your bathroom?"

"That's exactly it, actually."

"Well at least you're consistent, Brandon." He pulled into the parking lot of the Earnston Lodge and recognized Ashley's PT Cruiser instantly.

"Consistent and uninsured." He confirmed, and put the truck in park.