AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A heart attack. The love of her life was in an ambulance with a heart attack. Her heart was already breaking.
Chapter Two
(in which time becomes confused)
Voicesdriftedaroundhim.They seemed clipped and urgent and another world away. He had no idea what was being said or why there seemed to be this scurry of chaos orbiting him.
Kevin pressed his head back and exhaled through a vice-clamped chest. A deep, guttural moan filled his hearing. Did that come from his throat? It sounded painful and perhaps desperate.
Stay with us, Mr. Murphy . . .
Something warm and numbing slogged through his veins, claiming his already foggy mind. Had he been drinking?
Hadn’t he quit drinking?
He had. Because drinking had very nearly ruined his life. Surely his sobriety was real . . .
Keep fighting, sir. Stay with us . . .
In the murkiness of that moment, with his mind blurry and reality smudged, Kevin wasn’t sure. This moment seemed so disappointingly familiar, as if he’d lived this once before.
Because he had, hadn’t he?
God, I don’t want to be that man anymore. Please . . .
The thought seemed as much a memory as it was a prayer. Time became a blotchy mess—the past confused with the present. Kevin couldn’t sort out history from present reality.
And then with sudden breathtaking clarity, he was in 1982. Living a moment that felt more real and current than the fading confusion of stern voices and something beeping incessantly.
Man, it was hot. So, so hot, especially for December.
Twenty-year-old Kevin Murphy shook out his arms and peeked around the wall separating the hallway from that dim sanctuary. Candlelight flickered from the cluster of taper candles in the gaudy holders on each side of the aisle. Maybe that was why it was so hot? There sure were a lot of those flickering little flames. Seemed they’d like to lick his soul.
Why did church always make him feel like he was in hell? No one even had to breathe a brimstone-filled word, and he still felt the scorch of eternal flames coming for him.
Imagine that for all eternity.
He didn’t want to. More, he wouldn’t. Specifically, not on that day.
Kevin tugged on the sleeves of his rented black tux and drew in a long, fortifying breath. Jim Beam tinged the air he released, summoning a strong need for another nip. Turning to the guy at his right and slightly behind him, he tapped his best man’s chest and motioned with his fingers. “I need a drink.”
“We’re inchurch, and it’s just about time, Kev,” Dave said. “Think you’ve had enough.”
Kevin wiggled his fingers again. “One more, for luck.”
“Second thoughts?” Dave’s expression furrowed. “It’s not too—”
With a scowl, Kevin slipped his hand into Dave’s suit jacket, fishing the inner breast pocket for the flask he’d entrusted to Dave before they’d left the trailer. Jackpot.
“No.” He untwisted the small cap, tipped back a long swig, and replaced the lid. “It’s just hot in here.”
Dave lifted one skeptical brow. “It’s Christmas Eve. And snowing. And the heater’s not working great in here. Maybe you’re not ready—”
“Shut up, Dave.” Kevin gave his best man a healthy shove. “Just wait until it’s you.”
“It’ll be a while.” Dave shouldered him back, then adjusted his bowtie. “But if it were me and I loved the girl, I wouldn’t need liquid fire to get me through my own wedding.”
Trust him for that. Dave, upstanding as the mountain winters were long, would never be caught up in the vices that Kevin had been born to. Then again, why would he? Raised by a pair of do-good Christian parents whose most serious reoccurring problem was getting to Sunday services on time, Dave always had plenty at the table and never had to wonder how he’d make it to school if his dad’s binge had him strung out until late in the day. He never knew what it was like to bear the label of the town-drunk’s kid. Dave walked through life like it was all sunshine and happiness.
