My grip on the phone tightens. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right. Why?"
"Sweetheart. Todd called me again this mornin'. He's worried about you. He said you haven't called him back. He said... he said he thinks somebody might be keepin' you from talkin' to him."
My stomach drops.
I sit down at the kitchen table because my legs aren't going to hold me for this conversation.
"Mama Cross. Todd isnotmy friend. Todd was Garrett's best friend long ago, sure, but over the years he was more ofan acquaintance than anything. He has been showin' up on the property here uninvited. I changed my number to get away from him."
She’s silent on the other end of the line, like she’s putting the pieces together.
Mama Cross speaks very slowly: "Oh, sweetheart. Oh, honey. He didn't tell me that."
"I know he didn't."
"I gave him your new number."
"I know."
"Hadley. Sweetheart. I amsosorry."
I get up from the table because I can't sit anymore.
I walk to the cabinets and slide down with my back against them and the phone pressed to my ear.
Diesel, from the porch, somehow senses it.
He comes inside and lies down next to me with his wet head against my thigh.
I put my hand on him. "Mama Cross, I should've told you. I should've called you when it started."
"No, baby. No. You were doin' what you had to do."
"He's been showin' up at the ranch."
"Lord."
"He calls me honey. He sat on my front porch and waited for me. He left voicemails. He told me Garrett would've wanted me to talk to him."
Mama Cross is silent on the line for a few seconds, then speaks up very quietly, "Hadley. I need to tell you somethin'."
"Okay.”
"It's about Garrett."
My hand stops moving on Diesel's head.
"Garrett knew."
I don't speak.
"Garrett knew Todd wasn’t what he pretended to be. He told me once. Near the end. He was in the hospital bed and I was sittin' with him and he said, 'Mama. Don't let Todd anywhere near Hadley after I'm gone. He's been waitin' for me to die.'"
My eyes burn.
Mama Cross' voice is shaking now. "I thought he was just talkin', honey. He was on so much medication. I didn't know it was real. I didn't know it was real, Hadley. I didn't take it seriously."
"I… I was wondering if he knew."
