Page 60 of Slow Burn
Robbie’s mouth pinched, but he didn’t move. He might’ve been a heavyweight and stacked with muscle in high school, but he’d gone soft and round over the years. Even back then, though, he’d been all air. Some things never changed.
Jocelyn gave Cole a warning look.
Frank’s rangey frame came into view behind Robbie before the conversation spiraled further. He froze when he spotted Jocelyn, and Cole saw the flash of fear in his black eyes as they shifted to him.
“Jossie,” Frank said, voice tight. “What’re you doing here?”
Jocelyn looked at Robbie, whose attention was slow to move from Cole.
But then it finally did, and he turned to Frank. “Take it outside. Don’t need y’all’s drama botherin’ customers.”
Frank looked at Robbie like the other man had betrayed him, but he headed around the counter toward the door, Jocelyn and then Cole following him out.
“I had some questions,” Jocelyn said as soon as the door closed, her voice too hard, like she was covering the guilt or the hurt.
Frank shrank down like someone had battered him. “Alright.” His gaze slid to Cole.
“I’ll be right over here,” Cole said, shifting to lean against the tailgate of his pickup. Close enough to hear, far enough to seemuninvolved, especially when he turned his face away. Frank was uncomfortable enough.
“What’d you want to ask?” Frank’s voice was still wound tight, like he suspected what she might have to say.
“I had a chat with Sally Anne this morning.”
“Heard about their fire. That where you were staying?”
From the corner of his eye, Cole caught her nod. “I was just checking in on them. We got to talking about that night.”
She didn’t have to say which one. The way Frank’s expression shuttered made it clear he knew exactly where she was going.
“She worked at the bar back then,” Frank said, heading her off.
Cole didn’t bother hiding his interest in the conversation now.
Jocelyn didn’t relent. “She said you were there that night, not out with Mama.”
He rubbed his chin. “Wasn’t I?”
Cole tracked the movement, the change in his expression.
“She remembered you seemed pretty down.”
“Aw, hell, Jossie. That night runs in with all the rest back then. Your mama, your daddy, all of it…” Frank turned to pace away from her but froze at the reminder of Cole’s presence. He made a point to turn back to her. “Not much of it’s clear anymore, but you think I lied to you about it?”
Jocelyn’s arms wrapped around her middle. “I don’t want to, Frank, but you told me a different story, and it’s not close to what she said.”
“It was twenty years ago,” he said through his teeth. Then his shoulders slumped. “The woman I loved died. You expect me to remember exactly what I was doin’ when my world came crashing down?”
Cole saw the toll those words took on Jocelyn, and he pushed himself upright, waiting for the sign she needed support.
“I don’t know.” Her voice was stronger than Cole thought it’d be. “My world fell apart, too. And I never got all the pieces. So I thought…”
“I’m so sorry, Jossie.” There was a fault line in Franks words then. “You’ve no idea how sorry I am, will always be, that she was taken from you. I wish to hell things were different. Been wishing all these long years.”
Cole could see that, too. They all knew that his life had never moved forward. He’d never been with anyone else long enough for anyone to learn her name, lived in the same old house, worked at the same place. Stuck.
“I gotta get back to work.”
Jocelyn took a breath. “I’m sorry to bother you here, Frank. I’m sorry for stirring up ghosts and old pain.”
