“Yeah.You too.”Sam got to her feet, but she paused because… well, she knew what it was like to have something you were so sure about turn out to be a lie.
She was all too familiar with the way old secrets could upend your present.
She couldn’t help that she had a soft spot for that.“Are you okay?”
Jake didn’t pretend to miss her meaning, but he didn’t meet her gaze.“He was dead no matter how.Murder doesn’t change anything.”
Sam knew that wasn’t true, even if he wanted it to be.“But now you know someone else did it.That does change things foryou.He didn’t die the way you thought all this time.It matters.”She tried to think about what she would have needed to hear, but there were no magic words to make this better.Still, sometimes… you just needed to know that.“You’re allowed to let that matter.”
Hayes looked up at her then.She thought she saw the flicker ofsomethingin his dark eyes, an emotion or reaction or something, but it was quickly gone.Schooled back into law enforcement stoic.
“I guess it does.”He got to his feet.“But he’s still dead either way.And has been for a long time.I’m not sure there’s much more grief to mine there.Maybe some anger, but if Everly survives, I’ll get a trial out of it, and if he doesn’t… well, good fucking riddance, huh?”
Sam managed a nod.Yes, she supposed that was a healthy enough way to look at it.
“Go on home, Sam.Get some rest.Someone will let you know about Everly when there’s news.”
She had the urge to give him a hug—some physical move of sympathy—but she didn’t act on it.She didn’t have words or sympathy.Maybe she’d find some eventually, but for now… God, she just wanted to go home.And she could.
Because another truth had been brought to light, and somehow, they’d all survived it again.She wondered how many more truths they’d be able to withstand.
“Thanks, Jake,” she said on her way out of the room.
And she left it at that.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The Harrington Cabin
“Thank you, guys.For everything.”Jill got out of Landon’s truck first, then helped Grandma climb down.
She wasn’t sure which one of them was more exhausted.Aly offered to come in and help out, but Jill had begged her off.
Maybe tomorrow.For today, she just wanted to be alone with her grandmother and… sleep.Try to find some semblance of normal.Try to absorb everything they’d been through.
Detective Hayes had said Grandma gave him a coherent and precise recounting of events, verbally even, but Jill hadn’t heard Glenda speak since before the police station.
That was okay.Maybe this whole thing would cause a kind of verbal regression, but surely it would be a momentary setback.If it wasn’t?It didn’t matter.
Jill would be here.No matter what.
She led Grandma into the living room, nudged her to take a seat on the couch.She wanted Grandma to go to bed, but Jill figured they needed a few moments to settle, to steady.Just a moment to breathe before they tried to sleep, even if they didn’t talk about anything that had happened.
“How about some tea?”
But before Jill could head for the kitchen, Grandma took her hand and pulled Jill onto the couch next to her.
She kept a firm grip on Jill’s hands, looked her right in the eye, and spoke.“Thank you.For the truth.I didn’t want it.But that was fear.You were right, and now we know, and…” She sucked in a deep, shaky breath.“It gives me a piece of him back that I thought I’d lost.”
For a moment, Jill just stared.Then Grandma pulled her into a hug, and they stayed there for a very long time.Holding on to each other.They both cried, because the past still hurt, and no doubt secrets still existed in Grandma’s past.
But the one that had held Grandma tight in its grip and its pain was lifted now, and Jill knew she’d set that domino in motion.
“I’m sorry it hurt, but I’m glad you have it.”
Grandma nodded slowly.
She was still gripping Jill tight.“You’ve been my light these past few years, when I really wanted to hold onto the dark.I’m grateful that you came to take care of me.And I’m so glad that you found your place here.”
