Page 16 of Carry Me Home
I hunched over my embroidery project like it was the only thing that mattered. Jack Price could walk through that door right now or never come home at all. It was all the same to me.
My face burned. God, I was such a terrible liar.
Even when I was only lying to myself.
6
JACK
Five monthslater
Mom
Can one of you stop at the grocery store this afternoon?
Essie
Why am I on this group text? I don’t live there anymore.
Jack
No problem. Text me your list.
Mom
Aren’t you in town today, Essie? You could just swing by while you’re doing your other errands. I only need a couple things.
Jack
Mom, I said I’d do it.
Mom
Essie doesn’t mind.
Essie
Essie does mind, actually. Sorry, Mom. Better ring the bell and warn the village folks the monster is coming.
Sheesh.You make a grown man nearly piss himself one single time, and suddenly everyone treats you like a live grenade. So maybe I was—my temper was short-fused these days—but Chuck Gains was the dumbass who pulled the pin.
Maybe I should have felt bad that Chuck had bought me a beer, and I’d repaid his generosity by scaring him so badly he’d spilled his all over himself, but I didn’t. If you’re not ready to find out what it feels like to kill a man, then don’t ask the fucking question. Chuck had been an asshole all through high school, and he was still an asshole now.
The only thing I felt bad about was that Janie wasn’t at the Painted Cat that night. A good thing, it turned out, because if choking her in her sleep had her running scared, then witnessing that little display would have been a sign to keep right on running.
That had to be why she hadn’t called. I’d left the ball in her court that night, and if she wasn’t interested, we’d leave it at that. But when she didn’t call, that stung. We had something. A spark, chemistry, whatever the fuck it was that made two people home in on each other like magnets. We had it.
For months, I’d avoided the Painted Cat, not wanting to corner her while she was working. I’d figured we were bound to bump into each other at some point anyway. She was Essie’s best friend, and Aspen Springs wasn’t exactly big. But it never happened.
Fine. I had never been young enough to play those kinds of games. Janie Belmont wanted nothing to do with me. I could accept that. I didn’t like it, but I could accept it.
I cruised past two Subarus squaring off over a prime parking spot and claimed a space in the empty row at the back of the lot. By the time I was parked and walking back to the store, Sarah Gottlieb and Jerry Wilson were out of their cars and still arguing despite the fact that they were both parked close to the door.
I popped the collar of my coat up to my jaw, pulled the brim of my ball cap lower on my face, and quickened my stride, but no such luck.
“Jack!” Sarah called.
I hunched deeper into my coat and kept going like I hadn’t heard her. Undeterred, she jogged to catch up with me, arriving at my side out slightly out of breath.
