“Take care of your mom, Noelle,” Chris reminded her through the open door.
“I will,” Noelle promised.
When he pushed my door closed, I swear a piece of my heart shattered.
But I couldn’t show him. I wouldn’t. Instead, I shoved the car in reverse and backed out of Chris’s workshop. He walked to the edge of the door and raised his hand. It was his final goodbye and I had to accept that.
With one final wave, I blinked back unshed tears and headed home.
Ten minutes down the road, I was almost blinded. This felt real. It felt final. When I sniffed, I gavemyself away.
“Why are you crying, Mom?” Noelle asked innocently.
“I’m not, sweetie,” I lied.
“Mom?”
“Yes, Noelle?”
“I miss Chris.”
Noelle’s innocence broke me. I was already a teary mess, and when Noelle gave voice to everything she was feeling it pushed me over the edge. It'd barely been ten minutes and she missed him.
“I miss him, too,” I whispered to myself, finally admitting out loud what my heart already knew.
twenty-four
CHRIS
I’d just kickedoff my boots, grabbed a beer, dropped my ass on the couch, and turned on the football when my phone rang.
I let it ring out.
I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone and anyone I did talk to, they'd no doubt regret it.
It rang again and I groaned but still didn’t get up.
When it rang a third time, I figured it was important.
“Chris, where the hell are you?” Sheriff Whitworth barked formally.
“At home. Where are you?” Dennis didn’t scare me. I’d known him too long for that. Besides, what trouble could I cause? I never went anywhere or did anything to put myself on their radar.
“I’m at Winter Green Farm.”
“And the reason for your call is?” I cut him off.
“I just got a call. Car off the road on the Highway 87. Can you go?”
I didn’t want to. I wanted to sit here, drink my beer, and wallow. But that wasn’t who I was.
“Yeah, I guess. I’m twenty minutes out,” I told him, ending the call.
I set the beer on the coffee table as I grumbled. As I spun around, I saw the wad of cash still sitting on the counter. I didn’t want it. I wanted nothing to do with it.
“Deal with it later,” I grumbled to myself as I started layering up again.
I tugged on my beanie, scarf, boots, and coat and made sure my gloves were in my pocket. If some idiot was off the road, I had no idea what to expect. Snagging the keys to the tow truck, I stomped downstairs, keen to get this over with as soon as possible.
