by Jamie Begley
Neither Dustin nor Greer made a move to leave the room.
“Go ahead, Knox. I’d just tell them after you left.”
“All right. It’ll be in the newspaper this afternoon, anyway. Have you heard about the car wreck last week?”
Holly frowned. “Diamond said you missed dinner because you were working a car wreck, but other than that, no.”
“A driver from out of town rear-ended another car outside the town limits. The driver from out of town was killed.”
Holly’s hand clenched on her coffee cup. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“The driver was burned, and it made identification difficult, but he had his license on him and the car was registered to him. His name was Brett Martin.”
“I don’t know anyone with that name.” Holly was confused as to why Knox was telling her about the man who had suffered such a terrible death.
“I didn’t think you did. When I contacted his family to notify them about his death, the man who answered the phone was actually Brett Martin. He confessed to letting a friend borrow his car.”
A sick feeling of dread had her standing up. “Who was it?
“Mitch Reynolds. He told his friend he wanted to see you.”
Overwhelming guilt had her clutching the table to keep her balance. “It’s all my fault,” she choked out. “If I’d answered his letters, he wouldn’t have been trying to see me. He knew we were over. He just wanted to know that I forgave him.”
She couldn’t bear to look at Greer. She needed to leave the room before he said something. She couldn’t deal with him right now, not while she was thinking of Mitch being burned alive.
“Thanks for coming here to tell me.” Holly started toward her room when Dustin stood up and took her arm.
“Can I do anything?” Dustin put his hands on her shoulders when she would have passed him.
Holly leaned against him weakly, pressing her head on his chest. “Can you turn back time and make me a better person? I should have answered his letters.”
“The one thing I have learned is that you can’t turn back time. I wish I could.”
Holly looked up into his eyes. Dustin lived with his own guilt for the way Logan’s mother had died.
“Logan’s still sleeping. I’m going to go lie down until he wakes up.”
She wanted to leave before she burst into tears in front of Greer.
She needed time to deal with the guilt of letting him get involved in her life. Being brutally honest with herself, she would have called Knox if Mitch had shown up here or work. Still, Mitch had his faults, but he had more heart than Greer would ever have.
A sudden thought struck her before she could leave. “Mitch doesn’t have any family. Who …? How will he be buried?”
“I’ll check with his parole officer. If no one comes to claim his body, do you want me to contact you?”
“Yes. Just let me know what I need to do.”
Knox nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything out about Mitch and who was chasing you last night.”
“One thing is fucking sure; it wasn’t Mitch.” Greer pulled Dustin’s plate toward him. “Any other suspects?”
“Not yet. I was hoping Lucky would find something on the security footage from the back of the church, but the only thing you see is his face. It was too dark to get a good look at it, though.”
“Have there been any other assaults on women in town?”
“You know I can’t talk about pending cases, but no.”
“How about Curt Dawkins? I heard a rumor he attempted to rape someone when he was in high school.”
“It wasn’t Curt. I already looked into his alibi. He was with Luke Baxter all evening.”
“I wouldn’t take Luke Baxter’s word for shit. He damn sure wouldn’t tell the truth to anyone wearing a badge.”
“I agree, but I can’t arrest him if I can’t place him there. And, so far, there’s no evidence Curt was there. Mick vouched that they were at Rosie’s when the attack was reported.” Knox turned his attention back to her. “Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you? Have you been seeing someone new? Made anyone mad at you lately?”
Holly tried to think, coming up blank. “No. The only one I’ve made mad lately is the cocktail waitress at King’s and Greer. Diamond said that Greer was with her, and the waitress was a woman, so I can’t think of anyone else.”
“What’d you do to the waitress?” Dustin asked curiously.
“I don’t know. She had an attitude from the minute I was seated in her section.”
“Who was it?”
“Her name was Lindy.”
“That explains it.” Dustin ran his hand along the back of his neck. “She hates my guts. I got drunk one night and promised her that if she took me home with her and showed me a good time, she’d never have to work again.”
“And she believed it?” Holly couldn’t believe the woman—any woman—was that gullible.
“I bought her several drinks. She was as drunk as I was. I thought King fired her.” Dustin looked at Greer.
“Evie probably felt sorry for her. Does it matter? If she was as bad in bed as you told me she was, lucky you didn’t ask for the money back you spent on her drinks.”
“That’s so … so …” Holly wanted to smack the empty plate Greer had just practically cleaned over his head.
“Why are you mad at me? I’m not the one who said she was a lousy lay.”
Holly hands went to her hips, glaring at the two brothers. “I can believe Greer would talk like that about a woman, but I’m disappointed in you.”
Dustin’s skin turned a bright shade of red as he gave his brother a furious glance. “I better go. I’m going to be late for work.”
“I’ll check with Diamond and make sure Lindy didn’t have time to change her clothes and sneak out of the bar.”
“Don’t bother. She was there. I was arguing with her right before I saw your squad car go by.”
“I was joking.” Knox gave Greer an exasperated look as he headed toward the door. “I better be going. Holly, don’t forget to make sure Greer or Dustin stays close.”
“I will.”
