by Brynne Asher
He brought me a late lunch and a monster Diet Coke.
He played checkers with another client’s five-year-old daughter because her babysitter canceled and, as all women know, World War III would have to break out before a woman would be willing to cancel a hair appointment.
He even scheduled a private wine tasting for my last appointment with all her friends at the winery, but made sure to do it on a night when I work late so he doesn’t miss any time with me.
Evan didn’t need to do any of this. We haven’t seen or heard anything more from my dad. I don’t need a babysitter and would have been fine at work with other people and he knows this. It was unspoken, but he stayed with me today because of the news I learned this morning while sitting in his bed—that I had grandparents and my childhood could’ve been a whole lot different.
It should have been different. No child should be subjected to the horrors of a broken system like I was.
Since Evan pushed his way into my life, my world continues to shift because of him.
I smile to myself on a day I never would have otherwise as I follow Evan where he’s driving ahead of me in his car.
“I’ve got a surprise for you, little dandelion,” he says over the phone.
“Everything you do is a surprise.”
After work, I convinced him I needed my car so he didn’t have to get up and taxi me around tomorrow. He only agreed if I promised to follow. “Is that good or bad?”
I’m quick to answer. “Good. All good. What are we doing?”
He turns west and doesn’t give me any more information. “As long as the weather holds off, we’ll be fine.”
It’s late and the sun has set. When he turns onto the road that leads to my best friend’s farmhouse and business, I ask, “We’re going to Addy’s?”
“Not really. I’m taking you out into the vines. I don’t have any tequila but do you think you can handle a glass or two of wine?”
My hangover of the decade has long come and gone and my mouth waters at the same time my stomach growls. Our late lunch was many hours ago. “As long as you feed me, too. I’m starving.”
“We’ll raid the kitchen first. I told Addy we were coming.”
My phone beeps and I pull it away from my ear to see who it is. “Hey, I’ve gotta go. July is calling. I texted her earlier about my grandparents. I’m sure she wants to know everything. I’m right behind you.”
“Okay, baby. See you in five.”
I flip over to July’s call. “Hey, you.”
She doesn’t bother with any greeting. “Holy shit! I want to know everything. Do you know if you have any other family?”
My insides clench because my mind hadn’t gone there. “I don’t know. My mom was an only child, but I guess that doesn’t mean there might not be extended family.”
“I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this by yourself. I wish I was there with you. I’ll talk to Wes, we need to make a trip. Maybe a long weekend. I’ll check on flights.”
“Really?” I start to tear up at the thought of her coming to see me. Shit. There’s seriously something wrong with me—I’m one Hallmark movie away from turning into a sap. I’m losing my edge I’ve worked so hard on all these years. I swallow over the lump in my throat and turn to follow Evan. “I would love that so much. But I’m not dealing with it alone. I was with Evan when I found out this morning.”
“You were?” I hear the smile in her voice. “So, it’s serious? I really like him. Whenever I text him, he gets back to me right away.”
I try not to laugh because that’s so July. “Why are you texting him?”
“To check on you.” She doesn’t sound the least bit repentant for her intrusion. “Because you don’t text me back right away. I’m surprised you answered this call.”
I shake my head. “I’m glad you feel well-informed.”
“I need to meet him in person so I can make my final approval. Since I play the part of your mother, your sister, your best friend, and your—”
Oomph.
My body flies forward and the burning on the side of my face is immediate. My car swerves when something hits me from behind again.
When my brain finally clicks, I drop my phone to bring my hand to my face when my car thrashes, but not before it’s angled off the dark road, jolting and bumping, until it jerks to a hard stop in the ditch.
My head pounds in a whole new way that makes my hangover feel like a papercut. Moaning, I lean back on my headrest and feel pain shoot down my neck.
The airbag in front of me deflates and I bring my trembling hand to my temple, wetness leaking down my face. When I pull my hand away, there’s blood covering my fingers—I see it through the smoke. My stomach turns and, over the hiss of my engine, I hear voices in the night.
Evan
I HIT MY brakes as hard as I can when I see her headlights veer and lurch to the right in my rearview mirror.
Then, they disappear into the ditch.
“Fuck!”
I don’t even bother pulling over. Throwing my car in park in the middle of the road, I swing my door open and start for the grass where Mary’s car is steaming, wedged into a bank. But I hear it before I see it.
Through the dark night, there’s a car. No headlights, I barely make out the shine off the windshield until the sky comes alive, lighting up the night.
Two strikes in a row, followed by booming thunder, and I see it—a dark sedan, the front of the car is smashed to shit from where it rammed Mary and pushed her off the road. The engine revs one more time but it’s weak and doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere. I glance to where Mary is still sitting in her car. She isn’t moving.
I need to get to her so I run toward the ditch, reaching for my phone as someone gets out of the car.
“Don’t move!” The southern drawl mixed with a rasp of cigarettes cuts through the night. “You take one step to her, I’ll put a fucking bullet through your head.”
I hold my hands out low. “I need to check her. She’s not moving.”
The man starts for me and I move in kind toward Mary. He’s crazy if he thinks I’m gonna be a sitting duck. We’re right outside of Addy’s property. I need to get to Mary, call for help, and, somehow, I need to do that without this jackass putting a bullet in either one of us.
