Page 102 of Always Knew It Was You

“Who’s responsible for this?” he asks.

I immediately point at the bastard who is currently passed out cold on the floor. “He started it.”

Unfortunately for me, about a dozen other people point at me.

“That fella punched out the other fella,” one woman says.

“That other fella probably deserved it,” Old Man Shoreton counters, but seeing as he’s one of the assailants, his account is less trustworthy.

The sheriff shakes his head in consternation. “Well, then that settles it. I suppose you’re all coming with me.”

And that’s how I find myself and about fifteen other people being cuffed and loaded into the back of the two police cars that arrive on the scene. Four of us are squeezed in the back like a pack of sardines and we still don’t all fit. A bunch of people are being carted in another truck that’s supposed to follow us.

But I’m not even paying attention to the discomfort. Before I left, I noticed that Carly was giving her statement and apologizing profusely to some customers who were all looking stunned at everything that just happened. I willed Carly to look at me, to see her expression, but she didn’t turn my way.

“Carly,” I called out as they led me out but her shoulders only stiffened. And then I felt it in my gut. She wasn’t just mad at me. She was disappointed.

And that does not make me feel good. Not one bit.

Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have done that.

But then I remember that asshole’s hand around her wrist, the leer on his face, the ugly word he called her. I recall the satisfaction of knocking him out.

Yeah, I wouldn’t take it back, I think.Given the chance, I would do it the same way all over again.

If this is what I’m going to jail for then it’s a worthy cause.

“Damn, man,” Shoreton says when we’re in the cop car waiting for the driver. “I don’t think I’ve fought like that in a while. My back is killing me. Can’t deny though, it was a lot of fun and a good way to stretch my muscles.”

He chortles and I shake my head but can’t help but smile despite my sadness at Carly’s reaction. “Thanks for having my back. I’ll show you some stretches foryourback when we get out.”

“Of course, I have your back,” he says. “Here in Laketown, we look out for each other. I saw that asshole bothering Carly and we wanted to step in. Roger was even raring to get his gun from his truck. Right, Roger?”

“Yeah,” Roger says. “If Yule hadn’t put a stop to it, we would have. But you beat us to it, defended our own and so that makes you one of us now.”

“By the way, I’m learning now that you’re Carly’s fella,” a third man says. “Take care of her. That little girl has been through a lot.”

I nod, touched on Carly’s behalf. “I’ll try my hardest too.”

Once again, I wonder if Carly hasn’t gotten the townspeople all wrong all along. So far, I haven’t met anybody who showed outright animosity toward her or even dislike. At worst, they pity her for her situation.

So why does she think everyone in this town detests her?

Or maybe it’s her parents who planted that idea in her head? Especially that mother of hers. I could see her telling Carly things like that, to alienate the girl from the people who might have helped her out and separated her from their abuse.

I think about all this on the way to the cell. I also ask the men about Carly and her family.

They tell me the story on the way there, and it continues while we’re sitting in the cell. The conversation also veers from that to discussing hunting, and I get invited on a hike the men are going on soon. Also at least one fishing trip. So sitting in a jail cell isn’t bad, all things considered.

But I still can’t forget the sinking feeling in my chest, when I recall Carly’s face.

I hope I haven’t screwed things up permanently.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CARLY

It’s hard to explain the emotions coursing through me as I stare at the wreckage all around.

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