AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Adam rubbed my arms and scanned the dark street. “He can’t have gone far. We’ll find him.”
The door to the warehouse opened, and a woman slipped out. She hovered there as if she knew me, and it took me a second to recognise her.
“Liberty?”
She approached hesitantly. “Hi, Abbie.”
Adam’s head swung back and forth. “You two know each other?”
“Youtwo know each other?” I replied, surprise pitching my voice a little higher.
Liberty’s mouth curved in a shy smile. “We just met,” she said. “Adam bought me a free drink.”
Even in my distress, I was pleased that my brother was having a good time. He was so dedicated to his work that he’d never had a relationship last longer than two years, and though I wasn’t saying Liberty was the woman he’d marry, I was more hopeful about happily-ever-afters now that I’d found mine.
“Is everything under control in there?” I asked. I wasn’t about to go in, but when I found Will, I wanted to be able to tell him that the night wasn’t ruined.
“Birdie’s on top of it,” Adam confirmed. “It’s almost like the fight never happened.”
“Okay. That’s good news.” I nodded to myself as a little of my anxiety melted away. “Now I need to find Will so I can let him know.”
“Any ideas where he might be?” Adam asked.
“One,” I replied. I looked at Liberty regretfully, then back at my brother. I knew he’d be sober enough to drive—he never had more than two drinks at a time—but he was clearly enjoying himself. “I’m sorry to spoil your night, but I’ve had too much alcohol to get behind the wheel. Any chance you can drive me?”
“Absolutely.” Adam turned to Liberty with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to cut the evening short, but can I take you to breakfast in the morning?”
Liberty’s disappointment morphed into delight right before my eyes. I liked this woman. “Yes. That would be great.”
I tapped out a quick text to Will while I waited impatiently for them to exchange numbers, then followed Adam to his car, where it was parked further down Main Street. We drove to our destination in anxious silence. I wasn’t in the mood to grill Adam about Liberty—that would happen after I’d made sure Will was okay—and he knew me well enough not to talk to me when my head was someplace else. I kept my phone in my hand in case Will called, but he didn’t.
We didn’t have far to go. Turning the corner onto a familiar street and pulling to the kerb, we found Will sitting in the gutter in the dark outside his mother’s house.
He looked so forlorn and lost, all alone in the dark, and my heart broke. He’d taken off his jacket and rolled the sleeves of his crumpled white shirt up over his forearms. His top buttons were undone, his bow tie loose and uneven around his neck, the blood stain dried and brown. His lip was split and swollen, but ironically, his hair was immaculate. He had his arms looped around his bent knees and was staring over the road and into nothing.
Adam switched off the engine, but I dropped my hand on his before he could unbuckle his seatbelt.
“I got this,” I told him.
It looked as though he was going to protest but thought better of it and simply nodded. “Call me if you need a ride home.”
“I will. Thank you.” I glanced at Will, then back at Adam and grimaced. “Mama and Dad are going to hear about this before I get a chance to explain. See if you can do some damage control for me?”
Adam nodded again, but tension made the muscles in his sharp jaw flicker. “I’ll talk to them, but I think they’ll understand once I tell them Tristan was there tonight.”
I sighed with resignation. Bringing up this part of my past would cause my parents unnecessary hurt, but they’d learn the truth from someone sooner or later.
I leaned over to press a kiss on Adam’s cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Little Bug,” he replied. “Now, do something about that man on the street there. Let him know he has family and friends here to help fix whatever he thinks is broken.”
I waited until Adam had disappeared down the road before I lowered myself to the gutter beside Will. He didn’t acknowledge my presence, which didn’t hurt me as much as it made me ache for him. He was in pain.
“Whatcha doing?” I asked, gently bumping his shoulder with mine.
He picked up a stone from the road and turned it over between his fingers. “Waiting for a light to turn on inside so I can go in and give Seb his bottle.”
An echo of his heartache reverberated in my chest. I never knew it was possible to miss someone as much as I missed Seb. Without him close, it was like being without a limb or unable to shake that sensation of having forgotten something important.
