Page 4 of Save Me

There were tears in Hunt’s eyes. “I know what loving me cost her,” he said. “And I know what losing her would cost me. Thank you for the information. And don’t worry about your job. I was never here.”

He got in his truck and drove away. He didn’t know what had happened, but he had a sick feeling in his gut that the dam had finally broken. Neither of their families had been able to keep him and Lainie from seeing each other, but they hadn’t counted on being separated, and he had a feeling that’s exactly what happened. He finally parked in a supermarket parking lot and sent her one last text.

Lainie, I know in my heart that something is wrong. But I can’t save you because I don’t know where you are. I don’t know what happened to you, but I know it wasn’t your choice to disappear. You are my love—my true north, and you always will be. I gave you my heart a long time ago. Feel free to keep it because it’s no use to me without you in it.

Hunt

He had no way of knowing that her phone was lying beneath the bed in her old room where it had fallen when her father hit her. Or that she would never see this message in time to stop him from what came next. If he had, he would have moved heaven and earth to find her.

LAINIE WAS LOCKED in the Queen Anne suite on the second floor of her grandmother’s old mansion, with no way out. There was no balcony to that room, no trellis to climb down from the only window.

The old estate was a distance outside of Baton Rouge, and had been closed ever since Sarah Mayes’s death a few years back. There was still power on the property, but landlines had long since been removed from this house and she was in a panic, frantic as to what Hunt must be thinking.

She’d overheard her parents concocting the story they planned to spread within their social circle, to make Hunt believe she’d dumped him, and now she feared for what was going to happen to her. She walked to the window with her hands on her belly, talking as she went.

“Don’t worry, baby, I won’t let anyone hurt you, and I will find a way to let your daddy know about you. You be strong for me, and I’ll be strong for you.”

One week later

CHUCK GRAY WAS the first to see the photo of Lainie and a handsome stranger in the society section of the local paper. They were standing arm in arm on some beach in the tropics, and he took great delight in throwing it on top of Hunt’s bowl of cereal as he was eating breakfast.

“Look at that!” Chuck said. “You’ve been moping around like a baby, and I told you she wasn’t worth the trouble. She’s already moved on.”

Shock rolled through Hunt in waves, but the longer he stared, the more certain it was part of the lie.

“That’s not Lainie,” Hunt said.

Chuck frowned. “It, by God, is! Look at her face!”

“Oh, that’s her face, all right, but that’s not her body, and believe me, I know.” Then he shoved the paper off the table and finished his cereal. “I’ve got to go. I’m going to be late for work.”

“Sacking groceries,” Chuck said, sneering.

Hunt didn’t bother arguing. His dad was mean when he was drunk, but even meaner with a hangover, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. He’d already shut down every emotion he’d ever had to keep from losing his mind, and was barely going through the motions.

He was heartsick all day, but he could sack groceries on autopilot. When the day finally ended without a message from Lainie, he clocked out, then bought a rotisserie chicken and potato salad from the deli to take home for their dinner.

On the way home, he detoured by the Mayes estate, but the old mansion looked abandoned. He didn’t have to check to see if they’d come back, because he couldn’t feel her anymore. She was lost, and he didn’t know how to find her. All he could do was hope they’d reconnect next month at the university.

When he pulled into the driveway at his house, his dad’s car was already there. He frowned, then grabbed the sack with their food and went inside.

They were head-to-head at the table, whispering in hasty, urgent tones, but then the moment he walked into the kitchen, they hushed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, as he set the sack on the counter.

Chuck and Brenda had already agreed not to tell Hunt about the shocking phone call from Greg. It was better he didn’t know Lainie was pregnant, and that they’d taken her away to get rid of it.

So, Chuck shrugged. “I got fired. Drinking on the job.”

“And you’re surprised?” Hunt muttered.

Chuck shrugged. “I don’t know what changed. It’s never mattered before,” he muttered. “Anyway, you’re gonna have to pick up the slack until I can find work again.”

“Like hell,” Hunt said. “Every penny I make is for college. You get your ass down to the unemployment office and sign up, and Mom can stay sober long enough to make it through the day shift at any number of restaurants in town. This is your mess, not mine.”

Chuck jumped to his feet and started toward Hunt, his fists doubled up and ready to brawl, when it dawned on him that Hunt was a head taller, muscled-up to hell and back, well past the age of backing down.

Brenda rolled her eyes. “Sit your ass down, Chuck. Son, you got mail from the university,” she said, and handed him a long, cream-colored envelope.

---