He stared pointedly at the passenger seat of my car, which was empty.
“Nope,” I snapped waspishly as I handed him my debit card. “I’m about to gorge on all those tacos.”
Henley Moore didn’t acknowledge the sarcasm dripping from my tone, though. Instead, he leaned out the window and offered me a grateful smile while he gave me the receipt and my card back. “Thanks for taking care of my sister this year.” He glanced back over his shoulder and then back at me when it was clear my food wasn’t there waiting for him. “Ciara told me that Zucker kid tried to cut off her ponytail last week, and I really appreciate you making sure it didn’t happen.”
His words cut through all the self-loathing and depression I’d been falling into just a minute before. I glanced at my scraped and swollen knuckles, swallowed deeply, and blinked back unexpected tears.
“It was nothing,” I sniffed.
“Not to Ciara.”
Henley tapped on my door until I looked back at him. His eyes were soft, shining from within and the smile on his face lit up everything around him.
“To her, and to me, it’s everything Miss James.”
Unable to stand the praise, I closed my eyes and tried to pull myself together. I managed to nod, and then opened my eyes again when I felt like I wasn’t about to burst into tears.
“Now, do you want fire sauce with this?”
His sudden shift to business mode had me smiling through the emotions I couldn’t seem to stop from bursting forth in the Taco Bell drive-thru.
“Yes, please.” I laughed through my sniffles. “And add some mild, too, if you don’t mind.”
I watched as he grabbed two large handfuls of sauces and added them to my bags before handing them to me through the window.
“Have a good night, Miss James. And thanks again.”
Henley waved to me, and as I drove away, I realized that my sour mood had brightened significantly just by talking to him for a few minutes. He’d always been a sweet boy, though, so I wasn’t surprised by the way he’d gone out of his way to make me feel better.
When I pulled into my driveway, I expected silence. More importantly, I expected the house to be empty. Music blasting from the surround sound speakers in the living room proved me wrong, and the pounding that immediately started behind my eyes told me that my life was about to be ten times worse. Plus, I had to work in the morning.
The music stopped abruptly a few seconds after I slammed the front door.
“Good, you’re home,” Chris greeted with a cheerful smile on his face as he stepped out of the hall that led to my room and the bathroom. “And you brought food so I don’t have to feed you leftover pizza.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to leave. To find somewhere else to stay the night. Before I could find the words, he held out a bottle of ibuprofen and pulled my favorite blanket out from behind his back.
Six foot six and bald, Chris wasn’t someone to be told no. He had just as much muscle on his body as my brother did, and he worked harder than anyone else I knew to maintain it. Our fridge was full of healthy food, and his prepared meals took up the entire bottom shelf. After work, every single day, he was at the gym. No matter how many times I told him I was allergic to sweat, he swore he’d get me into the gym if it killed him. Right then, I felt like stabbing him in the eye with a pencil, so I actually found myself hoping he’d ask me to go to the gym with him.
Instead, he said the sweetest thing I’d ever heard come from a man. “I cleaned the house, made your bed, washed your clothes for tomorrow, and got everything ready for school. All you have to do is take the pills, change into pajamas, and wrap yourself in this blanket. I’ll take care of everything else you could possibly need.”
Right there, in the doorway, I dropped the plastic bags that had our food in them and let Chris wrap me in his arms. I needed him and the comfort he offered. The warmth and acceptance I found in his embrace. He was everything I needed, especially after the terrible day I’d had.
My entire family was coarse and rough around the edges. We loved each other fiercely, and I knew if I ever needed them, they’d drop everything to help me. My brother would have no problems helping me bury a body. And even though Bailey was three years younger than me, she’d cut a bitch if I needed her to.
“Shh, sweetie.” Chris rubbed my back and then pressed the ibuprofen into my hand. “You have to take it now before the headache gets worse. You know that.”
With a sad nod, I took the pills he offered and grimaced as I swallowed them dry.
“You could have had some water,” he teased. “Go. Change. I’ll get everything set up for dinner and a movie.”
I did as he ordered, and after I scarfed down more tacos than a normal person could possibly eat, I leaned against his chest and fell asleep in the middle of Lake Placid, right before the good part. When he carried me to bed a little later, I barely moved.
“Don’t worry about your knuckles,” Chris whispered after kissing my forehead softly and pulling my blankets up to my chin. “I’ve got just the thing to cover the bruises.”
4
Avery
The teacher’s lounge was chaotic the next morning when I arrived at school.
“Keegan Malone died yesterday,” Violet Ortiz, the eighth grade English teacher told me as soon as the door closed behind me.
Hearing the name Malone, my heart skipped a beat. Until I realized that she hadn’t said Carter. Not only that, but I couldn’t figure out why I cared if something happened to him. Carter hadn’t even remembered me, and I sure as hell hadn’t remembered him. Okay, I was outright lying, but no one needed to know that.
But Keegan? He had gone to school with me. He graduated in my class. Hell, he’d even cheated off me in order to graduate. I reached for the table to steady myself, my heart immediately aching and hurting for him and his family.
“He was on duty, and a drunk driver he was going to arrest pulled out a gun and shot him. Point blank.”
Everyone listened to her tell us what had happened, and I was sure she’d already told the story more than once before I walked in. Violet’s brother was an officer with the Birch Police Department, so when something huge happened, she always had the information first.
“Holy shit,” I whispered more to myself than anything else.
I’d wondered why Carter hadn’t arrested me. That must have been the call he and Remy took off for.
The room was silent after that, as we all tried to process what had happened, and what it would mean. Not just for their family, but for our entire town. Birch County was peaceful. At least … it used to be. In the past decade, we’d had a serial killer, an arsonist, and our entire elementary school had to be rebuilt after a fire that almost cost the life of one of our students.
Numbly, I turned to leave. Not only did I find myself grieving the loss of one of my classmates, but selfishly, I also had to deal with uncertainty over whether I should be glad I didn’t get arrested. Carter might not have recognized me. Our families might have grown apart, but the Malone brothers had been close with Deacon once upon a time.
Devastated. I was devastated.
“Don’t forget the fire drill,” Violet called out to my back.