I held out my hand to him. “Come with me.”
He looked up at me, seeming lost. Taylor reached for me, intertwining his fingers with mine and bringing my hand to his lips. He closed his eyes tight, breathing hard through his nose.
With my free hand, I cupped the back of his head and hugged him to my middle. “I’m here.”
He let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my shirt.
CHAPTER NINE
ELLIE
THE TELEVISION WAS THE ONLY LIGHT in our dark living room, dim and then bright and back again, depending on what scene and camera angle was presented at the time. I’d told myself not to watch this movie, knowing it was about an alcoholic, foul-mouthed reporter. Even after a decade on the wagon, my throat tightened every time she took a drink; my heart pinged when she was out, laughing hysterically, sloppy drunk with her friends, taking dick from anyone who had one. I’d made it to the last scene, and she had fallen in love with a decent dude. Fuck. I was too old to say dude. At least, that was what Gavin had told me because he was five and knew everything.
I ran my fingers over the prickles of Gavin’s dark, buzzed hair. He’d fallen asleep using my lap as a pillow like he always did when his dad was on shift. Tyler and I had fallen in love sometime between a one-night stand (mostly my fault) and a stint in rehab (totally my fault). Somehow, we lived in a three-bedroom house with a dog, two cats, and a son who wasn’t into throwing temper tantrums and never held on to anything—not a bottle, a pacifier; he even potty-trained early. Addiction didn’t seem to be in his future. I just hoped his penchant to let things go didn’t spill over into his love life.
I glanced at my watch and sighed. It was nearly three a.m., and Tyler was still fighting the fire at the warehouse. Years of sleepless nights kept me from trying to go to bed before he was back at the station, so I waited for the call that he was safe at his second home.
Just as the credits began to roll, a light knock sounded on the front door. I carefully moved Gavin’s head off my lap and slipped out from under him. I approached the door with caution. We lived in a nice neighborhood in a smallish tourist community, but whoever was at my door in the wee hours of the morning wasn’t selling LipSense.
“Who is it?” I said, trying to be both loud enough to be heard and quiet so I wouldn’t wake Gavin.
“It’s Taylor,” a deep voice said.
“And Falyn.”
I twisted the bolt lock and yanked open the door, staring at my in-laws as if they were a hallucination. Taylor had both of their sleeping children hanging over his shoulders, his face pale and his eyes glossed over.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, and then covered my mouth. I hadn’t heard from Tyler in nearly an hour. A lot could happen in an hour. “Oh, God.”
“No,” Falyn said, reaching for me. “This isn’t about Tyler.”
I pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her tight. She was surprised, and I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t typically the snuggly type with anyone but Tyler and Gavin.
“Have you heard from him?” Taylor asked, walking past me.
“You can put them in the guest room,” I said but wasn’t sure why. Taylor knew exactly where it was and was already headed that way. Taylor and Falyn had spent a lot of their time in our home and vice-versa until Falyn had left. She hadn’t been gone that long, but it somehow still felt strange being under the same roof with both of them again.
Taylor returned. His hands were free, and he didn’t quite know what to do with them, so he crossed his arms across his middle.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Tyler.”
I shook my head and then glanced back to check on Gavin. “He should be wrapping up at the warehouse. I haven’t heard from him in the last hour.”
Taylor sniffed. “Guess I’m going to have to go to the warehouse.”
“They should be finished soon,” I said. “Everything okay?”
“He’s grown so much,” Falyn whispered, walking over to my son sprawled out on the sofa. She kneeled beside him, smiling as she took a closer look. “Gavin looks identical to Taylor and Tyler when they were his age.”
“He misses you,” I said. “He asks about you a lot.”
Her expression fell. “I miss him, too. And you.” She stood. “Taylor got a call from Trent.”
“We’re going home,” Taylor said.
“To Eakins? When?”
“Tomorrow,” Falyn said. “You and Tyler, too.”
“We are?” I asked, touching my chest. “What’s going on? Is it Jim?” I knew Dad’s health wasn’t the greatest. He was overweight, ate bacon every morning for breakfast, and smoked cigars. By the look on Taylor’s face, I knew something terrible had happened.
