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Mom’s astonished gasp echoes around the room, while I take in what he just said. I never had a chance to speak to Wade properly when he got back, everything was so rushed. He told me Caleb was dead, and I naturally assumed he was the one responsible for that. Him and Garrett drilled into me what I needed to do and here I am, just as clueless about what happened to Caleb as everyone else is.
“I’d stay here tonight, you don’t want to go home alone. We’ll have your place dealt with for you before you return.” He rests his hand on my leg and smiles at me. “There will be further questions but for now, we’ll let you be alone.” I look out at the hall when the stretcher carrying Dad’s body under a black plastic sheet passes through. Then I close my eyes and spill more tears when I’m reminded that I’m responsible for it.
Mom sees Sheriff Nelson and his officers out the door, while I move to stand just outside Dad’s office and stare at the blood-stained floor.
“What kind of a mess is this?” Mother starts as soon as she’s closed the door. Her heels clicking against the floor as she makes her way over.
“The kind of mess that started when you forced me to marry an abuser.” I lift up my top so she can see for herself.
“I’m pregnant and he knew it. He could have killed me and my baby and I, for one, am glad he’s dead.”
“Will you lower your tone? Talking like that will get you thrown in jail.”
“What are they gonna arrest me for? Taking everything he did to me and staying silent?” I laugh at her and shake my head. “Your husband just got carried out of here on a stretcher, and you haven't shed a single tear, maybe you should worry about your own reaction before you start judging mine.”
“Karina, go upstairs, find your sister something more appropriate to wear,” She stares down at the jeans and T-shirt that I borrowed from Maisie after she helped me get cleaned up.
“Something black, and non-provocative, the well-wishers will start visiting soon.”
“Save yourself the trouble, I’m leaving.” I pick up my keys and head for the door.
“What do you mean, you're leaving?” Mom rushes to block me. “You can’t leave, you heard what the sheriff said, we’re supposed to grieve together, like a family.”
“Like a family?” I laugh at her again. “Accept that we’re not a family. You didn’t love Dad, I sure as hell didn’t love Caleb. I’m not gonna sit here and pretend with you. My time for pretending is done.” I shove past her and make my way to the door.
“And where will you go? You can’t go back to that house alone.” I stop at the door and turn back around to look at her.
“I wouldn’t go back to that place if my life depended on it. I’m going to be with myrealfamily, the people who wanna take care of me and see me happy. I’m going to stay with the Carsons.”
“Leia, please, no.” The desperation on Mom’s face, as she rushes to hold the door shut, is as haunting as it is amusing.
“You can’t, the whole town will talk. You’ve always had a weird relationship with Wade, we can’t have that scandal. Leia, think about this.”
“Scandal? Mom, it’s only ever a scandal if the person involved is important. You're not the mayor’s wife anymore, you're just Veronica Walker, dried-up old widow.” She raises her hand like she’s gonna strike me and I grab her wrist, holding it firm before she can hit. “I’d really think about doing that, because these days, I hit back. And I hit back twice as hard.” I release her and leave her standing in shock as I head out the door and get in my car.
I see Wade pacing across the ranch porch when I pull up outside, and he immediately rushes toward me, opening my car door and dragging me out before I’ve barely unbuckled my safety belt.
“How’d it go, d’ya think they bought it?” he asks, pressing me up against the car and kissing me before I can get the words out to answer his question.
“I think so,” I nod my head, still dazed by everything that has happened today. I scrubbed my body ‘til it felt raw in the shower earlier and yet, I can still feel my father’s blood on my hands.
“They found Caleb too. They’d gone to arrest him or whatever. Sheriff Nelson told me he’d taken his own life.” I look up into Wade’s handsome brown eyes, knowing that won’t have been the case, and I don’t see a shred of remorse on his face as he nods back at me.
“Come on, let's get ya inside, you need to rest, it’s been a day for ya.” He takes my hand and starts leading me toward the door.
“What happened, Wade? I wanna know.” I pull him back.
“No, ya don’t.” He shakes his head.
“Stop treating me like that. Remember, you're talking to a girl who just murdered her own father. You don’t have to hide shit from me.” He pauses for a while before sighing in defeat.
“Okay, so I killed him, alright? I took that fucker’s head and I smashed it through the table, just like I told ya to tell the cops your daddy did. Then, just as I was about to beat the soul out of him on them stairs, that he tossed ya down, my brother stepped in with one of his epic fuckin’ solutions.” Wade searches around the yard in case there's someone listening. “We put the letter opener in his pocket and I hung him from the fuckin’ ceilin’,” he confesses. “And don’t youdaretry and make me feel bad for that because, in my eyes, I did that man a kindness. I had every right to—” I trap anything more he’s got to say in his mouth when I kiss him, and as his hands slide around and cup my ass so he can lift me onto his body, I hook my legs around his hips and let him carry me onto the porch.
“You gonna let me take care of ya now?” he asks just before we get to the door.
“Do I have a choice?”
“No darlin’, you just got all your choices back, but not on that one.” He kisses me again before opening the door and carrying me inside.
