Page 119 of This Time Around
Ryan’s gaze bounced between us before he caught sight of my luggage.“Going somewhere?”
“Home,” I said, though the word tasted like sludge.I’d started considering this home my home, and hell, in L.A., I no longer had a home.The transfer of my property had been signed over to Camilla and finished weeks ago.My beach house was already listed for sale.
“Already?”Ryan asked.
Neither Rebecca or I spoke and his typically friendly eyes hardened.“I see.”
Yeah, I bet he did.Hard to miss the distance between us, thick as the Great Wall of China.
“Why are you here?”Rebecca asked and this time, his gaze turned soft when he turned to her.
“Yeah.”He held out a check and Rebecca took it.“I should have done this later, not on duty because this isn’t exactly ethical, but this is the check from Samuel Jefferson for your cattle.”
“They admitted it?”I asked.
“Nope.Samuel about lost his damn mind though when I told him the bullets we found matched his fingerprints.Said other than he and Gavin, no one shoots those guns, but a couple weeks ago, he had his nephews in town and called them spoiled little city pricks.”
Next to me, Rebecca’s shoulders slumped.“So, they did but didn’t do it.Or, whatever.”
“All’s I know is he scribbled out that check, said he’d take care of ‘em even if they weren’t in town anymore, and he’d make it right.”
“Do you trust him?”I asked.It was too easy to blame something on some kids who didn’t live there.
“Not much more we can do, and not much evidence to find.”He turned to Rebecca.“Wish I had more, but I’m assuming if you don’t have any more trouble, consider it a bunch of stupid kids with too much time on their hands and not enough sense.Maybe they saw the coyote and chased after it.Maybe they were just being assholes.But, you’re compensated for the loss and that should help somewhat.”
She clutched the check to her chest, still looking doubtful.“Thanks, Ryan.That means a lot.”
“Also, since I was out and wanted to talk to you, Kelly said she wants you over for dinner.Both of you, actually, but I’m guessing that’s not going to happen.”
“Can you tell her I’ll call her later?”Rebecca asked.Her chin was lifted with a defiant tilt of her head, but even I could see she was fighting back tears.
“Right.Then, this is awkward and I can tell you two aren’t getting along right now, so I’m going to head out.Call me if anything else strange happens though, yeah?”
“Of course,” Rebecca said.
He held out his hand to me.“Take care, man.We’ll see you soon?”
“It was great meeting you Ryan.Tell Kelly the same.”
“Right,” he repeated, not missing my meaning, and pulled his hand from mine.
We both watched him leave, his patrol car pulling out of the long drive, kicking up dust as he went.
Silence stretched between us, thicker than the hot, late afternoon sun beating down on us.
“I should go,” I said, only for something to say and started heading toward the porch.Every step felt like I was trudging through sinking sand, dragging me down deeper and deeper.
“I went to see Joseph today,” Rebecca said.Her shaky voice rang through the air like a gunshot.“When I went to see my parents.”
My feet froze mid-step up the porch stairs.Still, I kept my back to her.
“I had to talk to them.And, it was stupid, but sometimes a girl just needs her mom and I needed my mom.I miss them, all of them, and I’m still so angry and hurt and no matter where I turn, I never get the answers I need to let it all go.”
Pain laced her voice and I turned, one hand still on the railing.“You could have just told me that earlier.”
“I’m scared, Cooper.Do you know what it’s like to feel like you can’t hold on to your marriage, that it was falling apart and you never saw it happening and then you turn around and you’re alone and everything you’d built, everything you thought you had suddenly seemed like the biggest lie in the world?”
Didn’t she know who she was talking to?I arched a brow, silently asking her that same question.