Taylor opened his mouth to explain but couldn’t.
Falyn continued for him. “It’s Thomas.”
“Thomas?” He’d just become a father. “Oh, God. The baby?”
“No,” Falyn said. “Thomas was shot.”
“Shot?” I said, my voice going up an octave. The room began to spin.
“We don’t know many details.”
“Oh, Liis,” I said, covering my mouth with my hand. My heart instantly broke for her. My gaze drifted to Taylor. I felt bad, knowing he would have to hear the story again when we broke the news to Tyler. I closed my eyes, feeling hot tears streaming down my cheeks. My heart broke for my husband.
“You should sit down,” Falyn said, trying to keep her composure.
I lumbered to Tyler’s recliner and collapsed. “Fuck. Fuck. This doesn’t make sense. Did they catch the shooter?”
“We’re not sure,” Taylor said. He clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles dancing under his skin.
“Liis is flying into Eakins in the morning,” Falyn said.
I lifted my head. “She’s not staying with Thomas?”
Falyn shook her head. “It … it sounds like it’s pretty bad. Her flying to Eakins …” she trailed off.
Bile rose in my throat. He wasn’t going to make it. Liis was flying home to be with his family.
“I already booked the tickets,” Falyn said.
“For us, too?” I asked. She nodded, and I stood, looking around, my mind already filling with packing lists and who would care for the animals while we were gone. I paused and then walked the few steps to where Taylor stood, hugging him to me. He felt a little limp in my arms.
“I fucking knew it,” he said. “I had a bad feeling when I left the fire earlier, but I thought it was Tyler. I should have called home.”
Taylor knew as well as I did that calling home wouldn’t have helped anything, but he was doing what Tyler was going to do when he heard the news: blame himself. I let him go and walked back to the sofa, picking up my phone from the end table and disconnecting the charger.
I texted Tyler to call me, and then we all waited. Within three minutes, my phone rang. I answered immediately.
“Hi baby,” he said, sounding tired and out of breath, but happy. “Just getting in the truck.”
“I … need you to come home,” I said. It just occurred to me that he would want to know why, and I didn’t want to tell him over the phone.
“What happened?” he asked, already suspicious.
“Taylor and Falyn are here. Just come home, okay? As soon as you can get here.”
“On my way,” he said. I heard the sirens in the background, and then the line went silent.
I breathed out a long breath, knowing within a few minutes, those sirens would be blaring in the distance, getting closer until they turned off when Tyler entered the neighborhood. I tried not to think about him speeding home to hear what he already knew was bad news. He just didn’t know how bad—or who.
CHAPTER TEN
CAMILLE
AS EVERYONE ELSE WAS SETTLING IN for the night, I was leaving for work. I started at Skin Deep Tattoo as the receptionist, but now, I was the business manager. I hire
d and fired, kept books, and worked the business side that Calvin, turns out, wasn’t doing. The shop nearly closed down, but I navigated an agreement with the IRS, and we were finally making enough profit to hire a couple of new artists. Tonight, though, I was heading to The Red Door. I filled in when they needed me to cover the east bar. Very few could handle it, and Raegan and Blia had left years ago when they graduated college. Hank and Jorie had been so good to me; I couldn’t tell them no.
The federal agents asked that I not leave, but I’d promised Hank I’d cover a shift for one of his newer bartenders. The house was overfilling, anyway. Olive was sleeping on the sofa in Jim’s living room, and Shepley’s parents were even spending the night. Travis felt it was safer if everyone was under the same roof until Liis arrived in the morning—apparently with more agents.
Agent Perkins was on watch, staring out the window when I left with Trenton. He dropped me off at the side of the building, as close to the door as he could get. He was unhappy about me going to work, too.
I leaned over to kiss him. “I’ll be fine. Drew is in there. He’s a beast.”
“I’ll be here waiting at two.”
“It’ll be two-thirty,” I said.
“I’ll be here at two.”
He looked worried, so I didn’t argue.
A few years past thirty, my clothes covered more, but I found that fast service made just as many tips as tits and ass. I waved to Drew as I made my way to the door. He jogged to meet me, twisting the knob and pulling before I could. He held the door open with a smile.
