Page 18 of Salvation
My heart jumps to my throat, and I jump back, trying not to curse when my elbow slams into a wall.
“Silas, are you trying to kill me?”
Silas and Hayes are friends. They met after Hayes arrested him for fighting, and Silas quickly became like a grandfather to both of us. I keep that to myself, though, because I like my head, and I have a feeling that if Silas knew I referred to him as anything that made him sound old, he’d knock my block off. He’s nearing eighty, but still acts like he’s fifty—or maybe younger, considering the man drinks milkshakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The older man chortles at my hiss of pain, and I glare at where he’s standing next to the counter, scooping out ice cream into a blender.
“Does Hayes know what you are doing in his kitchen? I thought he cut you off from drinking those things.”
He stops what he’s doing and slowly turns his head toward me. I’m not going to lie. It’s a little creepy. “Are you going to be the one to tell him?”
The threat is clear. Nothing gets between him and his milkshake. I throw my hands up in the air, pleading innocence.
“I saw nothing.”
With a dip of his chin, he returns to scooping ice cream, and I take the opportunity to slip out the back door.
When I step out into the bright sunlight, I slip on my sunglasses, using them to shield my eyes. People are gathered around the yard, talking amongst each other, and a small smile tugs at the corner of my lips.
This place was a dump when Hayes bought it, but he’s spent the last few years fixing it up. I never understood his fascination with the run-down home—not until MJ came back. Then I realized it was always for her. Whether he realized it or not, Hayes had always been waiting for her to come back.
Looking around, I spy him standing with his arm around MJ, talking to another couple. He drops a kiss on her hair, and I have to look away.
“About time you showed up,” a voice says to my right, and I turn just in time to see Theo Sylvis, Benton Falls’ fire chief, walk up. One hand holds his girlfriend, Lily, and the other holds a drink. There’s a smug grin on his mouth that seems permanent, and I scowl when I see him.
“I didn’t know you were invited to this thing, best friend stealer,” I say. “Otherwise, I might not have come.”
He rolls his eyes, and I shoot him an annoying grin. This is the game Theo and I started playing when he and Hayes became friends. He pretends to find me annoying, and I pretend I hate that he seems to be taking my spot as Hayes’s best friend. Thereality is that I don’t hate it. I’m glad Hayes will have a friend to talk to if something ever happens to me.
“What are we, in kindergarten? I don’t have best friends.” Theo growls.
Lily smacks his stomach, and he pretends to double over in pain, looking up at her with a bemused smile reserved only for her. “Except for you, hopeless.”
She cocks one brow and purses her lips as if she doesn’t believe him. “Mm-hmm.”
I stick my finger in my throat and pretend to gag, but I have to look away from them, too. Loneliness has become my shadow—or maybe it’s my ghost, haunting me even when I’m standing in a crowd.
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I’ve managed to keep a smile plastered on for a whole hour while all of Benton Falls mills about, gossiping about the honey-eyed girl who came back to town. I don’t care, though. All I have to do is get through another hour, and I’ll have done just enough to play the part.
My social battery ran out before I got here, but I’ve managed to fake it enough that I don’t flinch anytime anyone asks me about Ivy.
Some days, I think I’ve missed my calling and should have been an actor, but my veneer feels pretty flimsy on the best days.
And right now, as Ethel Thatcher, the biggest gossip in Benton Falls, goes on and on and on about how beautiful Ivy has gotten over time, I’m afraid it might crack.
I’m half listening but hear her say something about how Ivy and I used to be inseparable, and I bring my cup to my mouth, forcing a tight smile before I take a drink.
Ethel means well—all the elderly folk in town always mean well—but they live in a state of oblivion.
As Ethel continues to ramble, a hand falls on my shoulder, and I turn to find Hayes standing beside me, a mischievous look on his face.
“Ethel, can I borrow Campbell for a minute? I need his help with something.”
Ethel stops in the middle of her sentence and blinks as if just realizing we both are standing here. “Of course, dear. I’m going to find Muriel anyway. These bones of mine are starting to ache.”
It’s a known fact that whenever Ethel starts talking about her bones aching, it’s really code that she and Muriel Sanders, Ethel’s best friend, are about to go out and find some trouble. I’ve had to arrest them at least three times for disturbing the peace, and I know Hayes has, too.
