Page 24 of Better Together

He opened the door to find her standing on the front entryway holding a big brown box.

“You wanted clothes.” Remi shoved the box at him. “Here you go.”

“You had all of these?” The box was full. He’d known she took his clothes, but this was more than he thought she’d snatched.

“Don’t say I never gave you anything,” she said as she pushed past him into the house. “I don’t smell eggs.”

Colt put the box down on the counter in the kitchen. “There was an incident with the eggs.”

Remi grabbed a paper towel and started cleaning up the gooey mess. “You should have waited on me. Just hand me the ingredients, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Grabbing the cheese and ham cubes from the fridge, Colt did everything Remi asked. This was how he wanted to start every day of his life–doing basic things with Remi like they were a team. Two parts of a whole.

Why didn’t she want the same? Why did he have to want things he couldn’t have? It was selfish, but Remi made him want the best in life. He’d seen how great things could be with her beside him, and now, everything else was colorless and bland.

Remi had the omelets made within minutes. She had him shoving food in his mouth like someone might steal it from him if he didn’t eat it fast enough.

When the plates were cleared, she pushed him toward the door. “Move it or lose it. I can’t be late.”

“I’m moving, but I don’t know what exactly I would be losing. Can you explain–”

She pushed his back. “Colt, go!”

“Can we take my truck? Yours might decide today is a good day to die.”

Remi huffed and changed course. “Fine, but I’m driving.”

Colt reached in his pocket and tossed the key to her. His shoulder was screaming from getting dressed, and they’d get to church a lot faster if the speed racer was behind the wheel.

The phone in his other pocket rang as he slid into the passenger side of the truck. It was an unknown number, but he quickly answered. “Hello.”

“Hi, this is Officer Mary Gentry with the Weston County Police Department. Is this Mr. Colton Walker?”

The breath in Colt’s lungs turned to ice. A call from a police department was never a good sign. “It is.”

Remi didn’t start the truck, and he was barely aware of her watching him as the woman on the phone relayed the information. He heard everything through a fog like he was underwater.

Accident.

Trauma.

Emergency contact.

He couldn’t be sure how long the call lasted, but as soon as Officer Gentry ended the call, Colt lowered the phone to his lap and stared at it.

What did she say? It didn’t make sense. He was watching all of this happen from a distance, like in a dream.

“Colt!”

Remi’s scream beside him barely brought him out of the darkness. He turned to find her staring at him with wide eyes. Her hand gripped his arm. How had he not noticed the contact?

Remi’s words were slow and barely controlled. “What happened?”

Colt looked at the phone again, numb and afraid to say the words he thought he’d heard. He swallowed what seemed like a handful of razor blades and stared at the phone, praying the truth was a lie.

“My brother was in a car accident. He didn’t make it.”

Chapter7

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