Page 9 of False Start

“Welcome home,” she murmured before kissing me on the cheek, only to swipe at my skin a second later to wipe the lipstick print she no doubt left there.

“It’s temporary,” I said over my shoulder as I turned for the door.

“We’ll see,” she called to my retreating back.

Galloway Bay would never be what it once was for me. Too many mistakes and long memories would make sure of that.

It could never be home again, no matter how much I wished it could be.

Gravel crunchedunder my tires as I turned off Old Mill Road onto the winding driveway to the farm. Between the sound and the winking of stars peeking through the pine trees lining the drive, the night ignited dozens of memories, each taking aim at my most vulnerable places.

Gnashing my teeth, I forced them out of my head, knowing even if I planted the seeds of my warmest memories here, those seeds would only grow so far before the broken pieces of me, already flourishing in their maturity, choked them out, leaving them withered piles of lifeless hope.

I’d dared to hope for more once. I’d even reached for what I didn’t deserve only to be knocked on my ass for my audacity.

Damaged goods.

It never failed. Being home played games with my head and assaulted the fragments left of my bitter heart.

Rolling to a stop, I turned off the engine and clutched the wheel. Lamplight burned in the picture window in the living room as it had for decades from sundown until sun up every single night. A gift from my grandmother to my grandfather when they first bought the farm, she insisted it would always be on no matter how late he had to stay up, no matter what went wrong in the middle of the night, lighting the way back to her.

Lilith insisted it would do the same for me, for as long as it took.

She was pushy like that.

Colors flickered from the TV bathing the room in a colorful glow. The fluorescents over the kitchen sink illuminated my sister’s profile as she rubbed her round belly, a peaceful smile on her lips as she talked to her unborn son.

Okay, so maybe it didn’t all turn to shit. Lilith would get her happy ending. She’d always have peace.

She’d been through so much. She saw too damn much, but here in this town, in this farmhouse full of warm memories and familiar scents, she could raise her family with the love and nurturing we’d lost the day our mother died.

The minute I walked in, she would ask where I was. If I told her the truth, it’d start a fight.

Just like that, I was grateful for the panini bag sitting next to me…even if it did have Brussels sprouts lurking in it.

Shedding my impulse to avoid her, I headed inside. Clicking the door shut behind me, I turned the deadbolt before facing her.

“Hey, where have you been?” Lilith asked, cocking a hip against the counter and crossing her arms.

See, called it.

“Stopped in at Banked Track for a bit. Patti sent you this nightmare. Says you like it.” I handed over the bag and tossed my keys on the drop-leaf table before heading to the fridge for one last beer, wishing it was something a hell of a lot stronger.

Lilith’s senses only got stronger now that she hovered on the brink of motherhood. Now, if she just wouldn’t aim her keen talents on me, I might survive the next couple of months.

She peeled open the bag and her lips twitched. “For three hours?”

“You watching the clock now?” With a flick of my thumb and middle finger, I shot the cap at the key rack by the cellar door and watched it sink in the trash can, just like our grandpa taught me when I was a kid.

“You know he’s up there cheering right now. Probably nudging Gram and saying, ‘Now that’s my boy.’”

My lips twitched. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

She turned her back on me and worked on getting her sandwich into the air fryer Patti knew she had, but I didn’t.

There was a lot to unpack with how out of touch I was with my own baby sister, but today had already been a bitch between the drive up here and the bout. Especially if knowledge of a small appliance could push my buttons.

“So, before you ended up at Banked Track…where’d you go?”

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