Count on Me (Petal, Georgia)

by Lauren Dane

  “Wow. That would be awesome. Thank you so much.” She pulled out a card and put her cell on the back. “My information.”

  Elliot tucked it in a pocket. “Keep me updated. If anyone remembers something I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks. I mean that.”

  She got in her car and drove away.

  “I’m so proud of you. This radio thing will boost the signal. That’s going to raise your profile in a big way. If you can’t find those lost pages, you can try to get people who are still alive to call in.”

  She shifted in her bed. Alone. Ugh. That had grown to suck really fast. But she had an early meeting and hadn’t gotten home until after nine so it made sense to sleep at her place.

  Sometimes sense sucked.

  “I don’t like it when you’re not next to me. You’re warm and I fit right into your side and it makes it easier to sleep.”

  “Yeah. Me too, baby. I can come over. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” he said, and it made her smile.

  “Nah. You have a long day tomorrow. I have a long day tomorrow. Go to bed. I’ll talk with you later and see you Friday.”

  He paused and then sighed. “You’re awfully small to take up such a big part of my heart.”

  “You say the best things. I love you too.”

  “Sleep well. Spike is headbutting my hand where I’m holding the phone so he misses you too.”

  “He’s trying to get you to put the phone down so you can pet him.”

  “Yeah that’s more likely. But less romantic.”

  She laughed. “Goodnight, Royal and Spike.”

  “Night. Sweet dreams.”

  It had been a great day all around but for the absence of Royal in her bed, and as she’d be seeing him soon enough, it could wait a day or two. If anything the time apart from him always made her realize how much she liked hanging out with him.

  He was low maintenance except when it came to sex. Then? Well then he was an exacting taskmaster, which was fine with her. If you wanted something done right you had to practice. A lot.

  She fell asleep with a smile on her face, thinking of Royal as her fucking coach. Yeah that worked.

  “So, I think you should tell me.” Shep put four slices of pizza on his plate. This, along with a giant bucket-like container of soda, and that was just his first go. She had a lot of sympathy for her grandparents. It must cost so much money to feed a teenage boy.

  He settled on one corner of her couch, claiming that end table for his cup and plate, she did the same on the other side.

  “What do you mean?”

  “About him. About why you think what you do.”

  She paused. It wasn’t that she hadn’t endlessly thought about how she should deal with this topic. She spent hours just trying to figure it out. Should she tell him? If yes, should she seek her grandparents’ permission because they were his guardians? If she did tell him, how much to say?

  But the reality of that moment happening after so long got to her, and she needed a bit of time to pull herself back together.

  “You want to know about our dad. About why I think he’s innocent. Just being super clear.”

  He nodded.

  “I have long wondered if I should ask Grandma and Grandpa for permission to talk about this with you.”

  “I’m almost eighteen! You’re my sister. This is about our parents. Why should you have to ask? You know they’ll refuse.”

  She blew out a breath. “Yeah. That’s pretty much what I thought. I think you’re a really mature young man. You’re off to college in like what, four and a half months?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m proud of you for that. I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. You are going to have such great things in your future. Mom and Dad would have been proud. So anyway, you’ll be eighteen in three weeks. You’re my brother. They were our parents and I knew them better than anyone. Which is why I’m going to tell you. Grandma and Grandpa will be angry when they find out, you know. Are you prepared to deal with that?”

  “We got into a big fight after you left. Grandma and Grandpa do not agree at all about what went down Saturday. He feels bad. She’s mad at you for embarrassing her in front of Royal and the rest of town with your crusade. Garrett is right up her butt on that. Mindy…well. She wants to support you. She actually argued for you for a while. He doesn’t want her seeing you. I just think that’s bullshit. You’re our sister. This is about our family and our life, and I think we have a right to feel however we damn well feel.”

  “That was a few curse words there, Shep.” She gave him an amused warning.

  “It makes me feel like cursing. I don’t like secrets. This thing where they want you to shut up about how you feel and what you know about what happened to you? I don’t like it at all. That’s a damned secret. One of those secrets that tears everyone apart. And you’re the one who pays the price. I’m not okay with that. I want you to tell me. So I can make up my mind without secrets.”

  She took a deep breath and she told him.

  Over the next few hours she spoke, he asked questions, she answered them. Once they finished eating, she let him see the press kit with all the relevant facts about the case and then handed him a black three-ring binder.

  “That’s pretty much everything I just went over with you along with supporting legal documentation and case law. Some of those subjects have articles attached. It’s all layers of proof for everything I’ve just told you.”

  He dropped onto her couch, an arm thrown over his eyes, and she felt awful for overwhelming him. “Look, let’s stop now.”

  “You keep saying that. But I want to know.”

  “I know you do. I’m not saying no to giving you the answers, but I think you’re tired and you have school tomorrow and I’ve just told you stuff that you need to find a way to process and deal with. This is enough for the night. I’ll tell you more. You can talk to the other attorneys and people I deal with to see what they think. I just want to say to you, Enrique Mendoza would never, ever have hurt Bianca Mendoza. You were two when this happened. You didn’t get to know either of them and for that I am so sorry. But I did. I saw them both every single day of my life. He didn’t do this. And when, or if, you decide I’m telling you the truth, you’re going to struggle. I’m telling you in advance that you need to give yourself permission not to feel guilt. You couldn’t have known.”

