37. Chapter Thirty-seven

Chapter Thirty-seven

Hannah

Cormac stole my phone out of my hand. “Nope.”

“Hey! What’s the problem?” I held my hand out, palm up. “Give it to me.”

“Not happening.” He tucked my phone in his pocket. “You haven’t stopped looking at it since I got here.”

“That’s an exaggeration. I’m just replying to Remi. It would be rude not to.” I picked up a dart and waved it at him. “Hand over the phone, bucko, and no one gets hurt.”

My brother laughed, but he wasn’t budging. And maybe he was right. I was more than a little bit enamored with my man. Like most things, when I was into something, I was all the way in, and everything else fell by the wayside.

Since the night Remi read Graham’s letter, he’d opened up to me in a way I hadn’t thought he could. We’d been raw, real, and honest with one another, and that had made me fall so deeply in love with him, I couldn’t begin to know how I’d find my way out if I’d one day have to. But I trusted Remi through and through. In my heart, I knew I was safe to keep falling, and he’d be right there along with me.

After a couple solid weeks of living in coupledom bliss, it was time to come up for air and give some attention to the other people in our lives. So, when Cormac asked me to meet him at Joy’s for dinner and a couple rounds of darts, I accepted. This had been our thing for the past few years. Even though peeling myself away from Remi had been torture, it was better to keep the balance. Besides, Remi was hanging with Caleb at the ranch, and that made me happy for them both.

“Fine,” I huffed, setting down the dart to pinch Cormac’s bearded cheek. “It’s a good thing you’re so adorable, or I’d be mad at you.”

He swatted my hand away. “One, you gotta stop pinching my cheeks, Banana. You may have noticed I’m a full-fledged adult now.”

“Pfft. You’re a cute little baby.”

My brother rolled his eyes. “Too far.”

“You’re the babiest brother I have,” I countered.

“True. Caleb sprung out fully grown.”

I giggled and played along. “With a beard too.”

He slung his arm around my neck, grinning down at me. “I like you like this, you know.”

“Like what?”

“Happy. You had a long, stormy year, but I think you turned a corner and found the sunshine. I can see it in your eyes. You’re really happy.”

I leaned into him, my chest a little tight and a lot warm. “I am, Maccie. I never would have predicted I’d find it with him, but…”

“Sometimes the best things in life are ones you don’t see coming, huh?”

“I think so.”

Shattering glass at the front of the bar grabbed our attention. I gasped as Alice fell down on her butt and Cleve went tumbling after her. By sheer luck, he splattered on the ground beside her.

Cormac moved before I could, hurrying toward the broken glass and sprawled bodies. But Christine got there first, and instead of helping her husband up, she gave him a swift kick to the ribs.

“You fuckin’ drunk,” she slurred. “Look what you did. Now we’ll have to pay for all these glasses you broke.”

From behind me came a bitter remark I did not need to turn around to recognize. “Oh my, how tragic. A drunk old man tripped over a mouse.”

The accompanying laugh was just as recognizable. “So tragic.”

“That’s what I said, Tina.”

“I know. I was agreeing with you, Teller.”

Rolling my eyes, I walked away from the terrible twosome without giving them a backward glance and joined Cormac in helping Alice to her feet. She seemed dazed, patting herself to check for glass or wounds, maybe. Avoiding eye contact like it was her job.

Joy rushed over, bundling Alice in her arms and walking her away from the mess. “It’s all right, honey. Don’t worry your pretty little head about this.”

Groaning, Cleve attempted to pull himself off the floor without much luck. His feet slipped out from under him, and even though Cleve was lower than scum, had tried to run me off the road, had potentially been harassing me, and had definitely been trying to poach my clients for months, Cormac was ever our father’s son, offering the man a hand. Once Cleve was mostly steady on his feet, my brother wiped his hand on his jeans and steered me away as Cleve and Christine started hissing at each other.

We passed Tina and Teller sitting at a table with Brady, who was holding his head in his hands. I would have felt sorry for him if he wasn’t just as bad as his present company.

Cormac tossed a dart at our target with a hell of a lot more force than needed. “That guy pisses me off.”

I rolled my eyes. “I try not to think about him too much.”

Especially since there was no proving he was behind the shitty notes left on Remi’s truck. The cops had questioned him, but he’d denied it, as always, and since there’d been no witnesses, we were out of luck.

