Page 55 of Crossroads

I looked up as two large shapes slammed into Jeremiah, knocking him to the ground. Pain blurred my vision as reality began to seep through the shock and adrenaline. And I tried to sit up, to crawl away. But then Bodhi was there, the pure horror in his eyes nearly sending me over the edge.

The sound of feet slapping against pavement as others began to run to us, shouting and screaming filled my ears. And I looked over at Jeremiah, face down on the pavement, as Atlas Carter, star NHL goalie, held my ex down, his knee against his back, and Bodhi pulled me into his arms.

Blood seeped through his shirt, and I couldn’t hold on any longer. My body shook and I screamed. The guttural roar I’d been holding in for far too long finally sliced through my body as I rested my forehead on his shoulder.

And I realized that once again I hadn’t been strong enough.

Chapter 16

BODHI

“As soon as you get back, make sure that you wake me up. You’ve been gone for far too long.”

My lips twitched as I took the next turn through the mountains. It was getting late, the sun was already setting, and I didn’t like driving on this winding road at night, not with so many idiots out there. But I would get there soon. My heart was home after all. “I’ve been gone for less than twenty-four hours. I’ll see you and the kids soon. Promise.”

“You’d better. Promise me? I miss you.” Courtney’s laugh over the phone made me grin as Henry started babbling about something, and Josie made a little squeak of happiness. I was heading home to my family, and it was about time. I needed to drop off a few things for one of my clients, and it wasn’t something I could just mail. Courtney and the kids used to usually come out with me for these kinds of trips, but we’d had to deal with a few issues along the way, and Josie had needed a checkup. So Courtney and the kids had stayed behind.

Next time, they would come with me. After all, road trips were a family affair.

“I’ll see you soon, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too, dork.”

I rolled my eyes and hung up, letting the call end, turning up the music so I could stay awake. It’d been a long summer, and I was exhausted. It was hard to try to find peace these days, knowing Malcolm was gone. Between that, and my sister now a new mom down in Texas, everything felt as if it were changing so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. I ran my hand over my heart, knowing that Malcolm would hate the fact that I was even dwelling on missing him. He always used to give me shit for carrying as much as I did. Then again, he cared more than anybody let on. I missed my brother. I missed his laugh, his talent, and the way that he made others laugh. I didn’t know what was going to happen to the band now. I heard that they were possibly looking for a replacement drummer, but that wasn’t my business anymore. I wasn’t even sure I could listen to them again. And I knew Malcolm would hate me for it.

I pulled into the driveway of our modest home and smiled at that. We were still working on updating a few things. It was a fixer-upper for sure, but Court didn’t mind me being an idiot, and figuring out how to make our house better for the future of our kids, without breaking something along the way.

I turned off the engine, rolled my shoulders since I hadn’t bothered to take a break on the entire trip here, and got out. The door opened, despite the late hour, and I laughed.

“I thought I was supposed to wake you up.”

“Like I could do that. Somebody wanted to see you.”

My baby girl waved to me from her mother’s arms, as Henry ran toward me on his little toddler legs. He leaped off the porch, even as Courtney gasped, and I picked him up, crushing him to my chest.

“Look at you, a superhero. But you know better than to jump like that.”

“You caught me. Always.”

My heart swelled, and I kissed his cheek, loving the way that he laughed. I moved forward, held Courtney to me, and kissed her cheek. Then I rubbed my beard along Josie’s cheek, relishing the way she giggled.

“Welcome home, husband.”

“It’s good to be home,” I whispered. I kissed her softly and then led my family into our home, knowing that this was the perfect moment in my life. And nothing could ever change that.

Later, I stood in the small workhouse that Courtney had let me build in the backyard and worked on my next project. I was far enough away that it was a trek to the house, but thanks to the land that we currently resided on, I could still see it from here. I wanted to move it closer, but this was the best place for the foundation. I turned on the saw and got to work. I had more than a few pieces set up and wanted to get this cabinet done by tomorrow. Hopefully, Courtney and the kids would be able to come with me and deliver it to its new owners.

I had the radio on as a news segment broke, and I ignored it, since it wasn’t breaking news, and just a regurgitation of the normal parts of the day.

There was a serial arsonist on the loose in the northern part of the state, and authorities were still looking for him. I shook my head at that, hoping like hell that they found him. Nobody had gotten hurt so far, but any one of those fires could spread and cause a lot of damage and pain. I was just glad that he was far enough away. The news changed to something else, another political issue that angered me to no end, because, of course, the people in power never cared about those beneath them. I put my frustration into my work, and another hour passed before I frowned, the smell of smoke filling my small workhouse.

“What the hell?”

I took a step out of the small building, and my heart raced.

“No. Fuck. No.” I was running before I could even think, trying to pull up my phone to call 911. But everything blurred after that.

The guttural scream ripping from my throat, the smoke singeing my nostrils. The flames licking at my skin. I screamed for them. But nobody called back. Nobody reached for me until the end. Not until strong arms wrapped around my waist and dragged me out of the burning house.