  “But I could have! Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

  “You were two. Mindy was five. It was made clear to me that I could not stay here if I continued to hold on to the belief that our dad was innocent. So I went with our dad’s family.” Jesus, they’d been so anxious to see her brother and sister all these years. Their grandmother would be so thrilled. But she needed to take it slow and not overwhelm him any more.

  “And later?”

  “It was in my best interests to not speak of it in front of you or Mindy if I wanted to keep seeing you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It doesn’t matter. The point is, I’m sorry to be dumping all this on you at once. I wanted to tell you, but I wanted you in my life. I wanted to keep on seeing you and Mindy, so I kept my mouth shut. Grandma is going to flip out when she finds out.”

  “I’m not going to say anything for a while. I want to think on everything you’ve told me. Read some of these things.”

  “You should keep that binder to yourself.”

  “That’s more lying. I told you, I hate it.”

  She nodded. “I get it. I swear I do. So how about you be discreet? Do you think there’ll be the peace to think all this over if she sees the stuff in that binder?”

  “This is dumb and awful and I hate it.”

  She hugged him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry to be giving you this major info dump. I really should have taken it slower.”

  “I pushed. I want to know. You did the right thing.”

  They walked to the door. “Text me when you get
home, okay?” She kissed his cheek and hugged him before handing over the entire leftover pizza she’d ordered so he’d have breakfast.

  “You got it. I’ll be discreet.” He held up the binder.

  “Good. Thank you. Love you.”

  He’d already been halfway down her steps when he called back that he loved her too.

  Her phone rang right after she locked the door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Royal raised his glass. “To you, darlin’.”

  Caroline grinned and took a sip of her beer. “I can’t believe they played it during drive time.” She’d prerecorded the radio interview and played it during drive time.

  “Clearly your cop friend likes you to hook you up nicely.” He smirked at her.

  “He’s a nice guy who wants to do the right thing.”

  “Sure and gaining the trust and affection of the hottest woman to cross his path ever.”

  “Aw you’re jealous?”

  He snorted but she blushed and may have giggled a little.

  “Well, sir, when you come in to my house and there’s a naked man in my bed we can talk.”

  It was his turn to blush as he nearly choked on his beer.

  “Touché,” he croaked.

  “Anyway. I’ll check the tip line tomorrow morning before we go over to Melissa’s.”

  They were nestled in a corner booth up at the front window, a pitcher of beer between them, burgers ordered.

  “It’s not such a bad way to spend a Friday night. Beautiful woman with great news. There will be some sexing going on when we get to my place. Just in case you were wondering. So that’s a good thing. Add beer and a good burger and, really, a man can’t ask for much more.”

  “You’re sassy today.”

  “I’m sassy every day.”

  She laughed and caught sight of Anne and Beth coming in with Joe. Anne turned, and upon seeing Caroline, she waved and they all started over.

  “Hey you,” Anne said to Caroline. “If you go over there and sit with him, we can join you.”

  Caroline rolled her eyes, but it was teasing and taken in that manner. Anne slid in followed by Beth and Joe.

  The newcomers ordered food and another pitcher before Anne turned to Caroline. “I heard you on the radio tonight.”

  “He got a cancellation at nine last night. I went to his studio this morning after court and did the piece. I had no idea it would run during prime drive time. He was going to try for late afternoon.”

  Anne nodded. “Cool. You made some really great points, by the way. I hope you find answers.”

  Caroline smiled. “Stop being so nice.”

  She nearly leered and it made Caroline guffaw. “All part of my plan.” Anne looked to Royal. “Doesn’t your girlfriend’s hair look fantastic?”

  Royal’s gaze slid from Caroline’s mouth up to her hair and them back to her mouth before answering Anne. “She does. She told me she went into the salon, and you did it for her.”

  “I told you she’d look good with that mahogany.” Beth nudged her sister’s arm.

  Caroline had planned to see Tate but Tate had been called over to the preschool where one of her children had just puked, so in the end, Caroline had gambled on Anne and won. Thank goodness.

  And as she walked out of the salon, Caroline sort of had to accept she really liked Anne and her sister Beth. Tate had shown up halfway through the color so Caroline had gotten to know her too.

  Caroline gave her hair a flip and felt Royal’s attention on her hot and hard for long moments.

  The server brought more beer and some food. During all the chaos, Royal leaned over, his lips against her ear. “It makes me so hard when you flip your hair like that.”

  She kept her eyes on her beer but smiled into the glass.

  “Hey, Caroline!”

  She looked up to find Elliot Charles standing there.

  “Hey, Elliot!” She turned to Royal. “Royal, this is Officer Charles, from Millersburg. Elliot, this is my boyfriend, Royal Watson.”

  There was some hand shaking.

  “This is Joe Harris and Beth Murphy.”

  “I met Beth and Joe that weekend I chatted with Edward and Polly about you.” Elliot grinned at them and then turned his attention to Anne. Anne’s eyes went half-lidded and soon enough, Elliot’s had done the same.

