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Elaina dismissed the bouncers, having them follow Dallas to make sure he left, and she and Rogan were alone.
She approached him as he stood frozen in place, letting his breath return to normal. He had a cut lip that was beginning to swell, and his shirt was torn at the collar, but he’d seen worse days.
Elaina stood directly in front of him and let out a deep sigh. “He’s wrong, you know. You’re wrong. What happened to Craigan is not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.” Her voice was soft and sure.
He nodded.
Elaina moved to his side, put her arm over his shoulder, and they walked side by side out of the back room.
Much as this day had fucked with him, much as he was exhausted to the bone, his night wasn’t done yet. He still had one more place to go, and he couldn’t get there fast enough.
TWENTY FOUR
Gramma and Shea had sat up with Farren until late that evening when Shea had finally called it a night and gone home. Then Farren had lain on the couch with her head in Gramma’s lap watching mindless television as Gramma softly stroked her hair.
Farren was so heartbroken from her last conversation with Rayner that day that she felt like she could hardly breathe. It felt like a physical aching, hard and heavy inside her chest. She believed she had done the right thing, but if it was right, she didn’t know why everything had to feel so wrong.
She also didn’t know what was going to happen with Dallas. Would he lie his way out of everything and still be there showing his face at work on Monday? Could she keep working there if he was there, knowing she would have to fear for her safety?
She had so many questions and none of the answers.
She pulled in a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh.
“Tell me what bothers you, Farren,” Gramma told her.
“It’s nothing, Gramma. Nothing that anything could fix, except for time.”
Gramma nodded. “You lock everyone out when you need them around you most. I don’t need to ask you why you do this, because I already know why. Just think about it,” she urged.
But Farren had thought about it. If she were being selfish, she would tell Rayner he was the father, ruin his life, and then he’d feel resentment toward her and their baby. What good would that do?
Instead, she would raise the baby on her own. She knew she could do it. She had pretty much been alone all her life, so why would this be any different? It wouldn’t be easy, but she always landed on her feet. It was up to her to make it work, because she couldn’t depend on anyone else to do that for her.
Gramma spoke again in a wistful voice. “Your grandfather and I were married nearly forty five years before the Good Lord took him home. Not everyone is going to leave, Farren. Sometimes you just have to have a little faith.”
Faith was an interesting concept. Faith in people was a hard thing to have. She liked science, numbers, machines – things with concrete physics that worked consistently, time and time again. She liked the reliability of knowing how things like that worked, but people didn’t work that way.
People were imperfect and unreliable. That’s what life had taught her so far.
They stayed quiet for another while longer before Farren sat up. “I’m going to bed, Gramma. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, lifting herself up from Gramma’s lap, and headed to her bedroom.
“Goodnight, my dear,” Gramma replied, remaining planted on the couch, bringing out her crossword puzzle.
Gramma sat for a while in the quiet, with only the light of a small lamp beside her and the light from the muted television. Just as she was about to go to bed herself, she heard a light knock at their door. She gave a knowing smile and a nod.
Peeking through the peep hole, she confirmed who it was and she opened the door, inviting him in.
“I wondered how long it would take you to show up,” Gramma told him, as if she had been expecting him, as Rogan Rayner stood in their doorway.
“Mrs. Fields, I apologize for the late visit. Is Farren home?” he asked, walking inside. “I really need to talk to her.”
“She’s just gone to bed. I think you’re just in time. I’ll go get her,” she said, and disappeared down the hall, leaving Rogan standing in the small living room.
He waited.
Farren was lying awake in her bed, holding her pillow tight as the tears fell freely down her cheeks when the knock on her bedroom door caught her attention. She sat up, wiping the wetness from her face.
“What is it, Gramma?”
