“She’s gone, Dad. Your threats won’t work.”
He charged at me, but the security guard stepped in his path, holding up a hand. “Stand down, sir.”
Dad spit in his face and yelled something I couldn’t make out. He punched the security guard square in the jaw, sending him straight back to the ground.
Dad set his sights on me and barreled toward me like a ravaged animal. The words I was trying to shout at him froze on my tongue. My fists shook at my sides. He gripped my shirt and shoved me back a few steps, yelling something else in my face, but all I could see were the flames that had consumed our neighbors’ barn that day, and all I could hear was the pained bellows of the cows inside, and all I could smell was the scent of thick smoke and the acid curling off his drunk breath when he’d forced me to light the fire.
He shook me, slapped me. “Where is she, you son of a b—”
“Hey! Leave him alone!”
My senses snapped back to reality: Dad’s snarled face. The flash of blue and red lights behind him. The chirp of a two-way radio.
He shook me harder.
“Let him go!”
And that voice.
“What?” Dad frowned, turning toward the voice.
“Leave him alone!” Lea hobbled toward us, swiping at my dad’s arms. He threw her to the ground and turned his preying eyes on her. “What’s this?” He wiped his runny nose on his arm and spit again. “Finally got yourself a little girlfriend, huh?”
My blood turned to ice in my veins. He moved toward her and circled her crumpled form, triggering too many memories to count. Something snapped inside me, and I rushed him, tackling him to the ground. I wanted to pound his face to a pulp, but I gripped his arms and held them behind his back instead, grinding my teeth until my jaw ached. “You’re not touching her.”
He cackled harder.
I tightened my grip on his arms. “I mean it!”
“She’s real pretty,” he said all sing-songy. “Caught ya, didn’t I, sonny?”
I hated the way that one little phrase messed with my mind. Stole my breath. Riled my fear. He’d only ever said it when he was about to break whatever new toy I’d brought home. Just for the fun of it. Just to see me cry. Whenever I’d tried to speak up, whenever I’d tried protecting Mom, that was what he did. He’d find the one thing I’d always wanted and finally got, and he’d destroy it.
“I have it from here,” a gruff voice came from behind me. A glance over my shoulder told me it was the sheriff talking.
He crouched beside me, handcuffs jingling as he clasped them around Dad’s wrists.
“Sir, you’re under arrest for trespassing, and from what it looks like here, assault and battery, and who knows what else.”
“I didn’t do nothin’!”
“Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?”
I fought the urge to dig my knee into his back and released my pressure on him as another security guard pulled up in a golf cart and came around to help the sheriff get him into the back of his car.
I stood off to the side, dazed.
“Mind if I ask you a few questions?” the sheriff asked, snapping me out of it.
“Yes, Sir.” I glanced to Lea, standing by the security booth, all wrapped in a blanket and shivering. “Can I check on her first?”
He followed my line of sight. “Sure thing.”
How the heck was I supposed to handle this? She risked everything just now. And just to protect me? She was crazy, but I respected her for it. More than I’d ever respected anyone. I hated the fact that she’d felt the brunt of his rage. That he’d thrown her to the ground, like she wasn’t everything I’d ever wanted, and needed.
She walked toward me, a frown forming on her face as she lifted her cool palm to my cheek. “Oh my gosh, Cory. Are you okay?”
“Are you?”
“I’m fine.”
I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. “I told you to stay away.”
She squeezed back. “Never.”
A rush of pride swelled in my chest. I buried my face in her hair and squeezed my eyes closed, just breathing that familiar apple scent, just soaking in the feel of her protective grasp. I hated the relief that came because of it. “I’m sorry.”
“No sorrys.” She peeled back and gripped my trembling arms, rubbing them like she was the one who was supposed to do the comforting. Like it was someone else’s dad who’d just assaulted her. “You’re okay now. The sheriff has him. The guys said they’re sure he’ll go to jail, and he’ll be there for a while.”
