Page 87 of Sweet Possession
Nash and Savannah had bought me home from the hotel and hadstayed with me while Fox took care of some business. Nash didn’t say as much, but I had a feelingthatthe business he was dealing with was Lily.
I tried not to fret over it on the journey home, remindingmyselfthatI trusted Fox, andthatit wasjustmy demons trying to wreak havoc. But until Fox came home and told me everything was sorted, I knew I wouldn’t be able to silence them.
With it being such a beautifully warm afternoon, the three of us haddecided to sit in the garden and enjoy the sun. Savannah had quickly complainedthatshe was too hot though, but rather than go into the air-conditioned house, she’d suggested dipping our feet in the pool to keep cool.
The promise I’d made to Fox to steer clear of the pool was at theforefront of my mind. But I wasn’t alone, and I’d stupidly figured he wouldn’thave gotten mad if he knew Nash and Sav were with me.
How wrong I was.
The afternoon passed in quiet bliss. Sav had been sketching newdesigns in the sketchpad she held in her lap, her feet swaying in the water. Nash had taken up residence on a sunbed, his phone glued to his hand as he went through his emails.
As for me, I wanted to switch off from everythingthathad happenedthe previous night. I’d grabbed myHarry Potterbook from the library, ready to lose myself inHogwartsand learn all aboutQuidditch.
For a peaceful hour, the only soundthatrang out into the air was the sound of Sav’s pencil scratching against the sketchpad, and Nash tapping at the keyboard on his phone.
But when Sav announcedthatshe was craving peanut butter icecream, Nash had jumped to his feet, telling us he’d go to the store to get her a tub, along with chocolate ice cream for me.
He’d been gone less than ten minutes when Sav had visited thebathroom, typically right at the moment Fox had arrived home and assumed I was alone in the house.
“Why wouldthatbe a problem?”Sav asked, pulling myattention away from the end of the empty driveway, a quizzical look on her face when she saw the tracks of my tears.
“He made me promise to not go near the pool without him. I don’tknow for sure, but I think water may have something to do with his sister dying.”
Sav’s brows shot up, her hand coming to clutch her chest.“Oh gosh. Ididn’t know,”she replied, stunned.“I’ll ring Nash. He’ll know what to do.”
She scurried away, disappearing into the living room. Seconds laterher rushed tones filtered to where I’d sat down on the doorstep, returning my stare to the driveway.
Timeseemedto slow down. Every secondthatticked by and Fox stillhadn’t returned home was excruciating. My thoughts turned chaotic, my imagination running wild with intrusive thoughts. Images flashed through my mind of a car crumpled to the size of a tin can because it had hit a tree or a wall after the driver had driven too fast and lost control.
I felt sick.
Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Savannah had sat down next to meuntil she took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.
I had no idea how much time passed until there was a faint rumblingof a car engine, getting louder as it drew closer. I held my breath, praying like mad it was Fox, only to letthatbreath out in disappointment when Nash’s car turned onto the driveway. Sav and I clambered to our feet, our hands still clasped together asNash brought his car to a stop. When he got out, he stayed by the driver’s door, talking to us over the roof of the car.
“What happened?”he asked, alarm evident in his voice which onlyset my nerves on edge all the more.
“I think he had a panic attack when he saw me with my feet in thepool. He must have thought I was alone because you weren’t here and Sav had gone to the toilet,”I said, hopingthatwas enough of an explanation.
“Fuck,”Nash replied, his shoulders slumping.“Yep,thatwould do it,”he muttered to himself, confirming my suspicionthatNash knew why Fox had reacted in the way he did.
“Do you know where he might have gone?”Savannah said, taking thewords out of my mouth.
“Yeah, I know where he’ll be,”Nash replied after a few tense secondsof him chewing the inside of his cheek as he thought. He began to lower himself back into the driver’s seat.
I yanked my hand out of Savannah’s grasp, taking three big steps tothe car and tugging the handle of the passenger door open, determination streaking through me.“I want to come.”
“Cora, I’m not sure that’s a good idea-”Sav started, making mepause with one foot already in Nash’s car, but Nash interrupted her.
“Actually, sweetheart, I think she is exactly what Fox needs,”he said,looking past me to where his wife stood with her brows pulled together in concern. He moved his gaze to me.“Get in, Cora. Let’s go find your man.”
I stared out the window as Nash pulled off the main road, taking anarrow, winding road through towering treesthatcast long shadows across the manicured lawn on either side of the road.
When the trees opened up to reveal the beautiful grounds behindthem, my mouth dropped open in astonishment.
I’d never been to a cemetery before, but I’d never envisioned them tolook like the one Nash was driving us through.
The bright green, manicured lawn stretched as far as I could see. Neatly trimmed rose bushes lined the road we were driving on, and ahead was a quaint little building, the only giveawaythatit was a church was the white cross on the roof of a tall tower.