  “But I’d have remembered you,” Elliot said to Anne.

  “Anne Murphy, Elliot Charles.”

  Royal stole two of Caroline’s rings while she nosily watched Anne and Elliot sniff around one another.

  “You should stay for a drink, Elliot. Have a beer,” Caroline suggested and Anne threw her a big smile.

  Everyone shifted. Interestingly enough it left Elliot sitting across from Anne.

  People came and went over the next hour or two. A pool game got started when a bunch of the Chases showed up. Caroline hung out at the table with Beth. Anne and Elliot had started an earnest debate, Luke Bryan versus Jake Owen.

  The place got even more crowded as prime Friday-night social hours hit their peak.

  Royal played pool in the back with Trey, Jacob and Nathan. Lily sat with Beth and Caroline. She gave a look at Anne and one to Beth and Caroline.

  “Okay then, ladies. How goes it?” Lily leaned back a little, getting comfortable.

  “Excellent. Planning the wedding.” Beth and Joe were getting married that upcoming August.

  “Still considering jetting off to Hawaii and doing it and just having a party when you return?”

  Beth looked at Lily. “You have such a big mouth. What if she couldn’t be trusted? Joe’s mother is so wrapped up in wedding plans, and now Tate is like her partner in crime. If they heard I’d even joked about eloping, they’d both have kittens.”

  Lily waved a hand. “Who’s gonna tell? Anne’s having hormones over there with officer sweetcheeks. She’s not hearing a damn thing we’re saying. I’m scared of Tate when she starts planning things so it’s not like I’ll be running to her with this. Unbunch.” Lily turned to Caroline. “Nice radio coverage, by the way.”

  “You heard it?”

  “No, Nathan and I were at the doctor’s office. Nothing bad,” she added quickly, “just a regular prenatal visit. Everything is fine. Anyway, we heard from Tate when we saw her earlier. All the kids are over at her house watching a movie and having hot chocolate and snacks.”

  “My sister Tate is like one of those people who loves kids. Oh people say it, but let’s be real, kids can be annoying as hell.” Beth looked to Lily’s growing belly. “Um, not all kids though. Anyway Tate really means it. She’s just like so totally alive when she’s with her kids, with kids in general.”

  Caroline smiled. “I’ve seen her with Matt and their kids. They have happy ending written all over them.”

  Beth nodded. “Matt Chase might be the one dude on earth who is worthy of her.”

  “Not that y’all are biased.”

  Beth laughed. “Where Tate is concerned, I think you’ll find all of us are very biased. But back to the radio thing. It’s exciting.”

  Caroline didn’t want to get her hopes up, but it was a positive direction at least. “I figure between the people who heard it and people talking about it, maybe it’ll get attention.”

  Anne pulled her attention away from Elliot to speak to Caroline. “Oh, honey, people are going to talk about it. Garrett Moseby is flapping his gums all over town.”

  Caroline knew her eyes went wide but she was so surprised and yet not surprised she couldn’t help it. “He is not!”

  Anne nodded. “Totally is. Like a weasel. Thing is, he is a weasel so people know that.”

  “But some will listen.” Caroline blew out a breath. “What?” she asked them all. “You think I don’t notice when everyone is talking about me? How many people look over here? Just because I hold it down doesn’t mean I don’t see it.”

  “Yes, some people will listen to him. Some people think Elvis is alive and tank tops with shel
f bras actually hold your boobs up.”

  There was a moment of silence for how true that last statement was.

  “Anyway, all I can do is hope the more people talk about it, the more people remember.”

  Royal came walking back, and she locked her gaze with his, smiling.

  “I just can’t seem to step a foot without running into you. You won’t be happy until you ruin every place in town.”

  At first Caroline looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, and then she realized it was Benji and he was talking with her.

  “Here she is out drinking and partying while her grandmother weeps herself to sleep.” From his place just behind Benji’s left shoulder, Garrett sneered.

  Caroline glanced at them and then turned back to Lily. “Those are super cute earrings by the way.”

  “Thanks!” Lily touched the blood-red beads dangling from the vintage-styled chandelier earrings. “Cassie Chase makes them a few times a year and shows up at the farmer’s market to sell them at random.”

  “That’s ridiculously cool. Like batman. Only with earrings.”

  “I’m talking to you. Hey!”

  There was movement at the edge of her vision, and she flinched away instinctively, turning to find Royal’s hand crushing Benji’s fist. “You don’t touch her. Ever. You get me?”

  Royal shoved Benji back so hard he stumbled, his back hitting a nearby booth.

  People began to look as Royal fully inserted himself between where she’d moved, half-standing in the booth, and where Benji nearly panted with anger.

  “She needs to get out of here. And get out of Petal. This is a town for decent people.”

  “Like men who’d sucker punch a woman a foot shorter?”

  Garrett took Benji’s shoulder, not meeting Caroline’s astonished gaze. “Come on, Benji. Lay off. You made your point.”

  “She’s a no-good whore who screwed her way into your little group for protection. You lie with dogs you’re going to get fleas, Royal.”