Page 34 of The Last One You Loved
I swallowed hard. He’d made his dream come true. He’d wanted to be in law enforcement for as long as I’d wanted to be a doctor. My jaw clenched. Maddox had everything, and I had nothing. I wondered what that said about me. Maybe I really was the worthless nobody Mama had always said I was. I’d thought, with therapy and time, that I’d gotten past her hurtful words, but being here was tearing them all open.
I thought of the pictures on the wall again, and anger replaced the sadness. If Mila was who I thought she was, I had every right to be mad.
CHAPTERTWELVE
MADDOX
I SHOULD PROBABLY GO TO BED
“I’ll be callin’, Sayin’ sorry for the things I said.
So I, yeah, I should probably go to bed.”
Performed by Dan + Shay
Written by Smyers / Mooney / Evigan / Douglas
I was exhausted,emotionally and physically, by the time I put on my cowboy hat and headed for McFlannigan’s. The morning had been spent rounding up sheep that had escaped through a fence, and the afternoon had been spent questioning two West Gears members who’d been arrested hauling stolen appliances across the county line in a semi-truck that we still weren’t sure was theirs. I’d wanted to cut them a deal, find out what the hell was really going on, because we all felt something simmering in the air with the gang, but the district attorney had balked. He’d just won his re-election campaign by promising to remove the Gears from Winter County, and a deal wouldn’t satisfy his constituents, which meant I still had to figure out what the hell the West Gears were up to right at the moment McKenna Lloyd had chosen to descend back into my life.
As I pulled my leather jacket tighter against the wind blowing heavily through Main Street, I wished I hadn’t caved into Ryder’s demands to meet him at the bar. What I really wanted was to spend time on the couch with Mila and let her childish wonder rub off on me. But she was spending her second night in a row at my parents’ after helping Mama bake pies all day. According to the texts I’d received from Gemma, Mama had treated McKenna to her typical five-star service, including crepes, and had even asked her to stay to help with the pies. I didn’t know how to feel about it?my family welcoming her after everything I’d been through on account of her and the threat she could mean to Mila.
Gemma said McKenna hadn’t stayed to help. Instead, she’d scrambled out of the farmhouse. They weren’t sure if she was coming back, but she hadn’t left the key to the barn unit either. I wanted to go investigate, see if the apartment was empty and her car was gone, but the thought of seeing her again made my heart beat at a pace that wasn’t healthy. I’d barely slept the night before, thinking of her tear-stained face and the sadness that was leaking from her.
I walked into the bar, and a round of, “Evening, Sheriff,” greeted me. I tipped my hat and headed for the corner stools. The dark-lacquered bar top, etched-glass mirror behind the counter, and forest-green walls had once given McFlannigan’s a classy, Irish vibe, but the entire place was now faded and in need of work. The UTK banners and Tennessee Raven jersey, courtesy of hometown hero, Ty Waters, that Uncle Phil had hung above the bottles of liquor were as dusty as the signed Watery Reflection tour posters. Uncle Phil was nothing if not a supporter of the famous people who littered Willow Creek’s history, but someone needed to remind him to clean them.
Ryder was already seated at the bar with a beer in front of him and a second one waiting for me. I placed my new Stetson down, picked up the beer, and downed half of it in one go.
Ryder didn’t say anything. He just waited.
“She gone?” I finally asked.
Ryder shrugged. “Haven’t been by the house. Dad and I just got back into town. I showered and came here. Figured you’d need a stiff drink.”
I finished the beer and waved to Ted, who’d worked for Uncle Phil for as long as I could remember. “I need another beer and a shot of tequila. Make it a double.” I looked at Ryder. “Want one?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I think I’m on Maddox duty tonight.”
I scoffed but didn’t disagree. Instead, I downed the shot Ted slid my way and then pulled the beer closer, letting the liquor burn through me. It took another beer and two more shots before Ryder dared to ask me what I knew was weighing on his mind.
“So, she saw Mila?” Ryder asked.
I nodded, head spinning as the buzz of alcohol hit me.
“Did she ask about her?” he continued to prod.
I shook my head. “She thought I had a wife, and I didn’t disabuse her of the notion.”
Ryder chuckled. “You’d have to date to have a wife.”
“Fuck you. Just because I don’t take a woman home every weekend doesn’t mean I don’t date.”
“I wouldn’t call what either of us does dating.”
I grimaced. He was right. We both had trust issues.
Before I could reply, he shot me his crooked grin and said, “It’s more like wild screwing.”
“I don’t need to know the details of your sex life any more than I need to know about Sadie’s.”