“Good idea.” He held out a dart to me. “Ready to lose?”

I snatched the dart, giving him a dirty glare. “As if that’s gonna happen.”

Cormac might’ve been my baby brother, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to kick his ass. He had some tricks, but I’d been the one to teach them to him.

After two rounds of darts—both won by me—Maccie gave me back my phone and went to the bar to order another drink. He was currently flirting with a little redhead who had to crane her neck so far back to look at him there was no way she wouldn’t have a crick by morning.

I smirked at her blush. So deep I could see it from the other side of the room. Maccie wasn’t a womanizer, but he was smooth, and I’d seen him have this effect on women more than once. I was simultaneously proud and grossed out.

Lucky for me, my phone vibrated with a text from Remi.

Remi: Hey, sweetheart. I’m gonna head over there in a half hour or so. Want me to stop by Joy’s or meet at your place?

I started typing out a reply when a sudden screech stopped me in my tracks. My head jerked up, stunned at what was happening on the dance floor.

Teller had Tina by the hair, dragging her away from a slack-jawed Brady. Tina stumbled back with her, swatting at her friend’s hands, trying to disentangle herself from her hold.

“You bitch.” Teller jerked Tina’s head around like a rag doll. “How could you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tina cried. “I swear it, T. I don’t—”

“Oh yeah, you do. You think I didn’t see you grinding on my fuckin’ husband the second I stepped away to the bathroom? You think I didn’t notice your lipstick in his truck’s cup holder last week? I wasn’t born yesterday, Tina!”

Brady just stood there like a dolt, his arms limp at his sides, his mouth agape, while Teller abused Tina’s scalp. To be fair, pretty much every patron in Joy’s had the same expression. Tina and Teller were thick as thieves and had always been that way. If they ever fought, it sure wasn’t done publicly.

“You always were a slut,” Teller shrieked. “I should’ve known you had no loyalty.”

“I am loyal, crazy face.” Tina batted frantically at Teller’s arms, trying desperately to break free. “Let me go and maybe I’ll think about forgiving you.”

Finally, Brady jerked himself out of his stupor and vaulted into the fray, grabbing his wife around the waist. “Come on, Tell. Let’s go home and talk this out.”

“Don’t you touch me!” Teller went wild, spitting and bucking, keeping hold of Tina with one hand and clawing at Brady with the other. “You did this too, you bastard. You really thought I didn’t know? You’re so stupid, Brady!”

Shame draped over me for gawking at Teller’s clear misery like it was a sideshow. Sure, she was making a spectacle of herself, but that didn’t mean I had to line up to buy tickets.

Spinning around in my seat, I tried to tune them out and replied to Remi’s text.

Me: Hey, honey. I’m going to head out pretty soon. I’ll meet you at the apartment. xoxo

His reply came almost instantly.

Remi: We’re finished here. I’m on my way now. Btw, I like that you didn’t call your place home.

Me: My home is you, that’s why.

Remi: Aw, baby, you’re gonna get it. Love you. See you soon.

Me: Love you too, Remington.

Cormac’s shadow eclipsed the overhead lights, drawing my eyes up to him. “That smile can only mean one thing, Remi’s coming soon.”

Putting my phone down on the table in front of me, I snorted a laugh. “Soon, but not yet. I still have time to win another round of darts.”

I stood and turned in time to see Joy directing a couple of ranch hands in the process of dragging Teller and Brady out of the bar. Alice put her arm around Tina’s shoulder, guiding her to a barstool.

Mac shook his head. “Crazy, right?”

“Yeah.” I scuffed the toe of my boot into the rough wooden floor. “I’m the last person to have anything good to say about the three of them, but it’s pretty depressing to witness the implosion of a marriage and lifelong friendship.”

“Right.” He rubbed his nape and blew out a long breath. “Never thought I’d feel bad for Teller ‘the Terror.’”

“Same. Makes me wish I’d passed her an anonymous note back in high school telling her what a dick Brady was.”

Joy quieted the bar by banging the bell she kept hanging over the shelves of liquor. “All right, everyone. We’ve reached our quota of drama for the night. I don’t care if it’s a full moon. You behave yourselves, or I’m shuttin’ down early!”

A round of applause scattered among the patrons. Most of us locals were the low-drama sort, so two outbursts in one night weren’t what we were looking for.

