Page 53 of Worth Risking It

It was farfetched, it was insane, but if I could pull it off, it would be the miracle I was looking for.

Chapter 21

Wyatt Shaw

I pushed the gate to the side and stepped through the greenery to the beach. Toking my cigarette, my sight raked over Amanda hovering at the shoreline, her arms hugging her slightly rounded stomach.

My pulse quickened, not really sure if I was about to save myself or join my brother. I had never really had a one on one chat with her before, so I had no idea what her temperament was like. There was no telling how she was going to react.

Hearing my feet crunching, she twisted at the waist and peeked over her shoulder. Her lids rounded and she blanched. “Oh, hello, Mr. Shaw. I thought you were headed home today.”

“I am. All packed. Getting ready to leave in a few. How are you doing, Mrs. Pampinella?”

Her lashes lowered and then she looked back at the lake. “I’m fine. I…I’m really sorry about your brother. He…” Her throat shook, her chin quivering. Sniffling, she whispered, “Was a really good man.”

A gust of wind blew around us, sending her raven hair across her pale features. When she hooked a finger and tucked them behind her ear, there were tears in her blue eyes.

“You seem to have been close to him,” I stated carefully, stepping nearer.

A shoulder lifted. “Known him for fifteen years. Kinda get close after that long.”

I cleared my throat and took another drag. Deciding to just go for it, I pushed the smoke through my nose and muttered, “One might even say you could fall in love with someone after fifteen years.”

A breath caught in her throat, her body jolting to stare at me in horror. Shaking her head adamantly, she instantly burst out sobbing hysterically, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh my god, no, no! Oh no!”

Looking over my shoulder at the hill, I waved my hand, the cigarette tucked between my fingers. Though the funeral had been hours ago, there were still plenty of people lingering around the property. “Hey, hey! Calm the fuck down before you draw attention.”

Her palms slapped over her face, her frame trembling. Her lashes batted wildly, more tears dripping from her eyes.

“Listen.” I took a deep breath, tapping the butt of my cigarette to knock off the ashes. “Meyers told me about you guys back in October.”

She pressed her fingers to her temples and began pacing, whimpering, “Oh, my god,” over and over.

“Jack found out, didn’t he?”

Coming to an abrupt halt, she craned her neck to peer at me, her brows high, her lids so rounded, the whites showed.

I took a final drag and flicked the cigarette to the side, shoving my hand in my pocket. Groaning, I kicked the toe of my sneaker into the sand, watching some of it fly through the air to the tiny, soft waves about a foot away.

“Listen, we both know that car accident was no accident.”

“Oh, my god!” she sniveled, spinning around, her hands back on her face.

“I also know that’s his baby.”

She choked on a shriek, all the color draining from her face.

Turning my full attention to her, I tipped my head, staring at her for the longest time, trying to imagine what a son would look like with her features mixed with Meyers’s.

“Why aren’t you dead, too?”

Slowly, her hand lowered from her mouth, her nostrils flaring with her silent weeping. “I was supposed to be in the car with him. They were at the office, and he sent Meyers home to get something he forgot, and then called me and told me to tag along with him back to the city to run an errand for him.”

I pulled out my cigarettes and lit another one, pacing along the waves. “What happened?”

“The school called, one of the kids wasn’t feeling well, and I had to go pick them up.”

My head bobbed as I filled my lungs with nicotine. “You know next time, he’s going to get you.”