“I said don’t move!” he booms, but the heavens argue and, when the sky lights up again, I see him.
He might be five-eight, five-nine. I have at least three inches on him. From everything she told me about him, he has aged beyond his years, but I guess prison will do that to you.
“Duane?” I call out as the rain starts. I need to go to her, call for help because if she isn’t moving at this point, she’s surely hurt and that kills me. But the gun dangling from his hand isn’t giving me a choice and I can’t turn my back on him. “I don’t know what you think you want with Mary, but you’re not touching her. You’ll have to kill me first.”
He tsks me and shakes his head. “Isn’t this sweet? My little girl hooked a pretty-boy. I don’t blame you, not if her snatch is as sweet as her mama’s was. To this day, I’ve never had better. Wish she coulda handled her crank better. She brought top dollar back in the day and I got to enjoy her whenever I wanted.”
Fuck. Nothing Mary told me could’ve lived up to this, could’ve prepared me for the piece of shit who gave her life. I lift my hand to pull it through my hair and his hand holding the gun jerks at my movement. I hold my ground as the rain starts to soak us to the bone. “What do you want?”
He stops about ten feet from me. The rain is pelting down and I have to squint to keep the water out of my eyes. “I know Mary’s got some money comin’ to her. They came to me lookin’ for her. I just got out, haven’t built my business up again, and I need Mary to take care of her old man. I have to do what I have to do. She won’t take my calls and I’ve been watchin’ her for a day or so. You won’t leave her side so now I’ve gotta get through you to get to her. All I want is wh
at Mary’s mama’s old man left her. It should come to me, anyway. She was my wife. Then I’ll be gone for good.”
“Right,” I seethe, knowing for a fact Mary told me they weren’t married, not that it matters anyway. I don’t take my eyes off his, watching his every move, his every reaction to me. “I’m sure you’ll leave her be. Until you blow it all. You and I just met, but I can tell—with your winning personality—you’re probably not going to leave her to live her life in peace.”
I hear a cry from the ditch and it’s all I can do to hold my ground and not go to her.
The asshole starts to move to Mary. There’s no way he’s gonna lay a finger on her. Not while I’m still breathing.
Mary
NO, NOT EVAN.
My fucking father. He can have whatever he wants, but I can’t let anything happen to Evan. Not like this, not for me.
“You can have whatever you want.” I don’t even know if they can hear me through the rain.
The pain in my neck is excruciating and I think my temple is still bleeding. I do my best to reach for my seatbelt and finally unlatch it. Thunder and lightning come down around us, the heavens angry and punishing. My body screams, the hurt shooting down my back, but I twist and push my door open. Through the assaulting streams from the sky, I see them—Evan standing sentry between me and my father.
My father looks older and even harsher than I remember. I always complained about the foster homes I bounced around in like a pinball, but maybe I should be thankful he never wanted me. I’m not sure if I would’ve survived life with him.
“Mary, stay where you are.” Evan doesn’t give me a glance but his words are firm.
I look to my father and realize I’m crying. “I’ll give you what you want, I promise. Just let us be.”
But my heart races when he doesn’t look at me. He never takes his eyes off Evan and sneers, “Trust me, boy, she’s not worth it. There’s too many women out there to hang it up for one, especially her.”
“Evan, stop!” I beg but it’s too late. When the boom fills the night again, it’s a strike from heaven mingling with the one straight from hell.
Evan
I’VE HAD ENOUGH.
He raises his arm, but I’ve played lacrosse since I was eight. I even walked on in college and still play for recreation. Duane Giesen isn’t just an asshole but a stupid one. He’s underestimating me just because he’s the one with a gun.
But I’m fast.
And it’s fucking dark and raining.
By the time he raises his gun, I’m on the move and drop to the cold, hard, slick pavement.
Mary’s screams pierce my soul at the same moment my feet get close enough to kick his out from under him. He falls with a humph and I scramble, moving for his hand. He struggles and I lunge, slamming my elbow in his throat but we’re soaked to the bone and my hand slips from his forearm as he scuffles below me.
I put my weight to his chest and fight his arm as he stares up at me with a look so malicious, it sends chills down my spine. His hand starts to shake as we fight for control of the gun. “She’s a piece of trash just like her mama. Not worth your life, boy.”
I look into his eyes. They’re shaped like Mary’s, but instead of blue and bright as a perfect summer day, they’re dark and evil and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they never aim their way at Mary again.
Unlike his voice that was as shaky as his weak arm, mine comes out even and I mean it with everything I am. “Rot in hell.”
Mary
THEY’RE ROLLING ON the ground and my father has already shot at him once.
“Stop!” I try but it’s useless. My voice is weak and, when I push myself to my feet in the muddy ditch where my car landed, my head spins. I take one step toward them and lose my footing. I fall and the stormy night gets gloomier until my vision spirals into nothing and, as my ears ring and I fall into blackness, the last thing I hear is a second gunshot…
Evan
FEET HIT PAVEMENT—and not just one pair. I’m not sure how I hear it through the storm, but the closer they get, the faster they are, splashing water with every stomp.
