Page 39 of The Homecoming

“He could be dead,” Autumn said.

“Again, Autumn, pull your head outta your ass,” Brandon said.

Rebecca laughed while Autumn grumbled. “He’s gotten mouthy recently,” Autumn said.

The phone sang out from Autumn’s purse and the caller ID brought up Hannah’s name. “Hey girl.”

“Have you heard from Rebecca?” Hannah asked.

“Why?” Autumn asked.

“I just got off work. I had a message from Justin that Kyle can’t find Rebecca,” she said. “I tried her phone, and it just goes to voicemail.”

“That’s because she’s with Brandon and me. But don’t tell them.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“She walked in on Kyle screwing some girl this afternoon.”

There was silence on the other line.

“So, don’t tell them. We’re giving her a chance to collect herself.”

“Where are y’all?”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“For Christ’s sake, no.”

“The farm,” Autumn replied.

“On my way.”

Autumn put her phone down. “Where’s your car?” she asked Rebecca.

“Out front.”

“Might want to pull it around back. Kyle’s looking for you, and I don’t know how long it will take him to come out here.”

Brandon stood. “Here, give me your keys. I’ll pull it around back and close the gate.”

“Hannah’s on the way,” Autumn mentioned.

Two hours later, they sat around on the comfortable new furniture in front of the fireplace in the farmhouse living room. They lit a fire for the first time in the refurbished stone fireplace, and soon, it blazed and the room was cozy. Hannah had let Justin in on what was going on, and he’d shown up with pizza and beer. A musty game of Parcheesi they’d found in a closet was open on the antique coffee table. Ben’s phone sounded during his move and he answered without looking at the screen. “Huntington Farms,” he answered. “Hey man.” He listened for a minute. “Yeah, I’m here. I’ll open the gate.”

They all stared at him.

“Give me some credit,” he said. “It’s just Weasel.”

A few minutes later, the front door swung open with an ice-cold gust of wind that whipped the fire around, making them all yell. Weasel strolled in wearing a dark blue police windbreaker jacket and pushed the door closed behind him. He stood in the arched doorway stared at them all for a beat before asking, “Why the hell is Kyle asking me to find you, Rebecca?”

“Because she walked in on him screwing another girl,” Hannah answered.

Weasel stopped, looking back at Rebecca. “So, what are ya’ll doing out here?”

“Playing Parcheesi, eating pizza, and ignoring our problems,” Autumn said.

He nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

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