Page 44 of Haunted Hearts
Will may not think I’m dumb, but I sure do.
twenty-three
WILL
Zeke: Hey, what’s up?
Zeke: You around?
Zeke: I’m a liiiiiiitttllleee tipsyyyy
Zeke: Ok I’ll try group chat
*3 missed calls from Zeke Holloway*
Ihardly even remember the walk from Lydia’s house back to where my truck’s parked at the library, and it’s not until I’m sitting safely in the cab that I dare to open Ethan’s text. I didn’t even catch a glimpse of the text preview as Lydia was waving my phone around, but I could tell from her face that she’d seen enough to know what’s going on.
I’ve got a ton of missed calls that I don’t even glance at and a bunch of texts from Zeke, but I’ll get to them later. Right now, I need to see what Ethan said.
Ethan: Great! Reached out to your first rec and got a bid! Thanks for facilitating. I want to get the groundbreaking in before first frost—maybe next week?
When I read Ethan’s text, I let my head fall back against the headrest. It’s pretty incriminating. If she’s already reacting the way she did when she doesn’t even know we’re going to have to take those two main walls out, I’m not even going to bother telling her. It’s a hassle I don’t need, and it’ll only make it worse for her. I’ve got a job to do, and what I need to do now is just fucking do it.
I put the truck in gear and head out. I’m hoping to god that Zeke’s not home when I get there, because if I have to hear him sniff the air and say I smell like sex I just might punch him in his perfect little face. Then again, going home to an empty house seems pretty damn lonely, too. But I guess that’s par for the course for me, isn’t it? I’ve always known I’d be better off alone, staying out of everyone else’s business and keeping them out of mine. Better for everyone else, too.
I’m pulling into my driveway when a call comes over the speakers:Phoebe Holloway.
I groan, but I answer it anyway. If Phoebe needs one of her brothers, she almost always calls Benji—because, I mean, he’s her twin. She doesn’t usually call me, so I’m hoping everything’s okay.
“What’s up?”
“Where are you?” Phoebe’s voice is tense.
“Driving.”
“Okay, well...” Phoebe pauses. “I don’t know how to say this exactly, but… Zeke’s at the police station.”
“What do you mean he’s at the police station? Like… like, he’svisiting?”
“I mean, that’s one way to put it,” Phoebe says, sounding helpless. “Usually I think you’d just say he got arrested.”
I nearly hit the brakes. “Arrested?! Phoebe, what the fuck?”
“Well, don’t get mad atme! You’re the one who hasn’t been answering your fucking phone. They picked him up for driving drunk—and good on them for doing it. Little fucker.”
Oh, god. The missed calls. I know I shouldn’t while driving, but I flip desperately through my texts—the ones I didn’t bother to open up until now—and they’re all from Zeke, clearly hammered out of his mind and asking for a ride home from the bar. My heart sinks.
“Shit. So, what, he calledyou?”
“Yeah, after he couldn’t get a hold of you or Benji—Benji had a bad breakup, story for a different day—he tried me. Will, it was awful. He was fuckingcrying.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Even though it was Zeke who decided to get behind the wheel of a car while drunk, I still feel responsible. If I’d had my head screwed on straight, hadn’t been carrying on with a woman these past couple weeks… I could’ve been there for him. While I was busy getting blown this evening, my brother—who I’m supposed to be looking out for—needed me. And I wasn’t there.
“Fuck,” I say to Phoebe. “Okay. I’m headed there now. I’ll bail him out, and I’ll… I’ll… take care of this. Somehow.”
The line clicks off, and I’m left driving in silence. I can tell Phoebe’s upset with me, and I don’t blame her. I’m upset with myself.
I don’t know what I was thinking, letting myself lose control like that. Letting myself think my priorities belonged anywhere other than my family. I’m picturing Zeke alone in a jail cell, and yeah, even though his stupid ass deserves to be there for makingsuch dumbfuck decisions, I also know I’m to blame. I wasn’t there when he called me. I’m the one who got distracted.