I fall back to my ass and watch the blood seep out of Mary’s father faster than what seems natural because of the puddle he’s lying in.
“Evan?”
I jerk and look up, my lungs searching for air.
It’s not the first time in my life I’ve shot a gun, but I drop it to the pavement next to me as Addy’s new neighbor, Crew Vega, and another man come running up to me. I’ve only met Crew a few times and he’s seemed cool, but I just shot a man and I need to get to Mary.
“I…” I try to catch my breath.
“Don’t say anything,” the older one directs. “We saw it all go down on the cameras. Tried to get to you as fast as we could. We’ve got a car coming.”
I look up at them through the rain. “Cameras?”
Crew holds out a hand to me but weirdly says, “Go check on Mary. Make sure she’s stable. At this point, Grady will be able to get her to the hospital faster than waiting for an ambulance. Asa and I’ll clean this up.”
I have no idea who Grady or Asa are but, right now, I don’t give a shit. I scramble to my feet and run the ten yards to where Mary is lying in the wet grass, rain coming down on her fair skin that’s now paler than normal. I fall to my knees and feel her pulse, strumming below her skin. I have no idea if it’s fast or slow or normal, but it’s there.
I put my hand to her face and brush her cheek. “Baby. Wake up. Mary, please.”
Her eyes flutter and she murmurs, “Dizzy. So dizzy.”
“You’re going to be okay. It’s all over.” I don’t know if it’s a lie, but right now I’ll will it to be true. I let out a breath and pull her off the cold, wet ground and into my arms.
One of the men crouches next to us and looks into her eyes with the flashlight on his phone, making her wince. “I’m one of Crew’s men. Name’s Asa. She’s got a pretty big knot on her head—could have a concussion. Careful with her neck. You need help getting her up or are you good?”
I pull her into my arms—because there’s no way I’m letting her go—and stand. “I’m good.”
When we climb to the road, a black Escalade appears, the headlights lighting up the night. Crew opens the back door and motions for me to get in. “Grady will drive you to the hospital. It was a hit-and-run—Mary slid off the road. You got me, Evan?”
I climb into the back of the SUV, only thinking of Mary, and try to put everything else out of my head.
“Evan, Grady will explain more on the way, but tell me you get it,” Crew directs one more time.
I give him a chin lift and look down at Mary tucked to my chest. “Yeah.”
With that, Crew slams my door.
And today is the day I realize, you might think you know someone, but in reality, you have no fucking clue.
14
I KNOW YOU
Mary
“BABY, HERE’S YOUR coffee.”
That’s a new voice. Besides Evan, Addy, Bev, the nurses, and an occasional doctor, no one else has been here. That deep gravelly tone is one I’ve never heard before.
“Thank you. I don’t care what her vitals say, I’m not moving from this chair until I see for myself that she’s okay.”
Even though my aching body protests, I know that voice. I turn to the sweet sound that feels like home. Prying my eyes open, I have to squint because of the light. I hate that my voice is weak and laced with emotion from seeing my best friend for the first time in way too long. “You’re really here?”
July—without taking her eyes off me, pushes her Starbucks to-go cup toward a huge man in a leather vest with patches all over it, and stands from the chair, rushing to my side. “Thank God. It didn’t matter how many times they told me you’d be okay. There’s nothing like seeing your bright blue eyes.”
I try to return her squeeze since she’s taken my good hand, but I’m so tired. “You read m
y chart? You’re making me feel like a dog.”
My beautiful friend smiles and her eyes turn glassy.
I try to clear my dry throat. “How did you get here?”
July swipes a quiet tear running down her cheek and reaches for a water cup on the table, offering me the straw. “I freaked out after I heard you scream on the phone right before the line went dead. I blew up Evan’s phone until he called me last night and told me everything about the hit and run. You’re lucky it wasn’t worse—your car could’ve rolled in that storm. I lost it and Wes booked flights for first thing this morning. We came straight to the hospital and I’ve been waiting on you to wake up.”
A big biker I recognize from pictures walks up behind July and leans down to press his lips to the top of her head. I wasn’t able to travel back to be at their wedding. “I’m Wes Silver. Good to see you awake. Not quite sure I’ve ever seen anything put my wife in such a state and knew I had to get her here as soon as I could.”
I take in my best friend and her new husband as I try to muster my best post-concussion, cracked-ribs, broken-wrist smile. “Thank you.”
I look around the room and realize he’s not here.
I came-to in his arms last night in a strange car on the way to the emergency room. Evan explained it was over and Addy’s neighbor would take care of everything with the hit and run. Even with a throbbing head, an aching arm, and my body protesting every bump and turn the SUV was making, I saw it in his eyes.
And I knew.
So, when the police questioned me late last night, I took Evan’s lead and told them the truth—that a car hit me from behind and I passed out. With Evan sitting next to me, he gave my hand a squeeze and explained the rest. That it was my father and he had an altercation with him to keep him from getting to me.
The truth.
Ish.
Now, there’s a warrant out for Duane Giesen’s arrest for hit and run along with assault.
There are only five of us who know that warrant will stay outstanding. Forever.