He hung up the phone.
“Who was it?” I asked.
Pain I never wanted to see in my husband’s eyes looked back at me. “My parents ... They ... My parents were in a car accident. They ... They died.”
After I uttered the words out loud that my parents were dead, I crumpled to the sand. I wasn’t sure how long Nicole and I sat on the beach, but she held me while I cried. Even after the way my parents treated me my entire life, my heart still broke to know that I would never ever hear from them or see them again. A part of me thought that I would eventually get answers from them, find out why they hated me so much, but now that would never happen.
Because they were dead.
My parents had fucking died.
“Can I ask you a question?” Nicole asked as I opened the door to our hotel room.
“Of course.”
“What’s happening on Monday?”
I sighed and shut the door behind us. “I have to go identify the bodies.”
Nic gasped. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I need to fly there on Monday once we’re back in the city.”
She walked over and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Do you want me to go with you?”
“Can you?”
“Of course. I’ll call my boss in the morning and let her know. I’ll also book our flight if you want.”
“Yes,” I whispered on another sigh.
“Okay. Let’s grab dinner, and I’ll do that when we come back to the room.”
As we sat at a nearby restaurant, eating local seafood, the shoe-dropping feeling had returned. Maybe deep down I’d known all along that something life changing was going to happen.
Although, should the death of my estranged parents really be that life changing?
We made it to the Crawfords’ on Sunday in time for dinner. I didn’t want to go, but I knew I needed to tell them what happened, especially Easton since I needed to take more than the weekend off from Halo.
“What’s wrong?” Jane, Easton’s mom, asked the moment she saw Nic and me walk into the kitchen where she was cooking dinner.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I need to wait until everyone is here.”
“Are you pregnant?” she asked Nic as she sucked in a hopeful breath.
“No.” My wife smiled. “I’m not pregnant.”
“Then what is it?” Jane inquired.
“It’s better if we wait for everyone,” I replied.
She studied my face. “Are you sick?”
I looked over at Nic and then back at Jane. “Don’t think so.”
“Okay.” She patted my cheek. “We don’t need another one of you getting sick.”
“I agree.” I tried to smile, but I could barely get my mouth to curve.
The front door opened, and I heard Easton somewhat yelling, “I don’t care what Erin’s parents let her do. I said no.”
“God!” Cheyenne shouted. “You’re so unfair.”
I looked at Nic as if she knew what was going on. She shrugged, and Brooke and Easton walked into the kitchen.
“What’s wrong with C.C.?” I asked as I sat at the kitchen table. Cheyenne had apparently gone up to her room.
“Stupid high school shit,” Easton replied, giving Jane a hug. “School hasn’t even started, and already she’s giving me gray hair.”
We all looked to Brooke for clarification. “Homecoming dance is two weeks after school starts, and Erin’s parents are getting the girls and their dates a limo. Chey wants to go,” Brooke replied as she hugged Jane.
Easton went to the fridge and grabbed four beers, handing them to us. Everyone except Jane sat with me at the table. I had no idea where Jimmy was.
“Let her go to the dance,” Jane chimed in, stirring something on the stove.
“It’s not the dance I’m concerned about. It’s the limo,” Easton stated.
“What’s wrong with a limo?” Nic asked.
Easton glared at her. “Kids alone in a limo? What could go wrong?”
“Yeah, what could go wrong?” Nic continued to question, either not hearing the sarcastic tone of Easton or not understanding.
“East thinks they will have booze and it will lead to an”—Brooke dropped her voice to a whisper—“orgy.”
I choked slightly on the big gulp of beer I’d just taken as I laughed. It was the first time I had laughed in days. “I needed that laugh. Thank you.”
“It’s not funny,” Easton groaned and then took a long pull of his Fat Tire.
“They’re what? Thirteen and fourteen?” Nic asked. “I’m sure nothing will happen.”
Easton cut his gaze to me. “What were we doing at thirteen?”
My own gaze moved to Jane as she still stood at the stove. Did he really want me to answer that while she stood there?
“Shit.” He rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Mom knows we weren’t angels.”
My gaze moved back to him. “And you think that C.C. wants to—”
“If you finish that sentence, I will beat the shit out of you,” Easton warned.
I held up my hands in surrender. “I won’t utter another word.”
“Now, if you boys are finished, dinner will be ready in ten minutes,” Jane stated. “Avery, do you want to tell us what you need to tell us now or after dinner?”
Easton and Brooke both turned their attention on me and I downed the rest of my beer. “Where’s Jimmy?” I asked.
“Upstairs in his office,” Jane replied. “Jimmy! Get your ass down here! The kids are here!”
A few seconds later, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. “Dinner better be ready,” Jimmy stated.
“Almost,” Jane answered. “But Av has something he needs to tell us first.”
All eyes turned to me.
I guess I was telling them before dinner.
