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God, poor Beth. She’s really alone. “Where’s her brother?”
She gives me an arched look and shakes her head. “That’s a story best told over lunch.” She links her arm through mine and turns us in the direction of main street. “He left town right after his mother did.”
“Did he come for the funeral?”
She shrugs. “I think he must have, cause otherwise we’d know. But they were all close at one point. But Bethany was the only one who had her Daddy’s favor. She was his protégé. They spent all their summers here at the house with their Aunt. Then after Phil, the brother, it was just the two of them. They were inseparable. And the fact she died on their birthday—”
I stop walking so suddenly, Loretta stumbles. “What do you mean she died on their birthday?”
She looks at me with annoyed eyes. “They were born on the same day, June 8th.”
That was the date I met her. It was her birthday, and she didn’t say a word. “Wow.”
“I hear she’s marrying her sister’s beau. If I’m honest, I’m glad to hear it. I was sure she’d marry the first guy who offered to get her the heck out of dodge.”
She might have if he’d kept his promise, I think bitterly.
“Well, come on, all this gossiping has got me hungry. Let’s go have that that rib platter your promised, and I’ll answer all your questions about your father.”
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20
Carter
Tell me why
I toss my phone onto the bed and pull on my grey sweatpants before I flop down, face first, exhausted, but knowing sleep wouldn’t come easy tonight.
After lunch with Loretta, I called Penn and found out she had no idea about this sister. I hoped a shower would relax me. Instead, I’m tense, and my mind is still racing.
On top of everything I’d learned about Beth, I was coming out of my skin. I went for a punishing, fast-paced run to clear my mind. I toss my phone onto the bed and pull on my grey sweatpants before I flop down, face first, exhausted, but knowing sleep wouldn’t come easy tonight.
After lunch with Loretta, I called Penn and found out she had no idea about this sister. I hoped a shower would relax me. Instead, I’m tense, and my mind is still racing.
On top of everything I’d learned about Beth, I was coming out of my skin. I went for a punishing, fast-paced run to clear my mind.
All that run did was make me hungry. And it’s the kind of hunger the leftover barbecue I brought home won’t put a dent in.
I glance at my bedside table to check the time, but instead my eyes fall on a piece of paper I dropped there when I got home. It’s illuminated by a beam of moonlight. Beth wrote her number on it before she gave it to me this afternoon. It’s almost midnight, but I’d bet money she’s as wide awake as I am.
I open the phone and see a text from Porsha. I decide to wait to read it until I’ve talked to Beth.
I dial her number and only hesitate for a second before I hit the green icon to call her.
She answers on the second ring. “Hello?” Even thick with sleep her voice is smooth as silk. The East Texas drawl everyone around here has, hasn’t been able find purchase.
“Did I wake you?” There’s a couple seconds of silence before I hear rustling sheets.
“Carter? Hey. Hold on.” She’s clears her throat. It’s so easy to picture her. Those limpid eyes drowsy and heavy-lidded, her pretty face flushed, her lips puffy, all of that hair tousled loose spilled across her pillow. Her body warm and soft and ready… I shouldn’t have called “It’s late. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“No, it’s okay, What’s up?” There’s a tenderness in her voice that feels undeserved after the way I spoke to her today.
“I’m sorry about today. I was rude, and you were just trying to be nice.”
She’s quiet for a beat and then she says, “Thank you for saying that. And I’m sorry I just showed up like that. I got a bit of a wild hair this morning. I should have just found a way to talk to you the next time I saw you.”
“Well, with me avoiding you and all, that would have been near to impossible,” I admit with a self-deprecating laugh.
