Page 84 of Kings Fear No One
“You’re here, aren’t you? You’re Logan’s old lady, right?”
“You left home to be here.”
“You didn’t?” Sydney asks. “I seem to remember Teysha Baxter was a waitress at the Sunny Side Up, just like me. Born and raised in Boulder. She’s got a mama and grandmama who would probably prefer if she returned home. Yet you’re here. Doing your own thing.”
My bashful smile falters as I give a shake of my head. The feeling inside my chest tightens just at the thought of what’s waiting for me at home. Mama and Grandma Renae mean well, but their suffocating love would make anyone feel like a bird trapped in a cage.
I’ve stayed in Pulsboro so I could breathe for the first time in my adult life.
So I could make things work with my husband.
But I’m nothing like Sydney. She stood on her own. She sought answers. Retribution for what happened to her and her family.
I could never be that brave. I’m practically in hiding, still sweating in my sleep over Abraham and the Chosen Saints. Still losing my voice whenever Mama’s near. I’m so weak, Logan had to ask his brother’s girlfriend—my old friend from Boulder—to watch after me while he’s gone.
Sydney seems to sense I’m getting lost in my thoughts. She taps my wrist for my attention, a sympathetic bend to her mouth. “Tey, the fact that you’re still standing after everything you’ve been through?—”
“I’m really tired,” I blurt out. The dish rag slips out of my hand. “Mind if I go lay down for a while?”
It’s half the truth. I’ve got aches and pains up and down my body. Almost like my body’s acting up in protest of Logan being gone. I’ve pushed through the morning, but thoughts about home and Abraham and everything else are equally as exhausting.
Sydney shares a look with Mick, then nods. “Go ahead. I’ll come get you around dinner.”
I’m out of it as I spin on my heel and escape to the house out back. I draw the curtains in the room I’ll be staying in, blocking out the bright Texas sun, and collapse into bed. Sleep comes easy. Dreamlessly.
My preference these days.
It means no nightmares about Abraham and what he put me through.
I wrap my arms around a pillow and bury my face in it, pretending it’s not doughy and soft. It’s hard and muscled like Logan.
It feels like I’m only out for a couple minutes. The next time I open my eyes and blink blearily around the room, I realize I’m no longer alone. I’m a breath away from screaming ’til I blink again and recognize the face I’m looking up at. The door’s cracked open and none other than Korine has wandered in.
She’s in coveralls stained with motor oil and grease but when she spots that I’m awake, her smile’s never been brighter. She’s wearing a ball cap backwards, the short strands of her pixie cut framing her face.
“Sydney asked me to come check on you. How was the nap?”
I sit up, feeling discombobulated. “Quick. What time is it?”
“A few minutes after five.”
“I slept for almost four hours?!”
Korine shrugs. “Maybe you needed the rest.”
“More like I needed the escape.”
“It can be the same thing. I was the same way when I left my husband, Ken.” She sits down on the foot on the bed and readjusts her backward ball cap. “It’s crazy to think it’s already been eight months since I left him.”
“I didn’t know that you were…”
“Married?” Korine releases a soft, wistful laugh. “Yeah, I was married. Right out of college. So, pretty young like you.”
“Then what happened?”
“He beat me. So many times, I couldn’t tell you about them all.”
Concern pulls my lips into a frown. “That sounds horrific. I’m so sorry.”
