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“Boyfriend,” Maddox acknowledged. His eyes stayed on the phone for a moment, then drifted up to my throat. “Your voice…it never came back?” he asked softly.
I shoved him hard to get him out of my way. I needed to get to Nolan.
“I’m sorry,” Maddox said as he kept pace with me. With my limp, it wasn’t hard. “Look, I know you hate me and you have every right to, but I just wanted to see you and tell you-”
“Nah!” I screamed to stop him from telling me he was sorry. I didn’t give a shit that he was sorry. My throat screamed in protest, but my outburst had done the trick.
It shut Maddox up.
His startled eyes followed me as I strode away from him.
I was struggling to catch my breath by the time I reached my truck, and I was forced to take a couple of minutes to will myself to relax so I could breathe easier. I focused on Nolan’s voice in my head.
Baby, take deep breaths for me, okay?
Even though he wasn’t there, he might as well have been because I instantly relaxed. My throat still hurt like hell, but I was able to breathe easier.
I forced all thoughts of Maddox from my mind and made the drive back to Nolan’s house. I found him in his bathroom trying to put on his tie. He looked beautiful in his dark suit, but his eyes were lifeless as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.
I went to stand behind him. His eyes met mine in the reflection and I saw a little spark in them. I brushed a kiss against his temple, then began fixing his tie for him. He dropped his hands to the vanity as I worked.
We didn’t talk.
When I was finished, I took his hand and led him from the room. We passed by the guest room, but it was empty. We found his mother in the bedroom she’d shared with her husband. She was sitting in the same position she’d been sitting in the morning Nolan and I had arrived to find her dressing her husband in his Sunday finest for the last time.
“Mom, you ready?” Nolan asked gently.
She nodded, then stood. “Did you boys eat something?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Nolan responded. “We will after the service, okay? People are coming by to the house to say their goodbyes afterward, remember?”
“Oh yes,” she murmured. “I should make a few things.”
“There’s plenty of food. Your friends from the church outreach committee are taking care of everything.”
Nolan’s mother nodded. “Yes, alright.” She took in a deep breath and then reached out to place her hand on Nolan’s cheek. He seemed startled by the move. She didn’t say anything, just held her hand there for a moment, then moved past him.
I took Nolan’s hand in mine and pulled it to my lips for a kiss. The move seemed to help pull him from his daze because he leaned into my chest and inhaled deeply. “I’m glad you’re here, Dallas.”
I put my hand on the back of his neck and kissed the top of his head.
I didn’t want to disturb the moment to get my phone, so I sent him a silent message.
Me too.
The funeral was simple with little fanfare, but there were quite a few people in attendance. Nolan and I were sitting with his mother in the first pew in the church and I was dimly aware of the many sets of eyes on us. Part of it was likely because Nolan had grabbed my hand early on when the minister had begun speaking, but I knew a lot had to do with the fact that a perceived murderer was sitting amongst them. I ignored the need to escape their scrutiny and forced myself to focus on Nolan.
After the minister spoke, several people got up to share their memories of Edgar Grainger, but Nolan didn’t.
Neither did his mother.
When the funeral ended, we returned to the house for the rest of the service. The women from the church group had left the funeral early so they could get everything set up. People began arriving within twenty minutes. Nolan kept himself busy by greeting people and accepting their condolences, many for the second time. His mother had disappeared into the kitchen to help with some of the food preparation, despite her friends telling her she didn’t need to. They’d wisely fallen silent and let her help when they’d realized keeping busy was helping her keep it together. Like Nolan, she politely thanked anyone who offered their sorrow for her loss, but there was a certain emptiness to her as she listened to them.
It was like she was seeing right through them.
I’d ended up taking on the role of greeting people as they arrived and dealing with their coats. I was in the process of hanging one of the coats in the closet near the front door when I heard someone say, “So the beast has finally left the castle.”