Dustin left with Knox as if he was afraid she would continue fussing about Lindy.
“You sent him off with his tail tucked between his legs. It’s not a good look on my brother. You embarrassed him in front of Knox. A woman needs to know her place when other men are around.”
“Greer …”
“Yeah?” He leaned back lazily in his chair, patting his full belly.
Holly struck her foot out, sending the chair toppling backward. “Dustin deserved me embarrassing him for running his mouth disrespectfully about a woman.” She picked up the dirty plate that was still sitting on the table, brandishing it over his head. “And if you ever talk like that in front of me again, I’ll wrap this plate around your thick skull. I’m a lady, and whether you like it or not, you’ll treat me like one. You understand me?”
Greer eyed the plate warily. “Yes.”
“Good.” Holly set the plate down so hard it spun across the table. “And since you enjoyed eating the food I cooked so much, you can do the dishes.”
9
Sharpshooter: Do you prefer men who have huge muscles?
Kentuckygirl: Where’s that coming from?
Sharpshooter: Just curious.
Kentuckygirl: I’ve never really thought about it. I think a man’s personality is what makes them attractive to me.
Sharpshooter: Bullshit. Tell me the truth.
Kentuckygirl: I am.
Sharpshooter: If you could pick between the Rock and Tom Hardy, who would you choose?
Kentuckygirl: Both.
Kentuckygirl: I was joking.
Sharpshooter: I’m being serious.
Kentuckygirl: Sorry. Do you still want me to pick?
Sharpshooter: Yes.
Kentuckygirl: Do you want me to pick which I think most women would find mo
re attractive in general, or the one I would personally be attracted to?
Sharpshooter: You.
Kentuckygirl: Then I would pick you. I’ve seen the picture you sent me. There’s no comparison.
Sharpshooter: Right answer.
“I want to ride the roller coaster!”
“You’re not tall enough yet to ride it.” Holly stared up at Logan, who was sitting on his father’s shoulders. Seeing the two of them together always gave her a feeling of belonging.
She had grown up alone with just her mother. What relatives she did have lived states away, and her mother had lost track of them before she had been born. When she had passed away, she had been left with no one. However, Dustin and Logan made up for it, and so did the rest of the Porters.
She compared the men to their mother’s tea kettle that still sat on the stove as if she was going to come back. She would make a cup of tea after getting the eggs just to hear the sound, knowing their mother had probably done the same every day before she had died.
Tate was the tea kettle when she put it on—calm and waiting for something to happen, playing mediator between Greer and the others in the family. Dustin was the water boiling, never knowing what was going on inside the bubbles. And Greer lived life as if he was capable of exploding at any second.
Dustin and Tate, she had grown to love as the brothers she never had, and she had grown close to Rachel, thinking of her as a sister. However, what she felt for Greer was anything but brotherly. She had always liked her tea strong and hot. “Let’s go ride the tilt-a-whirl. You’re tall enough for that.” Greer reached up, lifting Logan to his shoulders as they made their way through the crowded carnival.
Holly followed behind them, walking next to Rachel and Cash as he carried Ema in his arms. As crowded as the carnival was, the people moved out of his way.
“If that were me, I would be trampled.” Rachel moved to the side to keep from being knocked over by a heavyset man texting instead of watching where he was going.
“I know. I wish I had worn boots instead of sandals.” Holly winced when she didn’t get out of the way of a group of teenage boys who were catcalling two pretty girls.
The tilt-a-whirl had a long line. As they got in line, she stepped off to the side.
“I can hold Ema if you and Cash want to ride?”
“You don’t want to ride?”
“No.”
“I want you to ride with me, Holly!” Logan yelled down at her from Greer’s shoulders.
“I’ll ride with you on the next ride.”
“There’s room for all three of us.” Greer bounced Logan on his shoulders, making the little boy laugh. He didn’t even complain when Logan used Greer’s hair to hold his balance.
“I can’t ride it, anyway,” Rachel told her with a mischievous smile.
“Why not?” Holly’s eyes widened when she saw Cash couldn’t hide his gloating smile.
“You’re pregnant?”
Rachel nodded.
All her brothers turned to give Cash hostile glares, which he ignored.
“Don’t blame me. She seduced me.”
“If you weren’t holding my baby, I’d punch you,” Rachel threatened.
“You’d hurt your baby’s daddy?”
“No, but the next time you try to talk me into a late-night swim, you’ll go alone.”
Holly hugged Rachel, congratulating her and wondering about the sad expression on Greer’s face. When he saw her looking at him, he started talking to Dustin. Was he that unhappy that Rachel was going to have another baby so close to Ema? Rachel was close to her brothers, but Holly didn’t think that was what brought melancholy into his eyes.
It was a side of him she wasn’t familiar with, just as when he had offered to go with her to the funeral home to see Mitch before his friend had taken Mitch’s body back to Frankfort where he lived.
Mitch’s friend had remained in the funeral director’s office while she had paid her respects to the man she had tried to love and couldn’t. When she had tried to offer him money to cover the costs, Brett had refused, saying he had already taken care of it. His sympathetic condolences had her rushing outside of the funeral home, unable to stand the burden of her guilt.