Man, I hated looking so weak in front of her. I cleared my throat and lifted my chin. Nodded once. “Yeah.”
I went back to the sheriff to answer his questions, and told him I wanted him to press charges. Lea did, too. He said it’d be up to the prosecutor, but he sounded confident that the prosecutor would. After he was done with me, he went over to the security booth to talk to them.
“Thanks for that,” I told Lea, turning to face her, steering her into my arms again. I never wanted to let go.
She nuzzled her cheek against my chest and released a heavy sigh. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
My fingers wove absently through her curls, and my mind was slipping back to our time on the lakeshore. I wanted to keep her close. Hold her like this the whole night.
Something buzzed across the security guard’s radio, snapping me out of whatever stupor I was in, straight back to this sickening reality.
Thank you for holding him back, God.
I forced myself to let her go and took a step back, my breaths racing through my chest again.
She frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll find you at breakfast tomorrow.”
She furrowed her brows, but I couldn’t keep standing there, pretending like everything was fine. I needed some time alone.
Thirty minutes after I got back to my room, a knock sounded on my door. I threw my blankets back and answered it. Pastor Gregg stood there, bushy gray brows furrowed, mouth parted. “Cory Griffin?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mind if I come in for a quick chat?”
“Sure.” I opened the door wider and pulled my desk chair out for him. I sat in the empty chair beside the extra bed in my room and faced him.
“First off, are you all right?”
I swallowed, nodding. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He blew a deep breath. “Good.” He studied me, blue eyes searching my face, bushy grey brows still furrowed. “I just spoke with Sheriff Buchanan. He explained what happened. I’m really sorry you had to go through that.”
“That’s just the way life goes.”
“Sometimes, yes, but it’s unfortunate. Not the way it’s supposed to go. Not at all.”
“Mm.”
He sighed. “Well, looks to me like you’re doing okay for now, but if you need anything, I’m in my office most weekdays. I’d be glad to talk if you need to.”
My body tensed. He had no idea how much worse talking would make it. “Thank you.”
“Have everything you need?”
I nodded.
“Good.” He drew a deep breath and nodded. “Mind if I pray with you?”
“No, sir.” I bowed my head and closed my eyes. Something ruffled, and a warm hand rested on my shoulder, and Pastor Gregg prayed harder for me than I’d ever had anyone pray for me in my life. He prayed for chains to be broken, and relationships to be mended, and for goodness to come from what seemed so hopeless and dark. “Your word promises that you work all things out for the good of those who love You, and we don’t always understand how You do that, but You do. Help us trust You in it. We love You, Lord. In Jesus’s name . . .”
“Amen,” we said together.
He patted my shoulder and cleared his throat. “Sleep tight, bud.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, but I wasn’t sure how I would. “Have, uh . . . Have you checked in on Lea Miller?”
“My wife went to check on her a f
ew minutes ago. Odd that he decided to target her, but most instances like this are odd at best. You take care, Cory, and let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
“Yes, sir.”
He left, and I settled back into bed, reliving the whole thing over, and over, and over. I couldn’t stop seeing him throw Lea to the ground, couldn’t stop feeling as helpless as I’d felt about it, couldn’t understand why I’d let him go anywhere near her.
Whatever the reason, it couldn’t ever happen again, and I’d make sure it never would.
LEA
“So, we’ll have you both come out to center stage.” Kyle and I followed Genevieve and stood where she pointed in the middle of the chapel stage. I covered a yawn and cleared my throat, dragging a finger beneath my watering eye.
I’d barely slept after Pastor Gregg’s wife left my cabin last night. She’d asked me if I wanted to call home about what happened. I’d told her “no.” That I was fine, and I didn’t want to bother my mom about it. Hashtag true. She’d said she understood and offered to pray with me, and then she’d left. As relieved as that made me, I couldn’t stop thinking about Cory. The haunted look in his eyes after everything happened wouldn’t leave my mind.
