Page 4 of The Monster I Loved
“It’s going to be a while before we get home,” Aston told me from the front seat. “It’s a long drive.”
I was in no rush. There was no one in Tarrytown eagerly awaiting my arrival—with the exception of maybe Henry, my best friend, but he had a family and other priorities now. As he drove, Aston and I caught up. I learned my father slept at a different house with his mistress most nights. The home I’d grown up in had predominantly stayed empty—except for Aston and the cleaning company he let in weekly. He was a strange man, my father. After my mom died, rumors spread that he decided never to remarry, probably afraid of bad press. Instead he lived in secret with the woman my parents were likely fighting about the night she died.
Decade-old memories filled my mind. The engagement ring, and the emotional proposal I’d offered to Summer after fiveblissful years of being together. I’d always known she was the one, despite my father’s advice to ‘date around’ in college. Toexploremy options.
All I wanted was Summer.
The tears in her eyes as she said yes. The tender kisses. Our giggles as we planned how we were going to tell everyone the great news.
Then the world went dark, like someone switched the light off.
My mom’s smile was gone. I’d never hear her laugh again. Never drink her coffee or complain about my day to her. Never feel her ruffle my hair again as if I were still a kid.
After losing my mom to the screeching wheels of a cowardly, asshole driver, I had spent the following week in a blurred despair, barely able to move, eat, or put one foot in front of the other.
Summer never left my side.
She was my saving grace. Then, one morning, something switched inside me, and I woke up with a single purpose.
I would find my mother’s killer.
Just over two weeks after burying my mother, I got a phone call that would wreck me.
“You’re out of your fucking mind!” I’d yelled at Daisy through the phone. Shehadto be lying, right? Daisy’d had a crush on me for years, but I’d only ever had eyes for Summer. It had to be jealousy, some bizarre attempt to steal me from her best friend, I decided.
She didn’t yell back. Instead, she spoke calmly, gently. “I saw the truck. It still has her blood on it.”
My stomach had churned faster after that. Daisy knew I could check the truck for blood. Why would she make it up? It was easy to disprove.
“Where is it?” I’d croaked.
“It’s still in the garage, I think.”
After jabbing my finger on the end-call button, I shot down the hill I’d driven a million times. The town was decorated for Halloween, but I was too preoccupied to notice the pumpkins, witches, and ghosts lining the porches. The night before, Summer had tried to distract me by talking about turning our wedding venue into a haunted house. I think she hoped for a reaction, maybe even a smile. But I couldn’t imagine a haunted house scaring me again.
Nothing frightened me more than the possibility that Daisy was right.
That Clive had killed my mother.
After making it down the hill, I made a left onto Broadway. Soon, I was on Park Avenue. In what felt like seconds, Summer’s house had come into view. With an inability to remember the drive there, I jumped out of the car and stumbled up the driveway on legs that didn’t even feel like my own. My hands trembled as I stood in front of the garage.
Oh God, it just can’t be.
I needed to know the truth. I punched in the code and held my breath as the garage door slowly lifted.Come on.
Clive’s vehicle wasn’t there.
My chest had tightened into a fist. The bitch was playing games with me.
I noticed a bucket of water with a washcloth hanging over the side. I stepped further inside to take a closer look. Summer’s car was in the garage. If she wasn’t home, how was she getting around?
“Summer?” I called as I approached the bucket. Their house was small, so she’d be able to hear me if she were inside. “Summer!”
My eyes landed on the water in the bucket.
The red water. Red!
“Summer!”
