Page 183 of Come Back to Me

“Cody, you might not remember, but he was so smug at the graveside. He always did think he was so damn clever. God, I hated him. He should have died. Not my Clay.”

The words are a wail, and like that, as if a switch has been flipped, the wildness I saw that day in The General Store is back in her eyes.

Tee recognizes it immediately, almost before Bast does, and she starts singing.

Hands loosening around the blanket, Elena stops wailing as if Tee had grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, then she blinks, closes her eyes, and joins in with the song.

“I always loved this one, child. You must perform it next week at the musical. Please?”

“You’ll have to talk to my daddy, Mrs. Frobisher,” Tee lies, the words strained. “He won’t let me. Says music is only a hobby.”

“That fool. Such a stick in the mud. I’ll talk to him. You see if I don’t.”

As I get to my feet, I slip her fingers into mine and tangle them together for a quick squeeze before I let go.

Bast shifts over to the window, leaving the two women to talk as if it were ten years ago—I hear them discussing the cast’s flaws and the best musical scores.

How the fuck Tee remembers any of this is beyond me, but it’s evident that the past is clearer than yesterday for Elena.

Does that make what she said more likely to have happened or not?

“Well?” Bast inquires.

“I was hoping she’d give me more.”

“You’re lucky you got what you did,” he comments, tone sour. Which makes sense—wearetalking about his mom loving another man.

“I’m a dumbass.” I clap him on the shoulder. “You know I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Yeah.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. It’s been a rough couple we... Who the hell am I kidding? It’s been a shitty couple years.”

“Mrs. Frobisher,” someone sings as they sashay out of the kitchen and into the living room. “It’s time for a lovely soak. I have your bath all ready for you!”

Elena’s mouth tightens. “It’s too early for a bath.”

“It’s never too early for a soak. What a luxury it is,” the woman says cheerfully—from her scrubs, I know who she is.

“Ohh, yes. I love a nice hot soak,” Tee concurs, earning a beaming smile from the nurse.

My cell buzzes and I skim an eye on the message from Marty.

Marty: Wasn’t Amy and the locker’s locked.

Me: Waste of time, then?

Marty: Yup

“How’s it working out with the new staff?” I ask Bast, tucking my phone away.

“I don’t know how the hell you got her here as fast as you did, but I’m grateful.”

“You don’t have to be. Elena’s family. Colt should have tried to send someone else in sooner,” I grouse. “I don’t know how he didn’t hear her escapades in town were worsening.”

He scoffs. “The town tells the Korhonens what they want to hear.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means there’s a distinct divide between the town and you. One you’re only breaching because you’re the new chief. The town approaches the Korhonens when they need a new bus service for the school or want to fix the church roof. They close rank around the ones they think need protection?—”

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