I bit back the curse that wanted to spill from my lips. No one knew I was here, and I’d been hiding out at the inn or Mom’s place since coming back to town. The friends I’d lost or left remained here. They were either in the cemetery with Declan or living here. And I hadn’t faced any of them.
When tragedy strikes a group of people, the pieces don’t always fall back together and sometimes they no longer fit.
All my regrets and mistakes were wrapped up in this town.
I raised my fist to knock on the door, so I could start correcting them. One by one.
The door creaked open and, for the first time in ten years, I stood facing my best friend’s mom. Her eyes were the same as his. I had to look away because looking directly at her brought back the image of his lifeless eyes.
Dull blonde hair hung limply around her face. She was thin with deep, pronounced frown lines around her mouth. Her skin, which had been tan year round, because of how much time she spent in the sun, was pale.
She was a shadow of her former self.
“Gunner?” She choked, taking a step back as if I’d just shot her in the chest.
“It’s been too long, Ms. Young. How’re you?”
She launched herself at me, tucking her head in my neck. Her body heaved as she sobbed. I tightened my hold on her and whispered promises I hoped I could keep. Promises to her and to Declan.
Chapter 9
Delilah
“You don’t need to call your parents again. You called right after we left, and we’ve only been gone for ten minutes,” Makenna said. The gold bracelets on her wrist jingled as she waved her hands in the air as she spoke. Makenna had been my best friend since I’d moved to Hawk Valley.
“What if Shayla shows up?” I asked, running my thumb across the screen of my phone. The display lit up, showing off a picture of Tucker with my arms wrapped around him from behind. A smear of icing was dashed across my cheek, and my mouth was open in laughter. Tucker’s face was full of cake and icing; a huge glob of it hung from his chin. His bright green eyes and smile, with a missing front tooth, were the only parts of him visible through the mess. “I should go home.”
“No.” Makenna parked her car and turned toward me, taking the phone from my hand before dropping it in the cupholder. My eyes stayed on the photo of Tuck and me until the screen went to sleep. “You don’t want Tuck to find out yet. Things need to stay normal. If you’re hovering over him, he’s going to start to be worried. And he’s with your parents. You know your parents would go scorched earth before they’d let anything harm a single hair on his head.”
I nodded. She was right. Dad wasn’t a man to be messed with when it came to his family. He’d become his own one-person army if he thought there was a threat.
I inhaled through my nose and let it out gently through my mouth. My hand lay on my chest, feeling the rise and fall of my breath. I nodded again. “Okay.”
“Now, let’s go see what trouble we can raise.”
Makenna swung her long legs out of the car. Her high-heeled boots crunched against the gravel lot. She was out and standing before I’d even removed my seatbelt. I unfolded from the car and walked around the hood to meet her. The Watering Hole’s neon blue sign blinked against the dark sky. There wasn’t much of a nightlife in Hawk Valley compared to Austin, but there was something for everyone. Thick cedar pillars held up the A-line tin roof. Music spilled from the large open windows and front door.
Mark sat on his usual stool, taking admission. A button on his red-checkered shirt was perilously close to popping on his protruding belly. His black leather jacket fit snugly around his arms and back and had no hope of zipping in the front.
He looked up from the phone in his hand when he heard heels crossing the parking lot. His brilliant white smile was highlighted by his bushy beard. I smiled back and held out my arms for a hug.
“How you doin’, pretty girl? Colt is inside.”
Makenna scoffed when she heard my brother’s name. They were like oil and water when together, and anyone in their path could be burned.
“Hiya, handsome.” I kissed Mark’s cheek and held out a crisp ten-dollar bill.
“You know your money is no good with me. Y’all are on the house, as always.”
“One of these days, you’re going to take my money.”
“Not a chance in hell.” He ran a hand through his beard. “Well, if you stop bringing me treats then we might need to have a talk.”
His eyes cast down to the small purse hanging from my shoulder. Disappointment colored his features and I smiled. Makenna stepped forward and kissed his cheek. “You know she’d never forget about you. You’re our favorite. The only thing in that purse is something for you.”
I opened the purse and emptied it. I pulled out a small cellophane bag packed with the cookies I’d made that week. Complete with a red bow, Mark’s favorite color, holding the cellophane closed.
Makenna and I said goodbye and walked inside. She stepped around me, grabbed my hand, and led me up to the bar. I scanned the area, looking for my brother. I spotted him sitting on a barstool, a beer bottle tilted toward his lips as he watched Makenna strut across the wood floor, cracking leftover peanut shells under her heels. She wiggled her way into a spot a few barstools down from Colt, leaning over the bar and waving her hand for Dustin, the bartender.
I tapped Makenna on the shoulder and signaled that I was going over to Colt for a minute. She nodded and faced forward, ignoring Colt’s penetrating gaze.
“Hey.” I wrapped my arm around Foster’s neck. He was one of my brother’s best friends. He squeezed me so hard my shoes left the floor. When he put me back down, I turned to the other guy, Ridge. It was the same song and dance with him, a tight hug. Colt leaned forward and ruffled the top of my head, never having outgrown the annoying older brother phase.
Ridge was like Colt and me, outsiders who’d come here as adults. Foster was born and raised in Hawk Valley, just like Makenna. Foster and Ridge worked at the fire station attached to the police station. Since Colt met them, they’d pretty much been inseparable.
“Where’s Tuck?” Colt asked.
“With Mom and Dad.” I ran my nervous palms over the front of my jeans and wiped away the sweat. I looked over my shoulder toward the door and started wondering all over again if I should leave.
“Where he’s perfectly safe,” Makenna said as she walked up and handed my drink to me. She glared at Colt. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“She’s right,” Colt said, not taking his eyes off Makenna, who now refused to look at him.
Foster hooked an arm around my neck and tugged me in close. I wrapped my arm around his waist and leaned my head against his chest. He kissed the top of my head. “We won’t let anything happen to your boy.”
I twisted the toe of my boot over a peanut shell, watching it crumble to dust, and breathed slowly to bring my heart rate back down.
“Holy shit,” Foster said. I looked up at him, but his eyes were on the entrance. His eyebrows were raised and his eyes wide as a slow smile spread across his face.
“Oh my god,” Makenna whispered. She was also looking at the door, but her surprised face wasn’t breaking out in a happy smile; she was turning paler by the second. She brought her beer bottle to her lips with her shaking hand. She was blinking rapidly like she was brushing away tears from her eyes.