“She started using.At first, recreational, and I didn’t even notice until it wasn’t.”I keep my voice level.“I put her in rehab, more than once, begged her to come home, let Reggie help.And even with all that—” I stop short of the wreckage I still don’t have clean words for.“Let’s just say by the time it ended, I didn’t have a choice.It wasn’t just the addiction.”
The silence has weight to it, then Eddie’s voice blankets us, low and even.“How long did you carry that alone?”
“Long enough.”
Kellen drags both hands down his face.“Mad.Why didn’t you—” He stops himself, shakes his head.“Never mind.I get it.”
When Oliver finally looks over, his eyes hold the exhaustion of recalculating something you thought you understood.“All those years we thought it just—fell apart.The distance, the pressure?—”
“Yeah, I know.”
His gaze shifts for a moment.“Does anyone else know?Your mom?”
“Reggie.That’s it.”I pick up my beer.“But if she’s serious about coming home, everyone will find out.I’d rather you hear it from me than find out when you witness it.”
Eddie’s squeezes my arm, brief and firm; no words are needed.
Kellen exhales.“She’s still using?”I nod once, and he shakes his head.“But if you don’t give her the money then—” He stops short of spelling out what we all know.“Or maybe she doesn’t really want to come home; she’s just looking for cash.”
“Maybe, but she’s done this kind of thing before when I’d be away, working.I’d sooner pay for her flight than give her the cash.”
“Are you going to?”Oliver crosses his arms over his chest.
“No.”
“Then she won’t show up.”Kellen’s so matter of fact that I want to believe but know better.
Erica has made her moves by texting me, calling Oliver, which means the idea is already planted in her mind.And if there’s one thing I learned too late about her, it’s that she doesn’t reach out unless she already knows the door is cracked.
I just haven’t figured out who left it open.
Chapter24
Maddox
Erica’s still ruling my mind when we return to the table.And while the night unfolds around me—laughter rising and fading, stories traded, talk drifting to holiday plans—what’s nagging at me the most is, until today, we had almost a year of silence.
Something has changed, or someone said something.I just can’t work out what or who, and I want to.It’s the only way to prepare.
One by one, goodbyes are exchanged, and the table empties until it’s only Grace, Blane, and me.We step outside, and the night air bites while the light from the Paw spills warm across the parking lot.
Blane releases a jaw-cracking yawn.“I need to edit while I can still see straight.”His gaze moves between us, something unreadable sitting behind it.“Grace, you coming?”
Her teeth catch on her bottom lip, but she doesn’t look at me.Not once.“I want some fresh air.Maddox, you okay to take me home?”
Then her eyes lift to mine.One look.Something ignites low and deep, and I nod, not trusting my voice.
“See you tomorrow.”She nudges Blane toward her rental.
For once, he doesn’t have a comeback and leaves without a word.
Miracles do exist.
Then it’s just us.
She stands with her arms folded around her middle, breath misting in the cold, and I rest a hand against the small of her back, guiding her toward my truck without a word.
Grace steps closer than she needs to, shoulder brushing mine, and if I had to guess, it isn’t accidental.Certainly not shy.More an unspoken question.