“Thanks, Drew,” I said, patting his bicep. I would have had to reach up to pat his shoulder. Drew was a sophomore at Eastern State, six-foot-seven, with arms as big around as my head. His father was a champion weightlifter, and Drew was on his way. The moment he stepped into Hank’s office to apply for the bouncer job, he was hired. The only problem—if you could call it that—was Drew being so polite that he sometimes wasn’t as aggressive as Hank wanted. He was an awe-shuck, rock-kicking cowboy, but he could hold two men apart while they were swinging and yelling, asking them to please get along. Admittedly, it was always entertaining, but Hank wanted a bouncer, not a peacekeeper. Lucky for Drew, his presence was usually enough.
“Yes, ma’am. Do you have my number? I’d be happy to meet you in the parking lot when you pick up a shift. It’s not safe for ladies to be walking alone at night.”
I gave him a side-glance. “Have you met me, Drew?”
He chuckled. “Once or twice.” He paused while he decided if he was going to say the next part. “I’d still feel better about it. If you don’t mind.”
“Okay. I’ll call ahead.”
He smiled, relieved. “Thank you, Mrs. Maddox.”
“Cami,” I reminded him.
Drew turned right, toward the entrance, and I went left to the east bar. Shayla was already stocking beer in the coolers. She was high-strung but worked fast enough to keep up with the east bar’s traffic.
She sighed. “Did Natasha call in sick again?”
“She did.”
“Hank’s going to fire her.”
“I doubt it.”
“He misses team Cami and Raegan. He tells us all the time.”
“That’s non-productive,” I said, pouring a bucket of ice into the last cooler.
“I don’t blame him. I like working with you, too.”
I smiled. It was nice to feel needed, even if I was spread a little thin the past few years with Jim. I’d made sure he was in bed before I left, propping his cane against the wall next to his bed and setting a cup of ice water on his nightstand. Night-lights lit the way from his room to the bathroom, but I still worried. Jim was like a father to me; he was the only one I had. My alcoholic, abusive father had died years before from cirrhosis of the liver. I didn’t miss him, but Mom moved to Ohio with my oldest brother and his family, and the rest of my brothers were scattered all over the country.
I was lucky to have a family like the Maddoxes, but I was desperate to keep Jim as long as possible. His health had declined in the past few years and had me worried. I wanted to give him a grandchild and for him or her to know Jim; to remember him. It seemed no matter how many vitamins I gave him every morning, how many walks we went on, or how healthy I cooked for him, we couldn’t fight time. The hardest part was that he was embracing it. He looked forward to seeing his wife again, and it felt self-serving to beg him to try harder.
The DJ started up the sound system and checked the mics, making me snap out of my stare off with the beer cooler.
“You okay?” Shayla said. She was staring at me like I was nuts. She was barely twenty-one and had no way to relate to what I was feeling, so I kept it to myself.
Jorie sauntered by, her eyes lighting up when she saw me. She wouldn’t stay long. She was seven months pregnant and was concerned about the loud music affecting the baby. “Cami!” She rounded the bar and threw her arms around me.
“You look great,” I said, feeling both happy for her and guilty for my envy. Liis, Abby, and Jorie were all pregnant at the same time, and every month when I looked down at my negative pregnancy test, I thought of them. I didn’t want to be envious. I didn’t want to be angry that it was so easy for them and so far had been impossible for me. I didn’t want to hate them a little bit, but I did. Desperation created its own emotions.
“Thanks,” she said, looking down and running her hand over her baby bump. Her gaze returned to mine. “You look tired. Everything okay?”
I rolled my eyes, shoving two more beer bottles in the bucket of ice. “Tired is code for you look like shit.”
“No. Your eyes are bloodshot. You have circles under your eyes. Your shoulders are sagging. So … I take it back. You do look like shit.”
I chuckled at her bluntness. One of the many reasons I loved her. “We got some bad news today.”
She gasped. “Jim?”
“No. Thomas …” I trailed off, unsure what to say. My brother-in-law being shot was so unbelievable. There were FBI agents at Jim’s asking us to keep it quiet. “… was in an accident.”
