Page 82 of We Drank the Dawn

Even still, I objected. “I don’t feel like I know enough to teach him.”

Jesse shook his head. “Sure you do. You do your duties plus some every day.”

Tag nodded. “All you gotta do is let him tag along and show him what to do. Then allow him to struggle through it. You don’t need to hold his hand.”

I nodded. “Alright. Well, I guess I can do that.”

“Excellent.” Tag rapped the top of the table with a note of finality. “Then meet us down at the fifth wheel at five fifteen tomorrow morning. If he isn’t packin’ his bags, we’ll force him up to breakfast.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Sarah

One day ago

Ialmost didn’t hear the knock on my door over the music blaring in my kitchen. Scrambling for my phone, I hit pause and listened.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Pushing off the living room floor, I adjusted my shirt and pulled a few strips of boxing tape off my scrub bottoms. It was getting close to seven o’clock, but I still hadn’t changed out of my work clothes. Stepping around a few big boxes, I hurried to the front door and checked the peephole to see Jackie Thompson standing there with a take out bag of Chinese food looped around her arm.

I threw open the door. “Jackie! Hey! What are you doing here?”

Jackie was the shortest Thompson, but she packed the biggest punch. So different from Peter’s other sisters, she possessed no soft femininity whatsoever. Her nearly black hair was cropped above her shoulders. She was angles and lines and smoke. And the vibe reflected her personality like a mirror.

But, she did look different today.

I couldn’t put my finger on why.

She stepped inside the house and slung her free hand around my back. “Well, I’m sort of here because you won’t answer your phone and everyone is worried about you and I was nominated to come check on you. But, mainly, I’m nosy as hell and need the scoop.”

Good to know that the grapevine was alive and well.

I tried to smile as she squeezed my torso and pulled me toward the kitchen. It was true. I hadn’t consciously meant to avoid the Thompsons, but my heart had been rubbed like a heel inside a wet tennis shoe. Every feeling burned. I just left their brother and didn’t feel like rehashing my reasons over the phone. Plus, Peter should be the one to tell his family that he didn’t want to be a husband anymore, not me.

Bea and Hollie had pursued a conversation with me for a couple days until I texted them both and said I would let them know when I was ready to talk about what happened. I didn’t want to be talked out of separating from Peter. I didn’t want anyone to try to tell me I was wrong for leaving him in Texas.

She held up the bag. “You hungry?”

Saliva pooled in my mouth. A gnawing pain in my belly bolted to the forefront of my mind. When was the last time I had a meal that wasn’t a protein bar? “Starving.”

“Good. Me too. Those grueling days in the office really work up the appetite.” She slung the bag onto my kitchen counter as her eyes flitted to the dining room, where boxes were stacked across the table. “Wow.” She gave a low whistle. “What’s in all the boxes?”

“Peter’s stuff.”

She turned to scrutinize my face. But she only said, “Damn. He must’ve really screwed up.”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Well, let me fuel up for this.” She turned toward my kitchen cabinets and rummaged around until she found a few plates. I popped open the take-out boxes, surprised by the sudden emotions clogging my throat and clouding my eyes. The three days I’d been home, I hadn’t fallen apart. I hadn’t even really cried. I just felt…numb.

After suffering through Peter’s constant rejections, maybe I was callused. I had been able to turn off the noise, hush the pain, and get to work. When I wasn’t giving massages or driving to clients’ houses, I was packing boxes or scrubbing every inch of my home.

I sniffed and forced the tears back where they belonged, grabbing some spoons to dish out the fried rice and chicken. As I served myself, Jackie said, “Take more. You look thin.”

Another person would’ve politely asked if I’d been taking care of myself, but of course, Jackie went straight for the jugular. Mincing words didn’t exist with her.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not thin.”