“Mac,” her momma said, tone soft but firm. “I’m stayin’ with your daddy, and I’d like to be alone. If you need something to do, go check on town hall. Daddy was there Saturday mornin’, and we left in such a rush, I don’t even know if I locked up his office or not. Can you do that for me?”
Mac blew out a frustrated breath. She could go check on things at town hall and then come right back. With drive time, it’d put her back here well into the night, but she didn’t care. She was going to—
“And then go home, sweetheart.”
She froze, her eyes snapping to her mom’s. “But, Momma—”
“Don’t ‘But, Momma’ me, Mackenna. I’m exhausted, and I know you are too. It’s been a long few days, and I need some alone time with your daddy before the slew of visitors starts pouring in. I’m gonna spend the evening tellin’ him all the ways I’m gonna kill him now that we know he’s gonna live.”
Mac breathed out a laugh, her shoulders slumping in defeat. One thing about being a competitor all her life was that she knew when the fight was over. She knew when to give in or to push harder. And pushing her momma harder would only be cruel at this point.
“Okay,” she said with a nod. “I’ll check on town hall and go home, if that’s what you need.”
Her mom’s face softened with a smile, her eyes warming as she stared at Mac. “That’s exactly what I need. Thank you.”
If that was what her momma needed, then that was what Mac was going to give her. She was sick and tired of being the failure in the family, of being the person no one called, of being the last one everyone thought of.
And she was willing to sacrifice anything in order to finally prove her worth.
Hudson kept sneaking glances at Kenna out of the corner of his eye as he drove toward Havenbrook. The sun had long since set, so he only had the headlights of passing cars to illuminate her expressions. Although, it had really only beenoneexpression since they’d left the hospital parking lot—guilt. Pure, undiluted guilt.
And he fucking hated it for her.
He’d lived with guilt, and it was exhausting. How it ate away at a person until they believed every single lie they told themselves during one of those spirals. And right now, he’d do just about anything to pull her out of it.
“You know what drivin’ this way makes me think about?” he asked, breaking the silence. He’d been trying to engage her in conversation the entirety of the ride, but she’d only given one-word answers in between staring out the window.
Kenna turned her head toward him. “Hmm?”
He lifted his chin to the turnoff sign for Fort Ridley, Tennessee, a smile quirking his lips. “Remember when Nat and her dumb-ass friends thought it’d be a good idea to steal Philander’s tractor in retaliation for him tellin’ their parents some probably illegal thing they did?”
Her lips twitched in the corner, but it wasn’t quite the full-blown smile he’d been hoping for, so he continued. “Only the idiots drove it across state lines—because of course they did. Go big, or go home for those three, right? Except—”
“The tractor died and stranded them in Tennessee.” She chuckled under her breath and shook her head. “It’s really a wonder they’ve only been arrested the once.”
“Lucky bastards, all of ’em.”
“Lucky and persuasive. If you and I hadn’t gone to pick ’em up and tow that thing back, they’d’ve probably been sent off to juvie.” She shook her head, a grin quirking up the side of her mouth. “You know he never did find out? I think those three will take that to their graves. And I sorta like havin’ something to hold over Nat’s head.”
“Like you’d ever tell.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think so?”
“Not in a million years.”
“What makes you so sure?”
He brought their clasped hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, then darted his eyes to hers before focusing once again on the road. “Because you’re the most loyal person I’ve ever known, Kenna. You might wanna strangle your sisters sometimes, but you’d never give someone else ammunition to do so.”
“Loyal but not dependable, apparently,” she said so low, he was certain he wasn’t supposed to hear it.
“Hey.” He tugged her arm to get her attention. “Loyalanddepend—”
“Hud. Can we not?” she said on a sigh. “I’m so exhausted, I just wanna close my eyes for a while.”
He split glances between her and the road, trying to get a read on her expression, but without any oncoming cars, it was too dark to be able to do so. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice, though that wasn’t all he heard. There was an underlying emotion he couldn’t quite name. But it didn’t matter. If she wanted to rest, then he certainly wasn’t gonna stop her.
With a nod, he said, “Go ahead and rest, then. I’ll wake you up when we get home.”