“Oh, fuck!” she said, touching her belly. “He’s going to be all right, though, right?”
“We’re waiting. We don’t have a lot of information yet, but they say it’s bad.”
“Who’s they?”
I paused. “Liis.”
Jorie covered her mouth, her eyes glossing over. “Oh, Liis.” She hugged me as if she were hugging Thomas’s girlfriend. It felt strange because, at one time, I was. Her reaction brought long buried feelings to the surface. I’d been worried for Trenton and Jim but hadn’t taken a moment to really understand my own emotions. Thomas was my first love, and at one time, we considered me moving out to California to take it to the next level. And then … Trenton came along. Thinking back, Trenton and I made much more sense, and Thomas was perfect with Liis. But it took several years for all of us to work it out in our hearts and minds. In that moment, hugging Jorie, I was right back where I started … loving them both.
I released her; even though Jorie’s soft curves were comforting. She might have been curvier than she used to be, but she still had long, platinum blond hair. Instead of black peek-a-boo streaks, her style now featured teal tips. She would be the kind of mother I wanted to be: maternal, wild, fierce, and fun. I just had to get pregnant.
She wiped her eyes and then waved goodbye, retreating to Hank’s office to get another hug before going home.
“Wow,” Shayla said, her eyes wide. “What did you say to her?”
“My brother-in-law was in an accident.” Fuck. Now, it felt weird to say brother-in-law. Even having confusing feelings felt like a betrayal to Trenton. I cared about Thomas and loved him once. Now, my love for him was in the realm of how I felt about any of Trenton’s brothers. But losing him was a very real possibility—at least, according to the federal agents at Jim’s. I remembered the times we’d laughed and talked about our deepest thoughts and feelings. We’d c
reated a bond before I’d ever fallen in love with Trenton, and that was a strange place to be in. I wanted to pull out my phone and text Trenton to work out the thoughts spinning in my head, but there was too much to do before the doors opened.
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry. Did Jorie know him?”
“Yeah,” I said, being vague on purpose. I didn’t want to explain how Jorie knew him when we were dating. I understood how on the outside looking in, the whole situation was very incriminating. It was hard to explain the way I felt about Thomas without sounding like those feelings betrayed Trenton. In truth, I loved my husband more than I’d loved anyone, including Thomas. Trenton got me in a way no one else did, and he loved me more than anyone else had. Even if the tables were turned, and Trenton had the accident and Liis had never come along, I still wouldn’t turn to Thomas. Now that Trenton had shown me what love was, I knew that wasn’t what Thomas and I had. My feelings ran deep, and something about him was hard to shake, but Trenton Maddox was the love of my life. No one else.
Within ten minutes, Hank was making his way to me, sympathy in his eyes. “Jorie just left. She told me about Thomas. I’m sorry, sweets.”
I shrugged to stave off the tears. I’d been obsessing about how I felt since Jorie had walked away, and Hank talking to me nearly sent me over the edge. For some reason, when men showed me sympathy, it made me feel things more intensely. I wasn’t sure if it was because my father showed a little compassion, or it was just a universal thing that women felt when men allowed themselves to be vulnerable for half a second. Men holding and cooing to babies, men crying, men admitting they were afraid or just showing sensitivity, in general, had always made me overly emotional. It just seemed like such a beautiful moment of vulnerability and bravery to me.
Hank took me into his arms, and the tears flowed. He held me tighter. “You should go home. You can’t work like this.”
I pulled away, and I could see that in his eyes he didn’t mean it. He knew better. I needed to stay busy to cope. “No, thank you.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
I was glad when the doors opened, and I could put on my game face. It was coin beer night, and the east bar was surrounded six lines deep. I took an order, made the drink, jabbed the buttons of the register, took the money, watched the tip go into the jar, and started all over. After just half an hour, I pulled the horn for more beer. After three hours, I pulled the horn for more of everything. The dance floor was full, the patrons were happy, and Drew didn’t have to break up one fight. It was a good night, and after everyone had cleared out and housekeeping was sweeping up the mess left behind, I grabbed my middle to hug myself, and I bawled.
A Beautiful Funeral: A Novel (Maddox Brothers Book 5) Page 9