She covers her eyes and sobs. I rest my hand on her leg and let her cry until she’s ready to tell me the rest.
15
HONEY
“I don’t knowif he planned it or if he just realized that we were over and… he panicked. I couldn’t get out of the car. It was too late.” I stare out at the sawgrass and wax myrtle hugging the sides of the paths and extending into the seemingly endless forest. But instead of the trees, the steep, winding road rushes toward me, too fast—a cliff on one side, a rock wall on the other.
“Wren. Look at me.” I meet John’s eyes, staring blankly at him, my whole body shaking, until his face takes shape—his beautiful blue eyes, blazing, his tight, hard jawline, and I’m back with him, sitting in a pickup with a man who’s looking at me like he wants to burn down the world. The anger in his eyes is different than Trey’s, though. It’s the kind of anger I can take comfort in. The kind of anger that protects instead of bends and breaks.
“Trey told me I had two choices,” I continue, my voice hoarse. “I could either get back with him. Or, he would drive the two of us off the road. The final goodbye. Just like I had said.” I don’t look at John when I tell him the next part. I can’t. I don’t want to see the judgement in his eyes. The decision I made. “I chose option two. Death.”
We sit in silence, my whole body shaking, until he finally says, “There’ll be time to talk about this more later.Ifyou want to. You want to stay here while I get your things?”
I steal a glance, then look away and say quietly, “You haven’t changed your mind?”
“Why would I do that, Tiny?”
“I need to bring Monster.”
“Of course.”
I unbuckle my seatbelt, then wince. “I want to go in. But can you help me?”
“Til the day I die.”
“I just meant with Monster’s bag of dog food. It weighs almost as much as I do.”
“Still mean it. I’ll help you ‘til the day I die.”
16
FOX
I takemy time walking around to the passenger side, trying to focus on shoving a whole truck-bed full of anger deep down, so I don’t explode in front of Wren. I open the door for her, and she slides off the seat then winces. I turn my back to her. “Piggyback,” I tell her, crouching down. “Hop aboard.”
She puts her arms around me and giggles into my neck.
When we get to the porch, she pokes me and points to a smashed cigarette butt on the grass next to the steps. “Someone was smoking here. Does Ned or Danni smoke?”
“Never seen them smoke.”
I climb the steps and set her gently down. She sticks her key in the lock to the front door, then stops and looks at me, her head cocked to the side. “Something’s not right.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Something just feels off.” She bites a lip. “Monster.He’d be at the door the second he heard the key. Or before that—when I step onto the porch, I can always hear him bounding down the hall.”
“Maybe he’s sleeping?”
She turns the key and pushes the door open. The cottage is silent. “Monster!” Panic flits across her face. “He’s not here.And the kitchen light’s on. I didn’t leave it on. Danni could have stopped in, but—” She glances down at the umbrella stand, knocked on its side. She reaches for it, then winces in pain.
“How about we trust your instincts. If you think something’s off, maybe it is.” I swoop her up and carry her back down the stairs, toward the pickup.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“You’re going to stay in the truck. And I’m getting your things and looking for Monster.”
“I’mnotleaving without Monster.”
