Page 73 of The Last Dance You Saved
“Expensive car,” he said, raising a brow.
“He made money at his old job, Rafe! Lots of it. He didn’t need ours.”
“He would if he was losing it to Puzo.”
“It’s just a friendly poker game. Guy friends throwing twenty dollars in a pot! It’s not like they’re gambling with real money,” Lauren insisted again. Then she repeated the same words she had before, as if she was trying to convince herself as much as Rafe. “Adam wouldn’t gamble anything significant! Not after all we’ve been through.”
“But he does.” We all spun around at the quiet, sure voice and watched as Fallon approached from the direction of the stables. Like Lauren, she was already dressed for the day, even though the sun hadn’t quite made it over the hills yet. “It isn’t just a friendly game with a twenty-dollar buy-in, Mom, and he plays every time Mr. Puzo is in town. Maisey heard from Jordan, who heard her parents arguing about how much her dad had lost, that the buy-in for each game is ten thousand dollars. Uncle Adam has been playing with him for…what? Two years at least? How much do you think he’s lost?”
Lauren paled, her knees started to give, and it was only Rafe’s quick reflexes that ensured she didn’t hit the ground.
“What are you saying, Fallon? What are you saying?” Lauren sobbed.
Fallon’s eyes filled, and she couldn’t look at her mom as she said, “I think he killed Spence.”
“No! No! No!” Lauren shook her head violently.
“They fought that night, Mom! I told you they did!” Fallon’s face turned red. She took her hat off and threw it as hard and as far as she could. It landed in the field on the other side of the road where white dandelion puffs waited to be blown into the river. “No one ever listens to me.”
“We’re listening now, Ducky. Talk to us.” Rafe’s voice was deep and raw and tormented.
Tears poured down Lauren’s face, and I stepped up to take her from Rafe so he could go to his daughter. He shot me a grateful look and did just that, tucking his daughter to him and saying, “Tell us what you think happened.”
“I heard them arguing. But by the time I’d gotten to a spot where I could hear them…” She looked at her dad, hesitating for a second before continuing, “I’d already missed some of the important bits. All I heard was Spence saying he was going to hire a forensic accountant and Adam laughing. He said Spence had been watching too much TV. That if there was anything wrong with the accounts, it was merely a small mistake, easily rectified.
“Spence asked him about the poker games with Mr. Puzo and how he was affording it. Uncle Adam said he was using his money from his finance days and that Spence was getting his underwear in a wad for no reason. He said he’d go through everything with Spence the next morning, including his personal accounts if Spence needed to see them. That calmed Spence down some, and he agreed they could go through everything in the morning.”
Fallon looked up at them, anger and hurt and defiance written all over her face. “So why would he be on a tractor before the sun was even up? Going up to the cliff above the river when he always told me to stay clear of it? Why? No way anyone will ever convince me he went there on his own. That he wanted to be there.” She shook her head. “No, he would have been in the office with his cowbell coffee cup in hand, waiting for Uncle Adam.”
Silence settled down, and the sounds of the ranch drifted around us. A cow’s low moo in the distance.The bang of a gate.Normally, they’d be soothing, but they only served to remind everyone of what was at stake and what had already been lost.
Lauren was shivering in my hold, and she was as pale as a ghost. Her lids were closed, and I thought for a moment she might just drift away completely. “I can’t believe…” She shook her head, a tortured look of despair crossing her face as tension spun back and forth between all of us.
It took her several long, ragged breaths before she opened her eyes again, gaze falling on her daughter, defiant and brave. She took another sharp inhale, shoved a hand into her stomach, pushed away from me, and stepped tentatively toward Rafe and Fallon. “I don’t want to believe Adam is involved in this.” When Fallon’s expression darkened, Lauren continued, “But if he was… God…” —she shook her head— “If he was involved in any of this, he’ll pay. I swear it on my life.”
Fallon’s face crumbled, and Lauren closed the distance, wrapping her arms around both Rafe and her daughter. My heart ended up in my throat at the vision they made. Three beautiful but tortured humans clinging to each other as if, somehow, they could weather this new storm simply by holding on to one another.
I knew exactly what those moments felt like. I’d seen the way my brother had clung to McKenna and Mila after they’d almost lost my niece to Chainsaw’s rage. I’d experienced it myself when my parents had hugged me after I’d come out of surgery. This handful of seconds altered the fabric of a family. A series of mere heartbeats that set a fork in the path, requiring you to choose which one to take.
A painful thought wrung through me, stealing my breath. What would have happened if I wasn’t here? What path would Rafe take? If I hadn’t tumbled into his life and bed, would he have found a way to be a family with them again? Would he have gone back to the woman he’d once cared enough about to conceive a child with?
But the thought of walking away, of letting go of what I’d found with Rafe when we’d been tangled together, of giving back the pieces of him he’d handed over like a precious gift, made me sick to my stomach. I wanted him to be mine forever.
Because I loved him.
I loved Rafe Marquess.
It was a ridiculous time to realize it. And worse, it didn’t matter if I’d realized it now, tomorrow, or three days from now, because forever wasn’t in the cards Rafe and I had been dealt.
On Sunday, I’d be leaving, and this alternate universe I’d stepped into would be left behind. By this time next week, I’d be back behind the bar, slinging pints along the lacquered surface to Willy and my brothers and the hundreds of other locals who made McFlannigan’s a regular part of their week.
We’d both known what exactly we had to offer when we’d started it. Nothing more than a moment’s respite. A moment of sweet memories and sinful pleasure. Rafe was needed here with his family. I was needed in Willow Creek with mine.
It felt like a lifetime had gone by in those few seconds that ticked by from when Lauren had wrapped Rafe and Fallon in her arms until she wiped her face on her sleeves and stepped back. My heart had been stolen, and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to reclaim it, or if I’d just go through life with another permanent scar.
“Let me call Adam and see if he’s in town with Tera,” Lauren said. “Let me see if he can explain any of this.”
“I want to know where he is and when he’ll be back, but I don’t think you should tell him what we’ve found yet,” Rafe said, glancing toward me. “Sadie was right. We need to find every single penny that’s off so when we lay it out in front of him, he can’t say it’s a mistake. If we have enough evidence, maybe he’ll also tell us the truth about Spence.”
