Page 48 of Grave Kisses
“I’m going to tell them you said that,” Marcus laughs from the doorway.
“Do it, bitch. I’ll be their unicorn,” Jesse says with a grin.
We all get up, and Marcus hugs me. “Why are we home?” I ask.
“Well… We talked to Chrissy and Decan. They agree that Jeff is being sketchy, so here is the safest place for you. I think all correspondence should go through Jesse. You are under no obligation to talk to the police. If they need something from you, they can go to her. Ultimately, it’s up to you.”
“That would just be rejecting him, though. What if… I’m afraid if he is bitter, he may… I don’t know… let Archer get to me.”
“That’s why Chrissy and Decan are here. They’re going to do their thing and see what they can do about getting someone to investigate him,” Marcus says.
“Does he know we left?” I ask.
“Oh yeah. He’s called your phone like eight times. He called mine about an hour ago, and I said that I decided that home is the best place for you, so we went home. He didn’t say muchafter that and hung up,” he explains. “But, Tim and Hannah are getting updates. He is still there, so we will know when he is headed back this way.”
“Okay. Good,” I say. “What now?” I ask.
“Now, we relax,” he says, kissing me.
“Awww,” Julie and Jesse say in unison. I hold my middle finger up, not pulling away from Marcus, and they laugh.
We all walk downstairs, and my parents light up when they see me. “Kendra!” Hannah says.
“Hey, Mom,” I say, but then stop. “I’m sorry. I don’t know…”
“Don’t you dare apologize,” she says tearfully as she hugs me. “Please don’t feel obligated to call us Mom and Dad.”
“It feels right,” I say. “It’s like when I would call Alan by his name. It was a weird habit. He was Dad. Tim is Dad. You are Mom.”
“And I’m going to cry,” Julie says. “God, I love this.”
I look at Tim, and he tears up when I smile at him. “Oh, I’m going to cry now too,” he says, hugging me.
“Hey, Dad,” I say sweetly.
“Hey, sweet girl,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
My phone starts ringing on the kitchen counter, and when I look over at it, I see that it’s Jeff. I sigh heavily and pick it up. “What do I do?” I ask.
“Answer,” Jesse says. “Everyone, keep your mouths shut.”
“Hello?” I answer, placing the call on speakerphone.
“Hey. Why did y’all go home?” Jeff asks.
“Marcus thought it would be best for me to be home. I’m mentally exhausted, so we came home,” I say, fearing his reaction.
“What happened to talking?” he asks.
“We are talking, Jeff,” I say. “Also, I said this needed to move slowly, but I’ve spent some time thinking, and…”
I stop talking as Jesse whispers, “Be blunt, but nice.”
“I think my feelings were misguided by my mental health suffering. You are a good guy, but I don’t think this should go beyond you being a detective catching the man who tried to kill me,” I say. “I’m sorry if I led you on, but I don’t have feelings for you, and I don’t think your feelings for me are anything but a response to losing your wife.”
“Is this coming from you or Marcus? He seems to be controlling you a lot,” Jeff says with a harsh tone.
“No, this is coming from me. Unless there is anything regarding the case—”
