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“I think you should wait?—”
The sound of a single gunshot rang through the air, interrupting Trey’s warning. He pushed her behind her car, pressing down on the top of her head to keep her low to the ground. Tears leaked from her eyes as a million horrifying scenarios ran through her head.
Grant dead.
Mike dead.
Grant and Mike dead.
Was she destined to lose everyone she cared about? She wanted to scream but no sounds came out. Her heart was beating like a bass drum in the marching band that used to play in the Fourth of July parade when she was a kid. She could hear yelling and the sound of running footsteps, see the flashing lights, but she couldn’t make sense out of what she was hearing.
Her mind had split off from her body, and she had stepped outside of herself, standing in the driveway watching it all from a distance. Just a casual observer. Not emotionally involved in the least.
Trey was speaking into her ear, but it didn’t sound like any words she recognized, only random sounds that were jumbled.
She didn’t know how long she sat there next to Trey. It could have been minutes or days. Time had ceased to have any meaning. Everyone around had slowed down to a crawl, moving as if in slow motion. Her gaze had fixated on a bird sitting on a branch, its round eyes watching with curiosity but no fear. She watched it for a long time until she felt a pair of hands on her arms, shaking her back to consciousness. She fought the return, knowing there would only be pain and grief in the real world.
“Mia, it’s okay. We’re all okay.”
Grant.
His face was blurred because of her tears, but she could hear his familiar voice. For a split second she thought she might be dreaming but his touch was real. Grant was kneeling in front of her, and he was alive.
Her hands reached out so she could feel his solid form for herself, and then she threw herself into his arms.
“I thought?—”
“I know what you thought. I’m alive, and Mike is alive. But there’s a bullet hole in your wall. I’ll patch it, I promise.”
She sort of laughed at his attempt at humor, but she was mostly crying instead. This time from joy, not sadness. She didn’t know what he’d done or what had happened with Mike, but she was just so damn glad that he was alive.
Mike was alive. And Lane wasn’t.
A few more tears fell for her best friend, reminding her that this wasn’t a happy ending. It was only less tragic than it could have been.
Mia hadn’t lost everyone she loved, but she knew that tomorrow was going to be different. The life she’d known before today wasn’t going to exist any longer.
But with Grant, she’d be able to handle it.
24
Two months later…
Grant placed the last moving box in the back of the rented truck where the rest of them were piled high along with a few pieces of small furniture. Most of it, Mia had sold or donated.
He and his brothers had worked together today to help Mia pack up her belongings. She was moving into his home and putting her house on the market. They’d discussed it over and over and she’d finally decided that she simply couldn’t live here anymore. There were too many memories - some good and a few awful - but they weren’t helping her deal with all that had happened.
She wanted a fresh start, a new space. She specifically wanted that with him, and for that he was damn grateful.
“I want to walk through the house once more in case I forgot something,” Mia said, her car keys in her hand. She and Grant were driving up in her car, and Ace and Trey were taking the truck. “I’ve already given the key and alarm code to the realtor.”
“Sure, let’s give it a walk through. I’ll just tell Ace they can go ahead. Anything that we may have overlooked will be small and it can fit in the car with us.”
He waved to Ace and his brother saluted in return, firing up the engine as Grant slid the back door in place, making sure it was locked. Trey waved to them as well as the truck began to reverse out of the driveway.
“I’m not sad,” Mia said. “It’s just sort of…melancholy. Endings are always a bit that way, I guess.”
They walked into the house and stood in the middle of the now empty living room. The walls had been freshly painted and the floors shined in preparation for being sold. It looked far different than it had before she’d gotten rid of the furniture.
