Page 61 of The County Line
It feels like there are morecan’tsthancansfor us right now,and hell, that’s terrifying for a woman you know you’re in love with. I know it’s temporary, but my record, my life, it’ll never be like it was before.
I’llnever be like I was before.
“Maybe,” I finally say, my voice rough. “Maybe it’s about Molly. Or maybe it’s just about me.”
Liv hums softly on the other end of the line, giving me space to wrestle with that thought.
I want her. I’ve always wanted her. And that’s exactly why I’m so damn scared. How long will she stick around for the few things that I can give her until she realizes another man can give her more?
I swallow thickly just as the back door opens and Roxy joins my side.
“Hey girl,” I coo, rubbing her head gently. She whines but lets me scratch her, shaking her warm black body back and forth like she’s just waking up. When I bend down to pet her harder, I realize I’m still on the phone with Liv. Roxy licks my face in greeting, but then stops, her ears perking up as if she hears something.
“What is it girl?” I ask and that feeling of dread returns instantly. Whatever is happening, has nothing to do with my insecurities towards Molly. Something isn’t right. Her eyes dart toward the oak tree I was just looking at and without any more evidence, I immediately know.
“I gotta go,” I bark out to Liv before hanging up without waiting for a response.
I know where my feet are taking me, but I follow Roxy as she races inside, back up the steps to Molly’s room. Blood rushes in my ears loudly as I push open the door to my bedroom to find her awake now and sitting upright, still on the bed.
She looks like a ghost. Her left hand is pressed into her cheek while her right hand is gripping the phone in her hand, but it’s dropped to her side, knuckles white, disconnected from any call.
“Molly… what is it?” I ask, taking a steady step towards her.
Her bright blue eyes are darker now and the look of sheer terror behind them tells me I’m going to hate whatever she says next.
“I…I…” she coughs, wets her lips, shakes her head and then swallows. I take the phone from her hand and look at the last call.
Whitewood Creek Police Department.
“Maverick’s dead,” she finally whispers, and the last of the air in my lungs leaves my chest. I stand up, take a step away from the bed and blink at her a few times, not believing that I could have heard her correctly.
She’s still sitting there, eyes with a faraway look in them, the darkness in them almost haunting.
“That was Lydia… she was giving me a heads up. Apparently, they found a body two weeks ago in a ditch right outside the county limit and haven’t been able to ID it. They finally were able to just last night and confirmed it’s him,” she gasps, and folds in half, clutching her stomach like she’s going to throw up.
“He’s gone, Colt. Mav’s really gone.”
Chapter 28 – Colt
Three days later…?
Maverick’s funeral is terrible.
And I’m not saying that because I’m pissed as hell that my buddy left me without saying goodbye or that he’s left his little sister devastated and broken.
I’d tell him that to his face if he was still here.
After the storm that hit us three nights ago, you’d think that the rain would have let up. But it’s April in North Carolina, and there’s no reprieve from the showers that are pouring down on our sad looking gathering among the willow trees.
I stare across the cheap looking casket that’s closed over where I know my old friend currently lies, preparing to be lowered into the earth. It’s quiet by the graveside, almost too quiet. There’d be hardly anyone here if it wasn’t for Lydia and her father, the town’s reverend, putting out a message to the community of Whitewood Creek to show up for one of our own.
But even with that call to action being pushed, there’s still only about twenty of us saying goodbye to one of the best kids I’veever known who also made some really shitty decisions in his life.
But isn’t that what friendship is about? You show up even in the messy.
His own damn dad didn’t show up.
I want to drive straight to that rundown trailer park where he used to hole up, drag him out by his collar, and wring his damn neck. Watch the blood drain from his face as I make him understand the damage he’s caused to both of his kids.
