Page 102 of Eight Years Gone

She stopped moving, swallowing—shocked—as she stared at the eight-by-ten image of her family of four on their last family vacation to Europe—one of the final happy shots before the drunk driver killed her mother.

“How is this happening,” she whispered, tracing her brother’s handsome fourteen-year-old face.

“We were so happy—a perfect family. The successful doctor and his beautiful wife and kids. He was always so busy with his job, and Mom was always busy with us or driving up to Preston Valley to help Aunt Maggie. But they made it work. They were so solid.” Her finger moved to her mother’s stunning face. “Then she died, and everything fell apart.”

Jagger sighed as he settled his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Grace.”

She traced her father next—fifteen years younger. Healthy, well built, and movie-star handsome. “He looked so broken tonight—so fragile and vulnerable.”

Jagger wrapped her up again. “He’s holding his own.”

She looked at the Evanses again—the grinning, carefree bunch. “I’m so glad we had this moment—that we had no idea it was all about to unravel.”

“It’s a good picture—one of the ones you kept in your room.”

She nodded. “I guess he took it with him after I left.” Her eyes wandered to her dad again. “If he doesn’t make it, I’ll have lost them all—my entire family.”

Jagger turned her to face him. “Let’s take this one day at a time—one minute at a time if we have to.”

She nodded because there was nothing else they could do.

He rested his forehead against hers. “And you’ll never be without family, Grace. You have Aunt Mags, Asa, Christy, Gabby, Mike, and Brennan. Ben. You have me, Gracie. I’m right here. Always.”

She nodded again, wanting to feel something other than…nothing. “Everything’s so foggy. Everything feels so far away.”

“You’re in shock, Grace. I don’t know how you couldn’t be. This is a lot.”

She sighed. “Weren’t we just talking on the phone about our weekend?”

He nodded. “Not too long ago, we were.”

“It changes so quickly—when the bad stuff happens. One second, things are one way, then they’re never the same again.”

He stroked his fingers along her skin. “You’ve certainly had your fair share of the bad stuff. But we’re going to make it through this together.”

Despite all that was wrong, there was comfort in believing that. “I love you.”

He kissed her. “I love you, too.”

She glanced around the room again. “I don’t think I can stay here, Jagger. I can’t be in this place. There’s too much here.”

“Okay.” He kissed her again. “We’ll get a hotel room.”

She exhaled another weary breath. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be.”

Yet she was anyway. It was nearly midnight after an exceptionally long day. “Thank you, Jagger. For everything.”

He shook his head again. “I don’t want your thanks either. Just let me be here for you.”

She closed her eyes. “I don’t know how I’d get through this without you.”

“Let’s get a room. We need to get some sleep before we go back to the hospital.”

She nodded, holding his hand as they walked through her father’s home, grabbing their things and breathing in his cologne once more before they shut the door again.

Twenty-Four

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