She pulled her hands back, shifting her gaze. She traced the initials she’d carved over the years,ACandRCfor her parents andGCandWCfor Gran and Grandad. Her father had never made the rank of lieutenant, but he’d still been a dedicated fireman; at least that was what Grandad had always said. A tear slid down her cheek as her fingers hovered overWC.
“I only want to make you proud.”
The breeze rippling through the willow was her only reminder to breathe. She begged the flush in her cheeks to fade. Her hand fell away, and she allowed the memories to pass through her mind.
She combed her hands through the damp, dark-brown waves of her hair and began braiding it past her shoulder as a pair of what could only be combat boots came bursting down the path.
“Mar, you up there?” Viv’s roaring laughter echoed as she slid to a halt at the base of the willow.
A small smile grazed Amaris’s lips at Viv’s upbeat voice. Her laugh was like thunder, loud and prominent. She was the only person Amaris had shared her sacred spot with. As best friends, they’d perched together in the willow, holding the other when life became unbearably lonesome. When Viv’s mother had gone to jail last year, they’d spent an entire night listening to the violins of the crickets and the buzzing of cicadas.
“Maybe,” Amaris mumbled back, wiping away the tears.
Viv’s sigh was followed by the shaking of the branches. She climbedup, finding a seat across from Amaris, hugging her long legs to her chest. She leaned in and sniffed. “Do I smell cinnamon rolls?” Amaris could’ve sworn Viv had the senses of a bloodhound. “What did he do this time?”
Viv sipped from her thermos that read,I survived the fire academy, come at me b*tch.Her teal eyes shot like daggers over the rim with her cutting stare. She wielded her eyes like a weapon. One minute they were pleading and full of hope, and the next they were ripping your innards out.
“Nothing,” Amaris groaned, “it was a stupid fight, and he apologized this morning.” She didn’t want to think about what Derek yelled at her each time they fought. It threatened to rip a hole in her chest.
“One word, Mar, and I’ll rip his fucking head off,” Viv said, biting into the wind.
Amaris admired her overprotective nature, but what she didn’t want to see was Viv go toe-to-toe with Derek. No one would win that fight.
Amaris rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone as it buzzed against her leg. Notifications flashed on the screen. Seven unread texts about the fire and three missed calls—all from Derek.
Viv narrowed her eyes, but Amaris pulled the phone back from her prying daggers.
“For as clingy and controlling as he is, I’m surprised he cares,” Viv said.
Viv hadn’t been a fan of Derek ever since she found out they met when Amaris had been a freshman in high school and he’d been a senior. They hadn’t dated until after she graduated, but Viv still refused to like him.
“He’s stressed with work.”
“But the arguing and the drinking, Mar? How long are you going to let this go on?”
Amaris dug her nails into her palms, fighting the anger simmering beneath. She didn’t want to talk about it.
“Maybe it’s time for—”
“For what?” Amaris shouted, throwing her arms out.
“A change.” Viv held her stance, not shying away. “He didn’t remember, did he?”
Amaris pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, fighting the urge to scream or cry—she didn’t even know anymore. Derek had forgotten yesterday was the anniversary of the shipwreck and her parents’ deaths.
“You’re a successful and confident woman, and you’ve already lost so much.”
That should’ve meant the world, hitting the sweet part of her chest and filling her with pride or at least reassurance, but Viv had hit a solid wall.
“I love him,” she said. “Why don’t you get it? Couples go through rough patches.”
Amaris attempted to push her away, to send her words of love where her mind couldn’t sink its claws into them. She clutched her cheeks and slumped against the tree trunk.
“Mar, please. You deserve—”
“Just drop it.”
“But—”
