“Sutton, are you okay?” I worry.
Breathing deeply, she shudders, and replies in a low, sad voice, “Yeah, I-I just saw something and I ...” Sutton trails off.
“It looks like you saw a ghost,” Kendra quips.
“I think that I did, and not freaking Casper,” laments Sutton.
16
Remington
Ihave not seen Lainey since she dropped off the apple pie. I worked a forty-eight-hour shift, and I am ready for my time off. Normally we work twenty-four-hours shifts every other day for five days then get four days off. I did forty-eight to cover a shift for one of the other guys, Matt Ryder, who had to go home sick. It was not a problem; we are a family and jump in when and where we can. I know that he also had three little kids and a wife at home getting laid out with the twenty-four-hour flu. I hope and pray they are all feeling better, especially the little ones. Their baby is only one, and the flu is scary at that age. Being a trained EMT makes me run all the scenarios in my mind all the time, even when I am not the one living them.
I did the full EMT coursework and training three years after I graduated college. I wanted to be as knowledgeable and versatile as possible as a firefighter. We all have skills for that side of the job, but I wantedmore. I don’t live for the EMT role as much as the firefighting stuff, but knowing I can help on a deeper level in every situation, knowing the rig like the back of my hand, and having top training and knowledgemakes me feel more confident and in control. Ineedopen eyes and control, especially after Cora made me feel totally out of control and taken advantage of. It’s about knowing that I have a clear path, no lies, and secure ways forward in my future if someone pulls the rug from underneath me again.
Right as I am leaving the grocery store with everything I needed for my weekly haul, plus a couple bags of essentials and Popsicles I got to drop off at Ryder’s house, my phone starts to ring. I answer my sister’s call. “Good mornin’, Sutton,” I say, happy to hear from her.
“Rem, hey.” She sounds tired and worried.
“What’s wrong? Is it the baby? Deck?” I gruff out my questions, not ready for her answers.
“No, no, no everything with the baby is fine. I have not heard anything from Deck, you know how that goes. He sent me a little care package before they had to go off the grid. I have no idea where he is, or when he will be back. No news from him or his superiors is always good news.” She’s right—we all know the drill when Derek is gone. He is highly trained, and in a highly classified group of SEALS that get called away to do things that we don’t have clearance to know any information about—before or after they go, or even when they get home most of the time.
I let out a deep sigh of relief. “Okay, good. It’s just that the way you sounded when I answered made me worry, you seem upset. What’s going on, Sut?”
“I met Lainey yesterdaaaay,” Sutton announces in a smug but cheerful way.
“What the hell? How did that happen?” I know that I told Lainey very briefly about my sister and was planning on making introductions soon myself. I was very sure they would get along, so I am still wondering whySutton was upset before.
“Rem, she is seriouslyso sweet. I adore her! I can see why you are totally smitten by her,” Sutton says.
“I’m notsmitten,” I deny indignantly.
“Remington LeBlanc, do NOT lie to your older sister! I happen to know that Lainey is also smitten with you too, so you should admit it.” I can hear the smugness still dripping in her voice.
“And how exactly would you know that having onlyjustmet her?” I ask.
“Lainey came into the store yesterday afternoon with her best friend Kendra. You remember her, right? She was around in the summers when we were growing up and was friends with Eli’s sister, Hannah. Anyway, Kendra does pottery and is going to sell mugs in the shop, they are amazing, by the way. We all got to chatting, which led to exchanging numbers, and we ended up going out for pizza when I closed up the shop. It was thebestnight!” Sutton is talking a mile a minute, and I can hear the excitement pouring through the phone.
“I’m really glad you ladies had fun, and that you got to know Lainey. I was going to introduce you two soon, but I guess y’all took care of that for me. I wonder why she hasn’t said anything. We’ve been texting ...” I leave the thought hanging. Lainey and I had been texting off and on the whole time I was at the fire station and she was working from home. I can’t wait to see her again. I can’t wait tokissher again.
“That’s because I asked Lainey to let me tell you, actually,” Sutton says, pulling me back to our conversation.
“Why?”
“Something happened at the store that I need to tell you about. Lainey and Kendra were there, but they don’t really know what happened.” Sutton sounds nervous and worried now.
“Are you okay? Do you need me to come over right now?” I am instantly on high alert.
“No, I needed you to hear this from me, and I want you to try and stay calm.” She takes a deep breath, like she is trying to give herself a few more seconds before she has to deliver whatever this news could be to me.
“What the fuck happened, Sutton? You’re worrying me.” I feel my hands getting sweaty as my grip on the leather steering wheel tightens.
Just as I pull into my driveway and park she says, “I was looking out the window of the store ... and, and I saw someone lingering, walking past, looking in. Well not just someone, Rem. It was Cora.” She says the name in almost a whisper. The name of her former best friend, and the woman that I have not seen since the night I kicked her out of my apartment six years ago.
“Why the hell would she be back in Fox Grove?” I growl at my sister. “She has no family here anymore. Her parents don’t live here, her granddaddy passed a long time ago. She has no reason to be in town.”
“I have no idea why she’s here, Rem. But I wanted to tell you what I saw. I wanted you to hear it from me. I didn’t like the idea of having you just run into her walking down the street or at the store or something.” I can tell that she is trying not to cry, and I wish we were having this talk in person.
