“We’re here,” Jules says, snapping me out of my reverie.
He parks the SUV behind a Land Rover and shuts off the engine.
Without a word, Nicholas bounds out of the back seat and is off in a flash.
Elijah turns in his seat and looks back at me. “If you get too overwhelmed and want to leave, just say the word.”
Elijah and I got close during the year and a half Liz disappeared. He gave up his dream of Stanford for CU, so he could be there for Julien when I couldn’t. He became my voice of reason and my life preserver when I was drowning. He stood by me when it felt like the entire world was against me. I never deserved that type of loyalty, but he gifted it freely.
“Thanks, E, but I’m good.”
Julien’s concerned face pivots around. “There’s going to be a lot of people. Loud music. The usual. If you start to feel?—”
“I promise, I’m good,” I assure him.
Getting out of the car before he starts nagging, I slowly make my way up the porch steps to the house but hesitate as soon as I get to the front door. I must be out of my mind coming, but Liz wanted me here, so here I am.
Julien opens the front door and waits for me to enter first, as if he senses that I want to turn tail and run. The scent of baked chocolate, like cookies or brownies, is the first thing to hit me, followed by the noise of music and overlapping conversation.
My nerves suddenly take over, and I try to ease the tightness of my skin by rubbing the back of my neck. “Go on. I’ll be there in a sec.”
“You sure?” Julien asks.
“Yes, Mom. Stop hovering.”
He huffs in exasperation but doesn’t push. Elijah gives me an encouraging squeeze to the shoulder, then pulls Julien inside and shuts the door.
Spotting the bench swing, I sit down and try to will away the headache I feel coming on by massaging my temples with my fingers. Deep breath in, slow breath out.
“Mind if I join you?”
Cracking an eye open, a guy I don’t know is standing in front of me. He looks vaguely familiar. Brown hair and eyes. Tall. Clean-cut. Looks more business boardroom than blue collar.
“Sure.” I scoot over to make room, but he doesn’t take a seat.
He checks over his shoulder, looking for I don’t know what because there’s nothing there, then glances back at me, his demeanor screaming uncertainty. “Elizabeth gave me and Trev a heads-up that you’d be here tonight, so when I saw Julien…” He trails off.
The way he phrases it is weird. Why would Liz give him, or whoever Trev is, a “heads-up” that I was coming?
“I’m sorry. I’m not good at remembering faces from school. Did I know you?”
He offers his hand in greeting. “I was a freshman at Highland when you were a senior at Fallen Brook. I’m Austin. Austin Matfield.”
I take his hand and shake it, some niggling recollection poking at me. Where do I know that name from?
“Marshall’s younger brother,” he says, and I go rigid.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
JAYSON
Into The Deep End
The nameMarshallpulses through my brain like a war drum, each beat dredging up things I wish to hell I could bury. Dropping his hand like it burned me, I don’t just stand—I vault to my feet, towering over him by a good two inches. My fists ache from how hard I’m clenching them, my body coiled for whatever he wants to bring. If he swings first, I’ll drop him to the damn ground.
“If you came out here to pick a fight, it’s not going to happen.”
I won’t let some twenty-year-old grudge over his shitty brother ruin Liz’s party. Marshall was an asshole of the lowest form. He bullied Elijah, hurt Julien, terrorized Liz, then tried to kill her by pushing her in front of a moving car. I’m glad the bastard is dead.
