“Are you sure?” I said, lifting a brow at her. Moments ago, she looked like she had seen a ghost. “We can go home right now, if you don’t feel safe.”
“I promise, I’m alright,” she said firmly, pasting a smile on her face, the type that didn’t reach her eyes.
We stared at each other for another moment before Evelyn gave me a light push in my father’s direction.
She was lying and by the look of her, she didn’t want to be called out on it.
“I won’t be too long. You owe me a dance.” I rushed out instead of questioning her again, the quicker I got through shaking hands, the sooner I could be by her side. Closing the distance between myself and my father, I turned on my smile, ready to join the show.
Chapter 22
Evelyn
Parker worked the room with his father, shaking hands and taking up conversation with every person he introduced him to. When I saw the tall blond man earlier, I felt my heart drop. It felt like the floor had been swept from under me. After my earlier panic, I decided to stay by the bar where I could see the whole room instead of wandering. It's probably been an hour, and I haven't left my perch. I've been making light conversation with the bartender, Roger, to pass the time. Thoughts of hiding in the bathroom came to mind at one point—but I decided against it.
Roger refilled my glass of Sauvignon Blanc for the third time. I wanted to tell him to slow down, but I felt myself loosening up more with every sip. A few men had approached me and asked to dance, but I politely declined. It had been a while since a man had truly hit on me, or maybe it's just been a while since I had noticed. These days, I tend to live inside my own bubble. I was a creature of habit: eating out of necessity, working, then going home to sleep. If it didn’t have to do with work, you could find me at home. My coworkers had invited me out a couple of times, but after declining so much, they got the hint and stopped.
Just as I polished off my third glass of wine, Sheriff Strauss approached me.
“Willow, right? I thought that was you. Would you mind indulging an old man and having a dance with him?”
Something told me that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. The sheriff was dressed in a modest black tuxedo with his dirty blond hair slicked back. His shiny veneers gleamed under the sparkling chandelier lights as he grinned at me. Once he was close to me, I could smell the scent of tobacco and pine. My stomach turned; my mind returned to that dark day.
I awoke on the floor free of my binds, this time face to face with the lifeless eyes of my sister, with smoke filling the air.
Silently, I stared into her eyes, my throat too sore to scream any longer.
Her body was barely clothed as if Charles had taken more from her after he had already taken her life. I felt bile rise in my throat, and I choked.
With whatever strength I could muster, I tried to scoot as far away from her as possible before I felt the force of Charles’ hands on my ankles, dragging me through the salon.
The place didn’t resemble the newly-renovated space I had walked into. Flames danced up the walls, shattered glass and wood decorated the floors that were painted with our blood.
I was going to die in this place. I wanted to. My sister was gone.
I swayed on my feet as the memory crashed into me. Sheriff Strauss steadied me with a hand on my elbow, his touch sending me back to the present.
“You alright there, Ms. Norris?” he asked with his brows dipped low, his eyes taking me in greedily.
Forcing out a breathy laugh, I gave him a closed-lipped smile. “Oh, I’m fine. I probably shouldn’t have had that third glass ofwine.” I took his outstretched hand. For the second time tonight, I felt like the floor had been swept out from under me.
Charles isn’t here.I reminded myself as my eyes searched for William in the crowd.
He chuckled as he brought me out to the dance floor with him, placing his hand on my lower back and lifting my right hand to start the dance. My eyes wandered around the room in search of Parker with no success. As we swayed to the unfamiliar ballad, I prayed that Parker would resurface soon. The way the sheriff's thumb kept dipping down my back had me close to forgetting my manners and running to the nearest exit. The way he leered at me during our first encounter left me feeling exposed. My mama always said a person's eyes were the window to their soul, and Sheriff Strauss’ eyes had a treacherous glint to them with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Ms. Norris, tell me more about yourself. What brings you to our lovely town?”
Of course, it would be just my luck.
Danny and Parker made sure I knew the script, warning me to never give away more information than what is being asked. I led with half-truths with the twins, but now I was going to have to make sure my little lies were believable.
“I'm just a friend of Parker’s, tagging along for the ride."
My thoughts drifted as I considered the idea of starting my own business again. My biggest barrier would be money. Whatever little I had in savings wouldn’t be enough to get me started. It didn’t hurt to plan. Oakland Ridge was my temporary home while I waited for Danny to gather the evidence he needed to put Charles away. Accepting the situation meant actually putting Dr. Beck’s advice into practice. This was an opportunity to choose myself. I wanted something to show for all the pain, grief, and loss. I needed something great to be born out of this tragedy.
The sheriff’s voice broke my chain of thought, bringing me back to the dance floor.
“Oh yeah?” He quirked his brow. “You both drove from New York right? I used to live there ages ago. I decided it wasn’t for me, picked up, and never went back.”
