Chapter 44
DEREK
It had been three months since that rainy day when we’d lowered Spencer’s casket into the ground. It was a day I’ll never forget. A day that will haunt me forever. The whole town was there, dressed in their best. I’d been asked to be a pallbearer but I had something more important to do. I knew Spencer would understand. I had to get Zoe there.
She was a mess. For weeks afterward, she didn’t leave Spencer’s house. She sat around all day in his clothes, sobbing or staring at the walls. Every time I saw her I tried to get through to her, but nothing helped. I brought her food and force fed her at first. Little by little, she started to come back to life.
With Kane in jail with no chance of bail, Zoe had been left their construction company. As quickly as the ink had dried on her signature, she shut it down. When I’d asked her why, she just looked at me blankly and said she could have no association with something that Kane built. I understood but it felt like I was losing another part of them. Maybe the only part I had left.
At night Zoe screamed. Every damn night. After the second week of her hermit status I’d moved in. I packed up Kane’s room, tossed out his bedding, repainted the walls, and removed all trace of him before making the room my own. At first it was only temporary. Just until Zoe found her feet. As the days passed, she didn’t get better.
As much as I loved home, it didn’t feel like it anymore. Too much had happened. Too much bad shit had gone down. So one non-descript Tuesday morning, as Zoe forced down a cup of tea and half a slice of dry toast, I’d broached the subject. “Zoe, I think it’s time we get out of here.”
“What?”
“I can’t do this anymore. You can’t do this anymore. We need to leave. Let’s go to Melbourne. Start again.”
The moment the words were out, Zoe had a panic attack. A full blown, desperate for air, hyperventilating panic attack. As I helped her through it, the decision was made. She wasn’t getting a choice. We were getting the fuck out of here. Jenna was already gone, unable to stand the sights and the weird looks, and the hushed whispers everywhere she went. Now it was time to get Zoe out before she got worse?if that was at all possible.
Once she was breathing normally, I handed her a bottle of water and wrapped my arm around her. At first she jumped at my touch, but day by day she was getting used to me being around. No one else had been able to get within arm’s length of her, but I could. For some reason, she let me in. Although I had no idea why, I wasn’t about to question it either.
“Do you still have your place in the city?” I asked.
With wide, vacant eyes, she nodded.
“Okay then. We’ll leave on Friday. Something’s got to change, Zoe. I can’t do it anymore. It’s just too fucking hard. I need a change.” And the truth was, I did.
