Page 97 of The Engagement Party

What was he doing before he blacked out... did he black out? He remembered pressure filling his head until it felt like his skull caved in. A giant collapse that sucked in and swallowed his memories and buried them in a pile of rubble. Words. Pieces and fragments Alex couldn’t fit together.

Cassie’s soft hair brushed his cheek. She seemed to be bending over him, whispering to him. Touching him.

“Ease him on his back.”

“You could injure him.”

“We need to stop the bleeding.”

“We need an ambulance. Give me a phone.”

So many voices. Alex could pick out Cassie’s comment about an injury. It sounded higher, more desperate than usual.

His body shifted and a shout of rage filled his ears. Jesus, it was so loud and shrieking that it overwhelmed everything else. Cold air hit his face but the rest of him felt numb. No pain, just a vast nothingness. Did that make sense?

Protect Cassie.

The voice sounded raw. He opened his eyes to see who made the comment... if anyone did. Maybe he dreamed the words after so many years of living them. A sea of gray greeted him. Above him. Around him. He wondered if he’d somehow landed in the water but then faces appeared, floating in front of his. They moved in and out of his vision on a low rumble of conversation he couldn’t ferret out.

Why was he wet? He tried to lift his hand to touch his shirt and Cassie grabbed it. No, not Cassie. She’d vanished. A woman’s voice but not his wife’s.

“Stay with me.”

That was Mitch. Alex recognized the low tone. What Alex really wanted was to hear a joke or that touch of amusement that moved through Mitch’s voice.

Wait... Mitch. Emily and Mitch.

Oh, shit.

Reality crashed in on Alex. He forced his eyes to stay open. He needed to apologize. Plead for forgiveness. He tried to saysorrybut couldn’t hear over the loud banging in his ears. What the hell was that sound? He mouthed the words, hoping they got through.

“No.” Mitch crowded closer. “Look at me, Alex. You can’t leave me now.”

Were his eyes closed? Then Mitch was shouting. Alex didn’t want shouting. He craved quiet. Sleep.

One thought slipped into his mind before he drifted off and he tried to say it. He hoped he got the thought out because it was all that mattered. All his sins, every awful thing he’d said and the mountain of words he forced himself not to say. Years of pretending. So much lying.

“I’m sorry.”

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Sierra

Sierra sat helpless on the wet ground as the dampness soaked into her pants and chilled her bare skin underneath. Activity buzzed around her. Mitch, frantic as he pumped his arms up and down, administered CPR. Cassie pressed her hands over Alex’s wound. Blood seeped through her fingers. She said her husband’s name over and over as if lost in a chant. Mitch counted through Cassie’s mix of crying, begging, and ordering Alex to wake up.

Cassie shot Alex.

Alex saved Ruthie.

The ultimate sacrifice.

Mitch leaned down with his ear just above Alex’s mouth. “I think he’s breathing, but it’s faint.”

Cassie rocked back and forth on her knees. “Keep going.”

“Where are the phones?” Ruthie tugged on Cassie’s shoulder when she didn’t get an answer. “I need to call for an ambulance.”

“We can’t... we have to agree—”

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