Page 105 of Colton's Last Resort

The early bruising on her throat glared at him. She’d made a promise. He’d needed her to keep it. He’d relied on her word. She’d broken it and nearly died before he could get to her.

He turned away.

“Where are you going?” she asked as he made a break for the door.

He wrapped his hand around the handle. Christ, he couldn’t breathe. It was exactly as it had been in the autopsy room when he’d viewed Allison’s lifeless body for the first time. He felt a part of his mind detach, float away. He wanted to follow it. But his body anchored him. His lungs strained, his chest felt tight and his head spun. Panic sank in. “I need some time.”

“I’m okay.”

He looked back and felt the quaver go to his knees. He heard the pounding of his heart in his ears. “You’re not,” he argued. “I can still see him choking you and hear you fighting for air. And I can’t do this. Not until that gets quieter. I need time.”

“How much time?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied. He looked away from the tears falling freely down her face now. He had to get out of there before he split in two. “I don’t know,” he said again, at a loss. He snatched the door open.

“Noah,” she called.

“Get some rest,” he replied. Then he was out the door. He bypassed Adam and Joshua and their questions, needing to walk until he could no longer feel fear locking up the muscles around his lungs.

Chapter 19

Laura had never seen so many orchids in her life. Most were rooted in pretty pots. The colors ranged from warm to cool. Some clashed, like the one with blue petals and pink centers.

Allison would have loved the symbolism. Laura tried to remember what each color meant. Red for strength. Purple for dignity. Orange for boldness. Yellow for friendship and new beginnings. Being surrounded by them would have made her friend happy.

Laura held that certainty in her chest as the memorial service came to a close. The setting of nature’s cathedral—cloudless, open blue sky above, the carpet of earth beneath—brought to mind Allison’s teachings of mindfulness and inner strength.Sky above us. Earth below us. Fire within us.

Allison’s fire had been extinguished. And those who loved her, who came to pay their respects, had to learn to live without her—to move on. It was as simple and as hard as that.

Laura waited in line with her brothers to lay a rose on Allison’s coffin. Over a hundred people had come to pay their respects from Sedona, Mariposa and across the country—yoga and meditation students, her friends and, of course, her brother, who had sat alone in the first row.

Alexis met Laura on the green. “It was nice, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Laura said. “Funerals are never easy, but this one made the last few weeks better somehow.”

“It reminds me she’s at peace,” Alexis explained.

“She is,” Laura murmured.

Alexis searched the crowd. “If you’re looking for a tall, dark and handsome detective, he’s doing well to avoid people over there.”

She saw Noah’s lone figure and her heart gave a squeeze.

“You know you could have let me in on your secret,” Alexis told her.

Alexis wasn’t accusing or unhappy with her. Still, the guilt came for Laura. “I know. I never thought for a second you would give me or Noah away. And I wasn’t thinking clearly enough to realize how the lies would hurt others.” She found Joshua mingling, grave-faced, with some former Mariposa guests. “I regret that now.”

“Tell me one thing,” Alexis said. “That conversation we had at Annabeth—next to those poor shrimp?”

Laura thought about it, then closed her eyes. “Oh. The shrimp.”

“You talked about you and Noah spending the night together. Was that part of the act?”

Laura shook her head silently.

“So the two of you really...” Alexis trailed off when Laura nodded. “But he’s over there. And you’re over here.”

“Precisely,” Laura said with a weary sigh.

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