After driving her home, Greer had solicitously made her a cup of tea and had given her the space she needed to come to terms with the fallout of how not responding to Mitch’s letters had ended his life.
Greer lifted Logan down, taking his hand to go up the stairs to the ride, drawing her out of her own melancholy thoughts.
Logan’s other hand came out toward her. Taking his hand, she followed Greer up to the waiting red cars.
Greer raised the bar. “You go first. Logan can ride between us. That way, he won’t get knocked around.”
She slid in, giving them room, and then the attendant came over to make sure the bar was locked.
“Can I ride the roller coaster next?”
“What did Holly tell you?”
Greer never tried to back her up where Logan was concerned.
“How about we get some hot dogs when we get off?” Holly suggested.
That had his frown disappearing.
She gripped the handle as the car started moving in a slow circle, while Greer waved as they passed Dustin, who was recording them on his phone. She had never seen Greer so carefree as their car twirled around the platform.
She kept sliding across the slick seat into Logan, despite how hard she held on to the handle. Greer put his arm across the back of the seat, using his hand to hold her in place. Holly could count on one hand the number of times Greer had ever voluntarily touched her. That it all had happened in the span of the same month gave lift to her spirit that they could start to get along better.
Logan wasn’t the only one disappointed when the ride ended too soon. She almost gave in when he wanted to ride it again.
“Wait until we eat and let your stomach settle. I don’t want you to get another bellyache like you got last week.” Greer lifted the handle for them to get out, placing a hand on the car to keep it from spinning.
Everyone agreed to the hot dogs, and Tate found them a picnic table to sit at as he and Dustin went to get the food.
“I saw Jo at the diner when I met Tate for lunch today. She actually smiled at me when I said hi. Whatever you’re saying to her, keep doing it. I’m going to ask her out Sunday after church,” Greer said to Rachel.
A shard of jealousy pierced Holly’s heart at his words. She hadn’t really believed he would ask her out. Jo wasn’t the type Greer usually dated. In fact, she hadn’t dated anyone in town that she knew about. Jo kept to herself when she was at church, usually saying only a word or two to Rachel before leaving in that huge tow truck Greer always ogled.
“I don’t know if she’ll accept. When I try to talk about it, she changes the conversation,” Rachel warned.
Greer’s face brightened. “That’s not a bad thing. Hell, you mention my name to most of the women in town, and they’ll tell you everyone I’ve”—he shot Holly a cautious look. Holly had no doubt that if she weren’t sitting there, he would have used a different word than what came out of his mouth next—“seen in the last five years. Her changing the subject may mean she likes me.”
“How in the hell do you think that?” Cash buttoned up Ema’s jacket as the night grew cooler. “In my experience, women will talk their heads off about who they’re interested in.”
Greer snorted. “You don’t know shit about women.”
Rachel stared at her brother as if he had grown another head. “You think you know more about women than Cash does?” she asked, disbelieving.
“Course I do. About good, God-fearing women. The only experience Cash has with women, other than you, is with sluts. There was no more God-fearing than Ma, and she raised me, didn’t she?”
“Mag raised Cash, and she’s God-fearing.”
“No, she ain’t. God fears her. There’s a difference.”
Rachel
smacked her own forehead before turning toward her husband. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Cash raised a brow at her irate gaze. “No. It’s the truth. We’re all afraid of Mag.”
Trying to forestall the budding argument, Holly tried to soothe Rachel’s temper. “Just because someone goes to church doesn’t mean they live a good life. There are several people who go to our church I wouldn’t give my trust to.”
“I can name a couple,” Rachel agreed. “You want Jo because she’s God-fearing? When was the last time Diane went to church?”
“I didn’t say that was one of my requirements. That’s not the only thing I like about Jo.”
“You don’t know anything about Jo,” Rachel retorted.
“I know she drives that big-ass tow truck. It’s sexy as …” Greer saw Holly’s fingers curl around her soda can as she stared at him while he tried to find the acceptable words that wouldn’t get her drink thrown at him. “I find it very attractive.”
“Me, too.” Dustin grinned. “If I thought Jo would date a younger man, I’d go for her myself.”
Tate and Cash didn’t take their attention away from their hot dogs, remaining uncharacteristically quiet. Their wives gave them narrow-eyed glances at their silence.
“Do you find Jo attractive?” Sutton pointblank asked her husband.
“Do I have to sleep on the couch tonight if I do?”
“If I were a guy, I would find her attractive, too.” Holly took the heat away from the two men who were in danger of spending uncomfortable nights away from their wives. “Jo’s really nice. She tries to help anyone who needs it and never asks for anything in return. Last week, when I got off work, I came out to see her changing my tire. At first I thought you”—Holly nodded toward Dustin—“had her take care of it, but she told me that she had been driving past and saw I had a flat tire. She had gone back to her tow yard and brought back one to put on my car. When I tried to pay for it, she wouldn’t take it, telling me she has dozens of tires and not to worry about it. She kind of made my day doing something nice for me.”
“Is that the same tire I told you to take care of, Dustin?” Tate grated out harshly.