She blew out a breath, her feelings all over the place.This whole situation was beyond shitty.At least talking to Bronwyn had helped a little.“Thanks for letting me vent.I’ve calmed down now.”Mostly.“I’ll talk to him after I get home.Maybe not tonight, but soon.”Once she felt strong enough.
“Okay, good.What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“Get myself together until I feel ready to confront him.There will definitely be wine and chocolate involved.”
“Fair.And you know I love both of those, almost as much as I love you.Want me to come over for a few days?I could...ferry...day.”
“You’re cutting out.”She plugged a finger into her other ear.“Can you hear me?”
“...I...now.”
“I didn’t catch that.And while I appreciate the offer, I’d be the worst company ever right now—” She stopped when the call dropped suddenly.Checking her phone, she saw she had zero bars.
“Just perfect,” she muttered, then stopped and closed her eyes to take several slow, deep breaths.
She needed to get her shit together.Hard as this was, she was going to have to face the truth sooner or later.
Opening her eyes, she looked around.Rufus was snuffling at something on the ground six feet away.
She felt safer out here with him than she would have alone, with his keen senses of smell and hearing and natural defensiveness.Thankfully, he didn’t start digging at the spot he’d found or do anything else that might indicate he’d located another cache site.
Or more human remains.
She paused to let the peacefulness of the forest wash over her with its healing energy, thinking of her brother.Whatever had happened to him, she knew in her bones that Tripp would never willingly be the cause of his death.
“What happened out there, Peyton?”she whispered.Was she strong enough to know the truth?
The late afternoon light had turned a deep gold, slanting through the towering cedars and firs, casting long shadows that stretched along the forest floor.She only had another hour or so before it began to get dark.By then she needed to be on the road.
“Okay, Rufus, time to head back.”She wouldn’t be at all surprised if Tripp was waiting for her when she got home.If so, she’d make the call then, whether she was ready to face what he had to say or not.
She led Rufus back to the main trail and started the trek back to the tiny parking area overlooking the path down to the beach near Shipwreck Cove.Birdsong echoed around her, the loamy, spicy scent of the woods filling the air.
It didn’t soothe her.As she walked, the heaviness in her chest increased.A deep ache, and an empty, terrifying loneliness at the thought of cutting Tripp out of her life.
If things ended—and at this point she didn’t see how their relationship could survive—she would grieve the loss for a long time.And this island was small.The thought of living in continual dread of running into him in town made her want to go home, pull the covers over her head, and stay there.
She looked up at a faint, high-pitched buzzing coming from overhead.Didn’t see anything, but as it grew louder, she recognized it was a drone.
A chill of foreboding swept through her.She hadn’t seen a single other person out here this whole time, had thought she and Rufus were entirely alone.That drone sounded like it was directly overhead.
