But she was not going to admit that.
Like she would never admit he’d been right all those years ago.
She remembered that night fairly clearly considering she’d been well on her way to drunk. She and Susan had been at a party in a clearing near the swamp with two cute guys from Maillard, where Susan went to high school. They’d told Susan’s parents and Erielle’s grandparents that they were going to a movie in town, and spending the night with Susan’s friend Julia, who was also going to the party. It had all been quite a complicated lie, but worked out really well.
Erielle’s first party. Her first taste of freedom. And a cute boy who was very interested, if his kisses were anything to go by.
Her elation and excitement took a nosedive when Samson showed up with his girlfriend. Of course she and Susan hadn’t expected that twist, and worse, he saw them right away. To say that steam came out of his ears in his fury would have been an understatement.
He abandoned his girlfriend—Erielle couldn’t remember her name just now, but for a long time, it had been a hated name, one she and Susan rolled her eyes at every time he mentioned it. He marched over to his sister, grabbed her arm in one hand, Erielle’s arm in the other, in front of everyone, in front of their dates, and dragged them through the crowd and out to his car, parked in the field. He didn’t even look at Darcy—that was her name!—as he put them in the car, not a hard task as drunk as they were. He’d left Darcy there at the party and driven back to Phantom Bayou, straight to her grandparents’ house.
She remembered their surprise when the three teens had shown up, the fear in their eyes, then the disappointment as Samson told them where he’d found them. He didn’t go into too much detail about the intimacy he had witnessed, but had said they were with boys, and while they had sobered up a bit on the drive home, they were still much too drunk for a couple of sixteen-year-old girls.
Once he’d explained the situation to her grandparents, he marched Susan out of the house to go tell their parents.
Oh, how she had hated him for putting those expressions on her grandparents’ faces, the way they looked at her like a stranger. And then they called her parents, who came to get her the next day.
That was the end of her days in Phantom Bayou. She’d been back a handful of times since, of course, but no long summers of freedom. She hadn’t even been able to talk to Susan in the weeks after she left, because both girls were punished. And when they finally reconnected, Susan was distant, like she blamed Erielle for wanting to go to the party and getting her into all this trouble.
Okay, maybe Erielle had pushed a little hard, but so had Julia. Erielle was sorry Susan had been punished, but her brother was the one who had ratted them out instead of being cool. He could have just taken them to Julia’s house so they could spend the night, though that might have been a surprise to Julia’s parents.
Now Erielle realized he had done the right thing, but for years, she’d blamed him for the end of her summer adventures.
“Anyway, sorry I showed up late. It wouldn’t have gotten that out-of-hand if I’d been here sooner.”
“I told you, this isn’t your job. You don’t owe me anything.”
He didn’t respond, just lifted a finger from the bar toward the beer taps. She was grateful to have something to do, and turned to get it for him.
“You think they’re still out there?” she asked.
He walked to the door, shoved it open to peer out. “I don’t see them.”
“I hope they didn’t drive home.”
“I didn’t see any cars when I got here, so they probably walked. They live in town. What started the argument?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t paying attention.”
He resumed his seat, eyebrows raised. “No? There was other stuff going on?”
She felt her face heat. “I was on my phone. It’s not like I’m getting paid by the hour.”
“Must have been interesting for you to miss the start of a fight.”
She certainly didn’t want to talk to him about what she’d been looking at. He might know about her past, but he didn’t need to know she still cared.
“Just checking in on some friends.”
“Do you keep up with people from your old life?”
“I mean, it isn’t myoldlife. It’s only been a few weeks.” And what would be weird about that if she did? But she didn’t. Was that more strange? Maybe it was. So she just wouldn’t answer. “What about you? Do you keep in contact with people from your old job?”
He took a sip of his draft. “I’m only on sabbatical, not starting over.”
She folded her arms on the bar. “How much longer?”
“Not much.” He set the glass down, sliding it away from him a bit, like it was a temptation. “Dad’s getting stronger. I’m not even staying at the house anymore, staying at the cabin instead. Me being there irritated him more than anything.”