Under the table, Nic squeezed my knee, and I smiled tightly at her. I wasn’t nervous to tell them. They all knew my parents—except, of course, Nicole and Brooke—and needed to know. It just sucked that it was my reality because, deep down, I wanted those answers from my parents that I would never get now.
“What about Chey?” Brooke asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “She doesn’t need to hear this.”
Easton leaned forward. “What is it?”
I laced my fingers with Nicole’s and gave her hand a little squeeze as I watched Jimmy grab a beer from the fridge. I needed another one. I needed ten. Hell, I needed the strongest alcohol there was because so many emotions were running through my body. A part of me felt as though I shouldn’t care that they died since they didn’t care about me. The other part felt as if a piece of me was gone. It was silly since all I’d ever wanted was to be accepted by them, but I never had been. Maybe I should have tried harder to live out their dream of their son playing in the Major League. Maybe I should have tried harder to gain their love. Maybe I should have actually gone to visit them instead of only calling. Maybe. But now I’d never know if that would have changed things.
Taking a deep breath, I answered Easton as I looked down, not meeting anyone’s stare. “My parents died on Friday.”
Jane dropped the utensil she was using on the stove, the only sound in the room being her gasp as my words sank into each person. It felt like minutes before someone spoke, but I knew it was only a few seconds.
“How?” Easton asked, concern in his voice.
I took a deep breath and met his gaze. “Car accident.”
I heard Jane suck in another breath and my gaze moved to see Jimmy wrap her in his arms. Jane pulled back slightly to look into Jimmy’s eyes, and I thought I saw a silent question move between them. Jimmy shook his head slightly and pulled his wife against him again. Back in the day, they would come over to my parents’ place for barbecues and let Easton and I play together, so they had to be friends, but I wasn’t sure because it seemed as though no one had talked to my parents in over seven years.
Brooke reached out and
patted my free hand while Nic squeezed the hand she was holding.
“I’m sorry,” Easton responded. He knew how I felt about my parents. “What can we do?”
“Cover my shifts for a few days. Tomorrow, Nic and I are flying to Santa Barbara to see what all needs to be done.”
“Whatever you need,” Easton assured me. Easton and I both stood and engulfed each other in a hug. I hugged Jane and Jimmy next and then Brooke.
“This breaks my heart.” Jane gave me a sad smile. “But they’re in a better place now.”
I didn’t know what that meant. To me, when people said those words, it was because the person who died was sick or in pain. Did they know something I didn’t? Surely if my parents had cancer or something, and Jimmy and Jane knew, they would have told me.
“Sorry to drop this on you all before dinner,” I stated.
“Nonsense. We’re family,” Jane said.
I gave a solemn smile. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.”
The next morning, Nic and I flew to California. After a layover in Phoenix, we flew into Santa Barbara where we took a cab straight to the coroner’s office—the sheriff had given me the address when he called back. I didn’t have my parents’ address. They’d moved just north of where Easton and I had grown up in Ventura. I had no idea what their house looked like, where it was located, nothing. Growing up, my mother was a housewife, and my father was a top plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, but they were strangers to me.
The taxi pulled up to the coroner’s office. After getting out of the car, I grabbed our bags and followed Nicole into the white building. I’d never had to identify a body before, and now I was going to confirm that two were my parents.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the desk asked after hanging up the phone.
“I’m here to …” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m here to identify my parents.”
“And your name?”
“Avery Scott.”
“Have a seat. It will be a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” I turned to sit in the chair next to Nicole.
“Do you want me to stay here with our bags?” Nic asked.
I looked over at her. “What? No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I need you.”
She squeezed my knee. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A few minutes later, a guy in a white lab coat came into view. “Mr. Scott?”
I stood and stuck out my hand. “Avery’s fine.” We shook. “This is my wife, Nicole.”
They greeted each other. “I’m Arnold Keaton, the coroner. Right this way.”
I grabbed our bags before we followed him to his office. I was expecting to go to the morgue or something like I’d seen on TV.
“Please have a seat.” Arnold motioned to two chairs in front of his desk. We sat, and my hand slipped into Nic’s for support. Arnold took a seat and opened a folder. “This may be tough, but I just need you to confirm these are your parents.”
He handed me two photos face down. I’d assumed I would have to actually see the bodies, like on television. I took a deep breath before I flipped them over. The first picture was of my father’s face with a white sheet just below his neck. He looked lifeless and pale and he had some cuts and bruises on what I could see of him. I swallowed and looked at the other photo. It was my mother, and she looked the same as him. The moment I saw her, a lump formed in my throat.
“Yeah, that’s them.” I handed Arnold back the photos.
“Okay, that’s all—”
“Do you know how they got into an accident?” I asked. Nicole squeezed my hand, and I smiled tightly at her. I wanted to know. Something told me I needed to know.
“The investigation is ongoing, but from what the sheriff’s office told me, a car was driving the wrong way on the highway and hit them head-on.”
Nicole sucked in a breath and squeezed my hand again.
