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Avery really had stood here too long. She quietly stepped off the porch and made her way across the yard. Maybe the woman was just a close friend. Or a cousin he hadn’t yet mentioned. But wasn’t it also possible he had a girlfriend waiting for him in Albany?
Avery recalled the way he gazed at her sometimes, with affection and maybe something more. The connection between them couldn’t be denied. Their conversation was friendly, sometimes flirtatious, but it wasn’t as if he’d ever hit on her. Even when they’d danced in so closely on Saturday, he’d done nothing suggestive.
And yet... hearing him talk so softly to another woman made her chest ache. She didn’t like the idea of him having a girlfriend—even though nothing could ever come of a relationship with him.
She rolled her eyes. “You are being ridiculous.” But the verbal acknowledgment did nothing to diminish her conflicting feelings.
***
It took Wes a while to pull up the tack strips and once he had, he was too wired to sleep. Unfortunate since he needed to getan early start in the morning. He needed to get the Kilz as soon as the hardware store opened. Once that dried, he’d start putting down the vinyl planking. That would take two days. He’d already called Stewie and left a message, asking if he could get the bathroom plumbed in before Friday.
Wes settled on the bed with his phone and started aMission Impossiblemovie. He’d watch until he was tired, then turn in. The film moved quickly and held his interest as the protagonist found himself facing one trial after another, fighting for survival. The female protagonist reminded him a bit of Lillian with her curly brown hair and olive complexion.
He thought back to their recent phone conversations. When she was down, he somehow felt responsible. After all, if it hadn’t been for him, Landon might’ve survived the attack. How could he ever pay his friend back? Looking out for his sister seemed like such a small price to pay.
At least Lillian had been in good spirits tonight. Excited about her new job. Her current clients had taken the news well. And she’d seemed fine with him staying in Riverbend a few extra days. He got the feeling it eased her conscience—she’d felt bad about being gone when he arrived.
An explosion sounded. Wes dropped his phone. His heart thundered in his chest. He gasped for breath.
His eyes fixed on the violent scene playing out on his phone. His hands shook as he stopped the movie. It was only a stupid film.
But he could still hear the sharp crack of the explosion. Feel the force of Landon’s body knocking him to the ground. He still saw the white dots speckling his vision as he opened his eyes. Tasted the dust coating his mouth.
As soon as he’d gotten his bearings, he rolled Landon off his back and saw death in his dazed vision.
Blood.
It was everywhere. Splattered on Landon’s Yankees shirt, on the bandana around his head, dribbling from his mouth. Wes searched for a place to press to stanch the flow, but he couldn’t find its source.
“I got you, buddy. I got you.” Wes looked up to chaos. People running, screaming. Rubble. Bodies on the ground.
“Help!” he screamed. “I need help over here!”
Landon clutched Wes’s arm. His breaths came in gasps. A trickle of blood dripped from his mouth. “Take care... of Lillian.”
A fist tightened in Wes’s gut. “You’re gonna be fine. Come on. Hang in there.”
Landon closed his eyes.
“Landon.Help’s on the way, buddy. Look at me. Come on. Stay with me.”
Landon’s eyes fluttered open. He focused on Wes, more lucid now. “Promise... me.”
Wes’s eyes stung. His vision blurred. “Of course I will. But you’ll be here to do that yourself. You’re going to be just fine. Help is on the—”
Landon’s eyes drifted shut. His chest sank. It didn’t rise again.
“Landon!” Wes shook him. “Landon!”
A siren screamed somewhere in the distance.
Wes blinked. Became aware of the room. The faint acidic smell from the soiled floor. The weight of the blanket. He pushed it off, his breaths heaving, heat prickling under his arms.
He wasn’t in Colombia anymore. He was safe in Riverbend. He was fine.
But Landon wasn’t.
Wes closed his eyes against the unrelenting pain and guilt.Help me, God.It was just a flashback, a little PTSD. It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first in a while. The guilt remained.
