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As for the investigation, Sheriff Tulley had stopped by that morning to inform us that there’d been no prints on the door or weapons other than mine and Nolan’s and that Jimmy had an alibi.
He’d supposedly been having dinner with his mother.
When I’d asked if he’d checked Jimmy’s arm for a bite wound, the man had coldly informed me not to tell him how to do his job. The man’s attitude hadn’t surprised me one bit, nor had the unfettered hatred in his eyes. But Nolan had been left completely devastated.
Not only because he still believed he’d somehow instigated the attack, but also because Gentry wouldn’t get any justice. I had no doubt Nolan was feeling that same level of helplessness he’d felt during his childhood when the town had turned their backs on him.
Darkness was starting to fall as I finished up in the small animal building. It was nearing mid-November and winter was starting to take hold, despite it still being officially a month away. I didn’t bother looking for Nolan at the livestock barn, because I knew where he’d be. But as I neared Gentry’s enclosure, I paused when I heard the sound of music drifting through the icy trees that danced above my head.
Not just any music.
Violin music.
Emotion clogged my throat as I quickened my pace. Since the night of the attack, Nolan hadn’t once looked at the violin. He hadn’t even bothered to take it home, since he’d been too preoccupied with everything else that had happened. In truth, I’d forgotten about the instrument myself. It had been sitting in the same spot on the couch that it had been in since I’d given it to Nolan.
As I rounded the corner, I came to a stop at the sight that greeted me. There was still enough light to see Nolan standing between the inner and outer fences of Gentry’s enclosure. His back was to me and he had the violin on his shoulder. He was moving the bow effortlessly, like it was an extension of his body, and the melodic, haunting music that surrounded us left me with chills. Gentry was on the opposite end of the enclosure, pacing like normal, his food untouched. But as Nolan played, the bear slowed his pace every few steps and sniffed the air. After about ten minutes, Gentry stopped moving completely and sat down against the fence. His big head would swing Nolan’s direction every few minutes, but he didn’t move from his spot.
But I didn’t care, because I would take even the smallest scrap of progress.
I stayed where I was, even though I really wanted to go to Nolan. I could see that his hands were chapped and red, since he couldn’t play while wearing gloves. But I was reluctant to set Gentry off again with my presence, so I waited until Nolan was finished and left the enclosure. It wasn’t until he was practically on top of me that he noticed me. His expression was pinched and his skin was pale.
He glanced at the violin and bow in his hand. “I thought it might help,” he murmured.
My heart broke for him, because nothing I’d said about the whole thing not being his fault had made any kind of difference. I was losing him. I knew it in my heart.
He was standing right in front of me, but he might as well have been back in California.
I reached for one of his hands and rubbed it between mine, then blew on it to try and warm it up. I searched out his gloves, but before I could reach for them where they were sticking out of his pocket, he stepped back.
“I should go home,” he murmured. “Here,” he said as he handed me the violin.
I tried to hand it back to him, but he shook his head. “No, it’s yours, it should stay here.”
Frustration went through me, but before I could get my phone so I could remind him I’d given it to him, he was walking past me. “I…I think maybe I shouldn’t come back for a bit,” he said out of the blue.
His words chilled me to the bone and I grabbed his arm. I waved my hand impatiently.
“It’s for the best,” he said, then tried to pull free of my hold. My frustration turned to anger, and I grabbed his hand and began pulling him with me toward the house. I wasn’t going to have this fight with him in the damn cold.
And I sure as shit wasn’t going to let him leave.
He didn’t fight me, which was almost worse. I’d take a pissed-off Nolan over a broken one any day.
Once I had him in the house, I stripped off his coat and boots and settled him on the couch with a blanket over his lap. I got the fireplace going and made us both some coffee. Nolan held the mug when I handed it to him, but he was too zoned out to actually take a drink. I finally took it from him and put it on the coffee table along with mine, then covered his hands with mine and began rubbing them to work some warmth into his chilled skin.
