Page 47 of We Thought We Knew It All
“California McCoy. I thought you left all of us Floridians to our own devices years ago.”
“I figured you all couldn’t survive much longer without me.”
He chuckled and walked around the side of the bench. He moved slowly, each action careful. He must have been almost eighty years old.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked.
I scooted over. “Not at all.”
He lowered himself as his eyes scanned the playground. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he turned to me. “Rumor around town is the McCoys are back in the diner business.”
“Not diner,” I said. “Restaurant. And not McCoys. Just me.”
“I’ve missed Ally’s ever since it closed.”
“Me too.”
Seth was a regular at Ally’s since before my mom died. He’d been there practically every day. The only time he’d disappeared from our lives was after his grandson… I shook my head to get rid of that train of thought. It was a nice day and thinking about the shooting would effect that. But, wasn’t I thinking about it all the time, anyway? I couldn’t help it. I was writing a book.
Which was exactly what I blurted to Seth when our conversation lulled. I hadn’t meant to tell him, but he’d been like part of the family.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“Did you hear what I said?” I asked. “I just had to tell you before you found out some other way. I’m writing about the shooting. I’m sorry if that’s painful, but I have to do it. It’s still painful for us too and it’s been ten years. We need to move on. We have to.” I realized I was rambling and clamped my lips shut.
His eyes looked so sad in that moment that I wished I could take it all back. I thought he was going to get up and leave, disgusted that I’d use his grandson’s actions for a story, but he stayed put. He turned back toward the playground.
“You have kids?” he asked.
I looked sideways at him, knowing he must already know the answer since I was sitting here at the park. I answered him anyway. “Three. Jackson and Declan.” I pointed to where Jackson was still playing with his baby brother. “Liam.” I nodded toward Liam who was chasing the other boy across the wood chips.
Seth smiled sadly. “I have one son. Jeremiah. But Jerry had four children. Two boys and two girls.” He nodded toward the boy playing with Liam. “Bryant there is my oldest grandson’s kid.”
I couldn’t help myself. “So, he’s-”
“Matthew’s nephew.”
I gripped the edge of the bench until my knuckles turned white. “Why are you telling me all of this?” The question came out more as a breathless gasp.
Seth reached over and patted my hand. “Because Matthew did a horrible thing. No one will ever forget that. But he was a son, a grandson, and a brother. He was loved, and we tried to help him. Just…” His voice thickened. “Remember that when you write about him, when you immortalize him, what he did. Even if you hate him… he wasn’t a monster. He was just a troubled kid.”
The tears in Seth’s eyes never fell. I wouldn’t have been able to hold myself together if they had.
“Mom,” Declan yelled. “Play with me.”
Jackson nodded his agreement.
I stood up and smoothed down my shirt before glancing toward Seth once more. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.” They’d all been through a lot. That town. My friends. No one came through it without being irreparably changed.
I should have spent that evening preparing for the following day - cleaning the house and everything - but as soon as I powered up my computer, I couldn’t stop. I stayed up late rewriting large sections of my book. It was time to tell the story as I saw it at twenty-eight, not as I felt it at eighteen. It was time to get the whole picture.
18
Jamie
“Do you get the feeling that something bad is going to happen?” I asked Colby as I shrugged on my suit jacket.
He gave me a knowing look. “It’s different now.”
