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“Great,” I quipped. “Then you won’t end your streak.”
“I didn’t plan this.”
I didn’t know what he meant by that. And I didn’t ask. I had a million other questions floating through my mind. None of them seemed to want to be asked. I just wanted him home. I hadn’t wanted him to leave in the first place. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t sound okay.”
His voice hardened. Davis didn’t get angry often. But he had his limits and once you’d crossed them, he had a way of letting you know. “I said I’m fine.” He sighed heavily. “Good bye, Ruth. I’ll call you when I’m on the road.”
Davis left me hanging, so I did the opposite of what I should have done, which was to keep my mouth shut, and I went to find Johnny. I spilled the tea, and I did it in a big way. The Channing way.
“You need to mind your own business,” Johnny said.
“He made it my business!”
“And now, what? You’re making it mine?”
“I just thought you should know.”
“That’s just it, though, Ruth. There’s nothing to know! You’re just making things up—out of thin air!”
“He called, Johnny. Davis called me. Why didn’t he just show up? Why didn’t he just come home? It felt like a warning. Like he might have gotten himself in some sort of trouble.” I swallowed hard. “He sounded like he was in trouble.”
“Well, he didn’t call me.”
“So, what?” I threw my hands up. “You don’t care?”
He looked at me for a long time before he spoke. “Frankly, no. No, I don’t. And you shouldn’t either. Davis is—well, you know how he is. Same as he’s always been.” He ran his hand along the length of his jaw. “Things will play out the way they’re supposed to. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Sure there is.”
“Whatever is going on with Davis—if anything—it doesn’t concern you, Ruth. Let it be.” He crossed the room, and I thought the conversation would end there. I almost wish it would have. “You can’t fix other people’s problems. And anyway, you have enough of your own.”
“This isn’t just anyone! This is our brother.”
Johnny put his hands on his hips and lowered his gaze to the floor. “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said, shaking his head. He took several long breaths before looking up again. “You never learn.”
A part of me knew Davis hadn’t called because he wanted to know if I could get the place cleaned up, or because in two days’ time, they’d be back here in Jester Falls. He couldn’t have meant that. If there’s one thing Mama taught us, it was the meaning of clean.
After I relayed the conversation to Johnny, I was annoyed that he didn’t provide the answers I was hoping for. Instead, he took personal offense to it. I guess I should have known. Johnny takes offense to everything.
Chapter Four
Ruth
“What kind of monster would do something like this?” Johnny asks as he paces back and forth. He looks so much like Daddy—he always has. But even more so standing here tonight. Maybe it’s the concern etched on his face. Maybe it’s the volunteer fire department T-shirt, or the way he carries himself, with his hands on his hips, his shoulders slightly slouched. He’s a mountain of a man. He towers over me. He towers over most people.
“No, seriously,” he says, repeating himself. “What kind of fucking monster would do this?”
“The kind that gets handled,” Cole says. We’re all just standing there, among the crowd which has gathered and is growing in size, watching Roy and the female officer and the paramedics do their jobs. It feels like nothing is happening and everything is happening, which can often sum up life in this town.
“Not now,” I say to Cole, looking over at Ashley and back at him. “This isn’t the time.”
Cole’s gaze flits from Ashley to me and then to Johnny. His eyes ask the question that’s on everyone’s mind. Everyone but mine. And hers. What is it about men, always being the last to know
? Cole is asking in his way who she is and if she’s with Johnny, although I can tell he assumes. I can also tell Johnny is wondering the exact same thing. He has no idea who she is. But he wants to.
Cole leans toward Ashley and extends his hand. I watch as she takes it, expecting to feel nothing, and I almost succeed.
“I’m Ashley,” she smiles. “Ashley Parker.” I roll my eyes because finally Cole has met someone who is as well-mannered as he is.