All I’d wanted to do since I woke up was go and find him, and tell him how amazing he was, and how much of a jerk his dad was, and how sorry I was that he had to go through that, but he wasn’t at breakfast, and now I was stuck in here, pretending to be chummy-chummy with Kyle instead.
The literal worst.
“Kyle, you’ll sing the first line,” Genevieve said. “Then you’ll turn toward each other, and Lea, you’ll sing the second line. Then it’s the chorus together, and I really want to feel the energy between you, ’kay? Repeat for verses three and four, then we’ll work on the bridge when you get there. Ready to start?”
Pastor Gregg had said we could do something familiar, but Genevieve wanted something fresh, which meant I’d be seeing way more of Keller today than I could handle, but I couldn’t back out.
Kyle nodded.
I drew a deep breath, braced myself for whatever madness the next three hours of practicing this ridiculous duet would bring, and gave a thumbs-up. The competition was only a day away. No matter how crabby I felt about it, we had to nail this song down.
“Look, Lea,” Kyle whispered as the band checked their sound levels. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I had no idea you had a boyfriend.”
Shrugging, I flipped through the song lyrics on the stand in front of us. “I hope you didn’t blab about it.”
“No. I mean, I wanted to ask Taylor what the deal is, but Ryan got all weird about it.”
“What? Why?”
Kyle ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “He’s still stuck on her.”
I checked that my guitar was in tune. “Huh.”
“Thumbs-up if you’re ready,” Genevieve said from the front row of the chapel.
Every thumb on the stage went up, and even though I hated the idea of a duet with Kyle, I had to say that having a professional-level band to play with felt pretty amazing.
“One, two, three, four!” the drummer shouted as he started in.
I strummed my heart out on my guitar as Philly played a haunting note on his electric, then everything died down and Kyle stepped forward, eyes closed, brows furrowed, hand over his heart. “Something’s gotta give,” he sang, low and gravelly, suspending his voice and raising it higher on the last word.
The guy was good. I’d said a lot of not-so-great things about him over the years, but I never said he wasn’t an amazing singer.
“Something’s gotta change,” he continued. “Mmm. ’Cause heaven’s feeling way too far away.”
He turned toward me, and I held his gaze, a second spotlight beaming around me as I looked at the music sheets and stepped toward the mic. “Hearts are too heavy. O-o-oh. And worries won’t fade.”
Kyle raised his mic, and together we sang, “Something’s gotta change. Mmm. ’Cause heaven’s feeling way too far away.”
“It went way better than how I expected,” I told Taylor as we left the Snack Shop.
“Yeah?”
“I mean, Kyle’s Kyle, but he was so much more . . . intuitive than I’ve ever given him credit for?”
“That’s awesome, Lea.”
I drew a deep breath, scanning the dock as we turned away from the lake, but Cory wasn’t out there. Where was he today?
So he wasn’t at breakfast, and he wasn’t at the docks. It was fine. I was sure he had a rough night after everything happened with his dad, and I wouldn’t blame him for taking the day off. If he was still missing by dinner, I could always ask Tucker to find him for me. Maybe.
“Remember how you said you wanted to talk to Ryan?” I asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“Kyle said something about him at rehearsal.”
Taylor messed with her earring and cleared her throat. “And I should care because?”
“Because he’s still into you, Tay.”
The gate to the pool groaned as we opened it. We pulled our towels off the stack by the lounge chairs and relaxed back on them to get our tan on.
She stayed quiet. That wasn’t like her.
Shifting her eyes to the road beside the pool, she gripped the rests on the lounger and grunted.
“What?”
“Why doesn’t he just talk to me himself? I mean, we were together two years, right? You don’t just go back to the whole middleman communication method after that.”
I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I have no idea.”
“Sorry. . .” Taylor adjusted her sunglasses as the gate groaned again, drawing our attention to the pack of guys coming through, all rowdy.
“Speak of the devil,” I whispered.
