He hadn’t been there for the cow’s hoof abscess, nor had I seen him over the past ten days.Somehow, Erika and I avoided any serious arguments.We worked opposite schedules without the overnights being too bad.Neither she nor my mother would tell me much about her visit out there to see that jerk of a mini horse.
The only reason I’d agreed to meet Milly at the spring festival in Norton Park on this Friday night was to spy on Drew and Erika’s “date.”
I never attended town festivals, not since the tragedy when I was twelve.I fisted the locket in my left palm and willed myself to get out of the truck.The entrance gate into the chaos was a few hundred yards away.I tried to ignore the prickly panic crawling up my chest to my throat.The colors of the Ferris wheel and throngs of people kaleidoscoped my vision.
This freak-out wasn’t just because it’d been one hell of a day.My overnight emergency threatened a lawsuit after her horse colicked and died.She refused to pay and somehow blamed me for not pulling a miracle out of my ass after she waited too long to call for help.
Mid-morning brought an unannounced state inspection by a picky bastard who cited petty crap.I could already hear the fines stacking up.Then, right after Erika left to get Vinny, a client stormed in with a shepherd chewed up in a dog fight.I couldn’t get near the dog without risking a bite and told the guy I’d need to sedate his dog.When I quoted the cost, he screamed that I only cared about money and demanded I treat the dog for free.I refused.I wasn’t getting bitten by a non-rabies-vaccinated shepherd for charity.
I shut it all out.The memories of threatening clients and the noises of the festival.I slammed the walls down as tight as I could.I was old enough to be over this thing about festivals.
The musical noises and intermittent screams of happy people wouldn’t let me ignore them no matter how hard I tried.
I tried so hard.
Fuck, fuck, fuck…
“Come on.Let’s go.”Milly’s fist slammed against my window.
I jolted so hard my knee smacked the steering wheel.The work truck groaned when I shoved open the door, the hinges protesting.Mud crusted the sides—splashed high from a farm job, it had dried in jagged patterns like scars.
“You didn’t even change?”Her mouth pinched tight as her eyes scanned my mud-stained jeans and faded scrub top.
“I ran out of time.”The words crawled out steadier than the chaos bucking inside.
She rolled her eyes.“Whatever.”Her fingers grabbed my wrist, tugging me toward the entrance gate.I didn’t remember pulling out my wallet or paying to enter the festival.
Each step tightened the band around my ribs.The crowd grew closer—laughter, shrieking kids, carnival music too loud and too bright.My lungs shrank, breaths thin and jagged, like sucking air through a pinhole.The rides loomed in front of us with their metal skeletons thrashing, lights flashing too fast for my eyes to track.
I halted and stared at the tree line that signaled the bank of the creek next to the park.Brian’s sightless blue eyes after I tugged his small body out of the creek flashed in my head.
I slammed my eyelids shut and fisted the locket tight in my right hand until the metal edges bit into my fingers.Until the vision of those eyes left my head.
I needed a moment.A few breaths and I could do this.
“What’s wrong with you?”Milly unclamped my fingers around the locket and took it.
A choking sensation closed my throat.Need it back.
She dangled it from a finger.“I don’t know why you hold onto some old necklace.”
Everything blurred as I stared at her pendulum the locket from her fingers.
A warm hand squeezed my left forearm.“Hey, Whiskey.”
Erika.
Erika said softly, “I have something important from work I need to talk to you about in private.I saw the work truck as we came in.Can we talk in there for a few minutes?Drew is going to take Milly to do the Ferris wheel.We can meet them in a bit.”
My gaze sought Drew’s.Where I expected to see anger, I found only concern.He gave me a nod of approval.
Milly made a step toward me, but Drew held onto her arm.“Let ’em talk.It’s important.Business stuff.”
Erika took my hand and gently led me away from the chaos.
The locket.I couldn’t leave it.What if Milly misplaced it on purpose?
Somehow, I ended up back in the driver’s seat of the truck, but I didn’t remember opening the door.I gripped the steering wheel and dropped my head.Only then was it possible for me to take a deep breath.And another.