“Did they ...” I cleared my throat. “Did they suffer?”
“I don’t believe so. I’m almost certain they died on impact.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay. Now what?”
Arnold grabbed a clear bag that was on his desk and handed it to me. “These were their belongings. Next step, unfortunately, is to plan their funerals. The funeral home you choose will contact us once you have all the details sorted out, and we’ll release your parents to them.”
“Right,” I breathed. “Thank you.” I’d never had to plan a funeral before, let alone a double one. Thankfully, I had my wife, my rock, to help me figure out what to do.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Arnold said as he walked us out of his office. “I didn’t know your father well, but your mother was in a book club with my wife. Your mother seemed like a wonderful woman.”
I chuckled slightly. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I wouldn’t know. Instead, I just told him thank you again.
As soon as we walked out of the door of the coroner’s office, I called a taxi to take us to the hotel Nic had booked for us. I hadn’t thought to rent a car, but then again my brain wasn’t really processing everything. Besides, I’d assumed taxis were driving up and down the street like in New York City. Calling for an Uber wasn’t much better because Santa Barbara was a coastal town and not a huge city.
After we checked in, I dropped the bags on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. The feeling of something being off had returned, and I was starting to think that it was from not relaxing as Easton had mentioned. At least I hoped that was it. Unfortunately, the weekend away that I’d thought would rejuvenate me hadn’t, and now I was even more stressed. I had no idea what to do in my situation. Should I call a random funeral home and tell them I need to plan a joint funeral? Would people show? How would I tell strangers that my parents were dead? Did I need to plan a funeral for the people who didn’t care about me? Could Nic and I just go home now?
So many fucking questions were swirling in my head, making my neck and back tense as the stress radiated through my body.
“I’m going to go back downstairs and see if someone at the front desk can help me rent a car,” Nic stated.
“What?” I asked even though I’d heard what she’d said.
“We need a car, baby. I’m going to take care—”
“Nic—”
“It’s okay.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I rested my head against her stomach. “Take a long, hot shower, and I’ll take care of the car. It will be easier than always having to call a taxi around here.”
“I can—”
“It’s okay. The front desk should be able to help me. I’m hoping I can get a place that will deliver the car to us.”
“I love you.”
“I know.” She bent and grabbed my cheeks, bringing her lips to mine. “I’ll be back. Once I get a car, I can go to that burger place you and Easton have talked about.”
“In-N-Out?”
Nic smiled. “Yeah. I’m in Cali, so I need to see what the fuss is all about.”
“I’ll go with you,” I offered.
“No. I can do this. Tomorrow we have an even bigger day. Just relax.”
“Tomorrow we have an even bigger day?” I questioned.
“We need to figure out what to do with their bodies, right?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. Nic was right. I couldn’t just leave them even though a part of me wanted to because, essentially, they’d left me. I stood and kissed her again. “Thank you. I’ll take a number one with a chocolate milkshake.”
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a double-double cheeseburger, fries, and a shake from In-N-Out. Nic was in for a real treat because now I was going to show her what a real burger tasted like and not that one she loved from Shake Shack.
Avery was the strong one when we were going through our miscarriage. Now, I knew I needed to be the one he could lean on. That was what love and marriage were all about. Marriage wasn’t a fairytale like I’d thought it would be. It was to
love the other person through the good and the bad times. It was to have patience and tolerance when you didn’t see eye to eye. It was enduring the hard times together, and this—Avery losing both of his parents—was his hard time.
Even though I’d never been to Santa Barbara before, I adulted my way through renting a car and getting us In-N-Out as planned. If I could manage the craziness that was NYC, I could manage the California coast. And it was beautiful. The sun was starting to set across the Pacific Ocean, palm trees were scattered everywhere, and the weather was warm but not too hot. One word to describe California would be paradise. I’m sure it didn’t compare to Hawaii or Fiji, and it was nothing like the Bahamas, Jamaica, or any other place Avery and I went on our honeymoon, but California was still like heaven on earth.
I was able to find the burger place that seemed to be centered between the ocean and the vast mountain backdrop. From what I could tell as I drove toward the restaurant, most of the buildings had terra cotta style roofs that gave the entire town a Spanish mission vibe. The town was beautiful, to say the least.
After going through the drive-thru, I headed back to the hotel where we were staying. When I entered the room, Avery was on the phone.
“Yes, Friday afternoon.” He looked over at me from where he paced near the window. “I will. Thank you.” He hung up.
“Who was that?”
“My dad’s office. They didn’t know.” Avery had on a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else. He smelled like the mountain spring scent of his body wash, and I knew he’d taken my suggestion of a shower. I hoped it helped to relax him.
“Oh, wow,” I breathed. “Do we need to call other people?”
He shrugged and plugged the phone into a charging cord on the nightstand. “I don’t know who to call. I know nothing about my parents, and I was only able to tell his work because they called his phone and I answered it.”
The Halo Series Boxed Set Page 86