Page 161 of Call Back

“Don’t you screw me over again, Colt Austin. I won’t be so forgiving next time.”

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me as though he hadn’t seen me in a month. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“I need a few minutes alone with Momma first.”

“Okay. I’ll walk up to the road and wait.”

“Thanks.”

He looked back at me every few steps as he walked away. The staff had started folding and stacking the wooden chairs they’d set up, and the director walked over to me.

“Magnolia, the men said someone left this. I wondered if it belonged to you, or maybe someone meant to give it to you and forgot.”

The magnolia necklace Brady had given me was dangling from his hand.

The killer had been at my mother’s funeral.

I took it from him with shaking fingers. “Thank you.”

“If there’s anything else we can do for you, just let us know.”

“Thanks.” I turned my back to him, clasping the pendant in my hand tight enough for the metal points to dig into my palm. I cast my eyes toward a small grove of trees, looking for the figure that had been hidden there for most of the service. He was still there, on the outside looking in. Exactly where he belonged.

“You have no right to be here,” I shouted at my father, certain the men behind me thought I’d lost my mind. “You made your choice fourteen years ago, and I want you to stay gone.”

He continued to watch me.

I turned my back on him and walked toward Colt, who had heard me shouting and was already halfway back to me.

“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing toward the trees.

“Everything is fine.” At least for today.

Tomorrow would bring the curtain call.

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