Page 175 of Dove
And the way she was ripping down the driveway did not suggest anything good.
Eddie squeezed my shoulder again, harder this time, in comradery.
“Maybe you don’t have to tell her at all, man,” he drawled, eyes tracking the truck as its distance grew smaller. “Because I would wager a bet that the cats out of the bag.”
Yeah, I would, too.
I couldn't tell if it was relief or dread forming like lead in the pit of my stomach.
38
DOVE
Rev didn’t let me get into the truck until I’d calmed down, promising her I would drive safely.
But what she didn’t realize was I had the whole ride over to work myself up again.
I tried. I tried hard to keep her words of comfort swirling in my head.
Stella was just working you up. She’s lying. Josh would never do something like that behind your back.It all repeated in her familiar voice in my head for about the first five minutes. Then the words began to twist, my own voice mingling with them until it was,Stella knows something I don’t and wanted to rub it in my face. Josh has been talking to Stella behind my back. Maybe Josh never wanted the farm and I’m just keeping him tied to it.
By the time I reached the road that led to our driveway, I wasfuming.My heart pounded with anger, my stomach was sick with sadness, and jealousy weaved itself around me like a python, taking my ability to breathe easy away.
I tore down the driveway like a murderer was on my tail, not caring that the gravel ricocheted harshly against the cherry-redpaint. My stomach twisted when I saw Eddie’s car, completely forgetting he was here in the storm of my anger.
I was prepared to drive around back to the barn to find them, so imagine my surprise when I saw them lounging on the porch, shooting the shit, when I had expected them to be working on unloading. The sight only made my blood boil further.
The tires skidded to an abrupt halt as I slammed the brakes, parking haphazardly in front of the porch steps. I jumped out, knees protesting as I landed on the hard ground. Within seconds I was thundering up the steps, each one groaning under my assault.
Gunning straight toward them, my eyes met Eddie’s first. Soft with pity and edged with concern. Then Josh’s. His beautiful eyes were filled with regret, and in that instant,I knew.
My own eyes, which I'd managed to keep dry on the way over, flooded with moisture.
“How could you?” I all but shouted, voice cracking halfway through as the tears gave way, spilling down my cheeks.
Eddie turned to Josh, murmuring something that had him nodding in reply before his best friend got up to leave. He walked past me, his goodbye nothing more than a buzz in the background of my mind. All I could manage was a small, tight nod of recognition, too afraid to speak—too afraid of what might come out if I did. My eyes remained glued to Josh’s, even as Eddie’s car revved to life and slowly disappeared down the driveway.
We remained locked in a stare down as silence settled like a shroud between us.
He rose from the porch swing, his movements slow, deliberate, like I was a wild thing he might spook. “Dove?—”
The sound of his voice breaking the silence forced mine to follow.
“I had to find out fromStella.”The words came out seething, both a statement and a question, the weight of betrayal heavy in my chest.
“I’m sorry.” The apology spilled from his lips like it meant something, but all it succeeded in doing was stoke the coals of anger burning in my chest instead of dousing them. What was he sorry for? The fact I found out about it from Stella—or the fact he decided to sell the farm behind my back like it wasn’t the place I calledhome?
“I was going to tell you?—”
“When?” I closed the distance between us, furious andguttedthat he hadn’t yet told me this was a giant misunderstanding. “When were you going to tell me, Josh? When they were hammering the fuckingFor Salesign out front?”
Josh grimaced. “Stella shouldn’t have said anything?—”
“Oh, I’mgladshe did,” I snapped. “I never would have found out otherwise, would I?”
Josh straightened, his posture stiffening. “That’snottrue.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Then what is? Because you haven’t givenme a damn thing to believe.” My chest heaved with emotion. “I thought we were working toward something. I thought we were...”