She drew a sharp breath. “Literally, right?”
“Tay,” I chided, giving her arm a little shove. “So uncalled for.”
“Is it really, though?”
Ryan stood frozen at the opposite end of the pool, just staring our way.
Taylor’s face mirrored his.
“So much longing. You guys are like a stinkin’ chick flick couple.”
She scoffed and looked away. He didn’t. He strode toward us, everything about his posture tense.
“What even?” she whispered, eyes bulging as she turned to face me.
I cleared my throat and stood. “You know what? I think I could really use a lemonade. Do you want one?”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Strawberry, right?”
“Hey, Tay?” Ryan’s voice came before she could answer. “Can we talk?”
I winked at her.
She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.
“Strawberry, it is. Be back in a bit.”
I hustled out of there, scanning every possible place Cory could be working on my way back to the Snack Shop, but he still wasn’t around. A small cloud of dread filled my chest as I ordered our drinks. I brought them back to the pool, but Tay’s chair was empty, and Ryan was nowhere in sight, either.
“They left a few minutes ago.” Kyle’s voice came from behind me.
I turned to see his face resting on his arms at the edge of the pool. He swept a hand down his soaked cheek. “It’s hot out here, though. We’re about to play some polo. You should play with us.”
I grunted and turned back to leave Tay’s drink on the ground by her chair.
“Hey, you sounded really good at our rehearsal, by the way. I loved your rasp on the bridge,” Kyle said.
“Thanks.” I took a sip of my drink and collapsed back on my chair. Getting a solo tan was a way better option than moping around until I heard from Cory.
Kyle cleared his throat. “Are you okay? I mean, I heard what happened last night. About your guy’s dad showing up.”
I frowned. “You did?”
“It’s all over camp.”
My chest constricted. “What
are they saying?”
“Just that the fishing guy’s got an idiot dad. Everyone feels bad for him.”
I sighed. “Makes sense.”
“Is Lea Miller here?” I turned to the gate to see a redhead in a Bridgeport staff t-shirt, shielding her eyes as she scanned everyone at the pool.
“Right here.”
“You have a call in the office. It’s Nolan.”
“My brother?”
Oh, dude. There was no way he would’ve heard about last night, was there?
She nodded and motioned for me to follow her. I did, trying to prepare myself for whatever version of Nolan I was about to get. If it was the chill, hang-with-me-at-the-beach version, I was in the clear. But if he’d heard a whisper about me and Cory, a flat-out reaming was on the horizon.
Please be chill. Please be chill. Please be chill.
June handed the receiver across the counter, and I leaned into the wall, trailing my finger down the doorjamb beside the counter. “Hey, Nol.”
“I thought I told you to stay away from him, Lea.”
Awesome. Reaming, it was.
“I’m an adult, and he’s a decent guy.”
“Yeah. And his dad threw you to the ground last night!”
I closed my eyes. “How did you find that out?”
“Pastor Braden called Mom this morning.”
Dang it! How did Pastor Braden find out? I thought I was in the clear after talking to Pastor Gregg’s wife, but apparently it leaked anyway. Of course, Pastor Braden would call home if he found out. He was the biggest newbie of all the youth leaders up here, and he probably didn’t realize what eighteen meant!
“She’s heading up right now. Do I need to come back up there, Lea? I’m trying to make a life for myself down here.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I want to make my own life, too. And his dad went to jail over it. I’m totally fine.”
“That guy’s loaded. He’ll just post bail.”
Panic rippled through my gut, but he had to be wrong. “He can’t just post bail. He’s getting charged with assault.”
“You don’t know how this stuff works. He can post bail, and he will post bail, and then what? The guy’s got issues, Lea. And Cory’s my friend, but I don’t want you getting mixed up with him. You have to get your head on straight. You’re there for the competition. Just try and focus. You’re too young to mess your life up over a guy.”
Falling In Hard: Book Four in The Bridgeport Lake Summer Series Page 9