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“Finn’s probably pissed about that,” Zack said as he held her bag while she flipped off the last light and locked up. “I’m sure he wanted to keep it quiet until he’d had a chance to talk to Sarah’s parents.”
“At least her mother has an answer now.”
And Zack still didn’t have any answers.
“I always thought that Sarah ran off,” Lucy said as they strolled down the sidewalk. “I know she wasn’t fond of her stepfather, and she argued with him and her mom a lot from what I could tell. I thought that she just had enough one day and took off. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself all of these years. I never thought…”
“That’s what I thought as well,” Zack replied. “I think that’s what we all thought, or at least that’s the story that I heard the most. Her friend Kelly said that Sarah talked about leaving all the time. I just assumed that’s what she did. I kind of feel guilty that I haven’t given her a thought since high school graduation.”
“You took off pretty fast after grad night. You didn’t even hang around for the summer.”
“Back then I was anxious to get out.”
“And what about now? Are you still anxious to leave? Is that the plan after the wedding tomorrow?”
That was an excellent question. One that he wasn’t sure he had an answer to. It was a sad fact that for the first time in Zack’s life he didn’t have a plan. Was that a good thing? His brother Cooper had lived his entire life without a plan, and he seemed really damn happy.
Zack knew one thing for sure though - he didn’t want to become his father. That was one thing he simply couldn’t allow.
Joel Winslow wasn’t anyone that Zack could admire.
* * *
Zack wasn’t talking much during their walk, but Lucy didn’t push for conversation. She was content to simply wander through the streets of the town, enjoying the cool breeze and the quiet that came from living there.
They hadn’t discussed it, but they’d left the downtown area and found themselves on the campus of Winslow University. During the school year there would have been more people around, but most of the students were gone until autumn. The few that remained for summer classes were still awake, their doors and windows open and the lights on. Lucy could hear soft laughter and music from a distance. A young couple was sprawled on a blanket on the grass, their arms around one another and kissing under the full moon.
“I don’t know how long I plan to stay, to be honest.”
Zack was answering her question so long after her asking it that she’d almost forgotten what she’d said. She’d just been making conversation, but apparently, he’d taken her query rather seriously if he’d been thinking of a reply for the last five minutes.
“Can you get a lot of time off at your job?”
Another weird silence. This was becoming awkward. Maybe she needed to stop asking questions.
“Can I tell you something that I haven’t told anyone else? Can you keep a secret?”
“I can. Absolutely. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to tell me anything.”
“I want to tell you. I want to tell someone.”
“Then tell me. Like I said, I can keep a secret.”
“There’s an old saying that the only way two people can keep a secret is if one of them kills the other.”
“Jesus, Zack,” Lucy laughed. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Seriously, I can keep my mouth shut.”
“I believe that you can, and I need to talk to somebody about this. I sure as hell don’t have any answers.” There was a pause and then Zack stopped, his fingers scraping through his dark hair. “I quit my job and ended my lease. All of my stuff is in storage. For the first time in my life, I don’t have a job or a home. I have no clue what I’m doing or where I’m going.”
Oh. Lucy hadn’t seen that coming. This was…unexpected. Zack had always been the guy that had his life all mapped out.
“I think…I think that’s wonderful.”
His brows shot up and he appeared taken aback by her assertion. It was his turn to be surprised.
“Because you’ve always seemed to have a plan,” she explained. “You were the type that had your entire life planned out before you even graduated. You talked about going away to college, getting a high-paying job, and never coming back to town. Even then, it was clear you wanted to get away from your dad.”
“Yes, because he had a plan, too,” Zack replied, bitterness lacing his tone. “He had my life planned for me from the day I was born. I knew I had to get away from it and him. He’d never give me a moment’s peace if I had stayed. He wanted to create a clone of himself. I could never let that happen.”
