Page 28 of Keeping Collette

She didn’t know, but if she saw Courtney, then it would be real. She’d be able to see for herself that it was her sister and not someone else.

“No, but I have to do this.”

Deal nodded. “Okay, I’ll find out where they’re taking her.”

“Thanks. I’m just going to the bathroom.” If she was going to face a lot of people, she wanted to look a little composed.

She stopped in the doorway. “Where did they find her?”

“Ten miles from the convenience store.”

Collette nodded. “Right. I’d like to go there too.”

Was she being a masochist to see where her sister’s body was found? Maybe, but she didn’t care. She needed to see the place. It was all part of the closure she had to have.

“I can arrange that, too.” He studied her for a moment longer, and she lifted her chin to let him know this was what she had to do.

As if satisfied that she was aware of what she was doing, he gave a nod and then pulled his phone from his pocket.

Not wanting to hear the conversation, which was silly considering there wasn’t going to be anything bad or detailed with it, she made her way to the bathroom, avoiding looking at herself in the mirror. She didn’t need the confirmation that she looked a wreck.

Sluicing her face with cool water, she blanked her mind of everything that needed to be done, and focused on the good memories she and Courtney shared. The way they sat on the couch on a Friday night, pizza boxes in front of them and a wedding dress shopping show on the TV. They’d been watching it since Courtney was seven. It didn’t matter if it was reruns, they enjoyed seeing the beautiful dresses. Imagining the moment when they’d both go dress shopping, first for Collette, and then for Courtney.

Except… Collette slammed the door on the room her thoughts were entering. She wasn’t going to tarnish her good memories with grief, even if it was going to be impossible to do.

She ran a brush through her hair before catching it up in a high ponytail. Only then did she look in the mirror. Her eyes were a little bloodshot, dull, and lifeless—evidence of her crying episode and her grief. Her face lacked color.

Closing her eyes, shutting away the image of herself, she took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. The next couple of weeks were going to be the hardest of her life, but she would get through them, like she’d gotten through every other hardship in her life.

The closer they got to Courtney’s location, the tighter her stomach knotted itself. Deal hadn’t said anything to her, but every now and then, he’d reach over and give her hand a squeeze, before returning it to the steering wheel. A little touch to let her know she wasn’t alone, which considering he was driving her was very obvious, she still appreciated the gesture.

Flashing lights lit up the night sky as they approached her sister’s place of death. Was her body still there? Or had she been taken to the morgue?

The question stuck in her mind, but she couldn’t get it out. Her earlier bravado about seeing her sister disappeared.

A wave of nausea hit, and she clutched at her stomach. “Stop the car!”

Deal slammed the brakes on, and the moment the car came to an abrupt stop, she was out and running to the low-lying scrub. She bent over and emptied the contents of her stomach. Her insides clenched with the violent movements. She coughed and gagged a little more, aware of the hand at the small of her back, rubbing it gently.

She stumbled back and would’ve fallen on her ass if Deal hadn’t caught her. “Easy,” he murmured, as he took a few more steps back and set her gently on the ground. “Wait here.”

He was off before she could tell him she didn’t have the energy to move right then. The sour taste of vomit lingered in her mouth, and she wished she had some water to swish around and erase it.

“Are you a magician?” she rasped out when a small bottle of water and a mint appeared in her line of vision.

His soft chuckle filled the night air. The sound comforting and alluring at the same time. “The car has a cooling compartment in it. I always carry water. You never know when you’ll need it.”

“Thanks.” She took it and cracked the lid, taking a large sip and swirling it around her mouth before spitting it out, grimacing at how unattractive she must be at this moment. She then popped the mint in, knowing the next sip of water was going to burn but she needed to get rid of the sour taste. “Sorry. You didn’t need to see that.”

Deal sat down beside her. “It’s fine. You don’t have to do this, you know? No one would think any less of you if you asked me to turn around and take you home.”

Collette drank some more water, this time swallowing it instead of spitting it out, grimacing at the slight burn from the mint. “I know, and there is a small part of me that wants to run away and let someone else deal with it all. But there is no one else.” She turned to him. Muted light from the half-moon covered his face in shadows. He should look sinister and scary, but he looked mysterious and attractive. Not the sort of thoughts she should be having, given the circumstances, but here she was. “I have to do this, for Courtney. She would do the same if it was me who’d been missing and then found dead.”

Her stomach flipped at saying the word dead out loud, and she worried that the small amount of water she’d drunk would come back for an encore. Fortunately, she swallowed a couple of times, and it settled down.

“Okay, but take your time. If you need to sit here for an hour before you’re ready to go face everything, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Collette nodded, amazed at how patient Deal was with her. Considering how he’d been that first day they’d met, how rude and dismissive he’d been, she never would’ve pegged him as someone who was willing to sit in the dirt on the side of the road with a person he’d known for less than two weeks.