“She means it,” Mac said.

“Yep. That’s why I love Joy.”

“Me too.” He jerked his chin toward Tina perched on a stool. Alice was fluttering around her, handing her an ice pack and something steaming in a mug. “Looks like Tina came out on top in this situation.”

“I’m not sure she deserves that kind of care and sympathy.”

Mac turned back to me. “I don’t think there’s even a chance Teller didn’t know what was going on between Brady and Tina. The entire town knew. Teller is a lot of things, but she isn’t stupid. No, I think that fight was because the two of them got sloppy and flaunted it. Teller could ignore it if they’d kept it quiet.”

I put my hand to my forehead and squinted at him. “Great, Maccie. You’ve made an awful situation even more depressing. That’s a rare talent.”

He grinned. “Flattery won’t get me to let you win the next round.”

I grabbed a dart and waved it at him. “All right, bucko. Time to put up or shut up.”

“You’re on, Banana.”

I bid Cormac farewell, leaving him at the bar to flirt with his petite redhead, and headed out to meet Remi. My stomach fluttered with excitement, which seemed silly since I’d only seen him this morning. But I could be as silly over Remi as I wanted since I was seriously in love with him.

As I passed the narrow alley between Joy’s and the building next door, a crash and muffled cry drew me up short. What was that?

I turned on my phone and shined the flashlight into the thick darkness, taking a step forward. My beam landed on a bent figure, and it took me a moment to understand exactly what I was seeing. A million thoughts and suppositions raced through my brain in a matter of seconds.

Someone in a hoodie was… oh shit . Beneath them, on the alley floor, lay the body of a woman, her blond hair covering her face. Injured, probably. The person in the hoodie must’ve seen them lying there and were trying to help. Maybe the blonde was drunk and had fallen. Had Tina still been at the bar when I left?

No…she hadn’t been.

The hoodie shifted, and my light hit them fully. Oh no, no, no, they weren’t helping. White hands wrapped around the blonde’s throat and—oh god, no.

“Hey!” I shouted, my feet moving faster than my mind could decide whether entering the alley was a good choice. “Get away from her! Let her go.”

My boot skidded on something slimy, sending my shoulder into a brick wall. My phone flew from my hand, the flashlight blinding me. Covering my eyes, I leaned down to grab it, but before I could, something rammed into me. My back hit the ground with a thud, my head with a crack.

I blinked at the moon above me, whirling in a dizzying spiral. No, that was just my brain, jostled from impact. I couldn’t lie here, not when—

Air left my lungs in a violent whoosh as heaviness landed on top of me. My arms moved with sluggish intent, clawing at the ground as I gasped for breath. It was no use. The next thing I knew, an iron vise wrapped around my throat.

Finally, my eyes cooperated long enough to focus on the weight compressing my chest. It wasn’t some thing . The person in the hoodie straddled me, their knees on my arms, hands tight around my neck.

Not a person. A woman.

As my body struggled for survival, clarity struck. I’m going to die. She’s killing me.

No, this wasn’t happening. I couldn’t die in a filthy alley and never see Remi again. It would break him. Break my family. And I was nowhere near ready. This beautiful life had just gotten started. I wouldn’t be leaving it. Not tonight. Not for a long, long time.

Through crushing waves of dizziness, I bucked the woman on top of me and scrabbled for something to hold on to, coming up with nothing but sludge. I managed to get a handful of it and jerked my arm out from under her bony knee. With the last of my strength, I slammed it into her face, the force knocking her hood off.

The details of her shrill cry and the moon glinting off her blonde hair imprinted into my consciousness. When I could think more clearly, I would be able to home in on those two things, but first, I had to get away from her.

Her hands had loosened when I hit her, so I did it again, aiming the sludge at her eyes as I gasped for breath. This time, I landed on my target, and my attacker had no choice but to let go of me to protect herself. Once she did, I bucked hard enough to dislodge her.

Run.

My instincts screamed at me, but I couldn’t seem to push myself upright. I knew I didn’t have much time. She’d come after me again. This was my chance.

Drawing every ounce of strength my body still possessed, I flipped over, pushed up on my hands and knees, and crawled.

I was almost there. So close to the mouth of the alley. Streetlamps and voices of people walking down the sidewalk were just ahead. All I had to—

My foot was yanked out from underneath me, and what little breath I had whooshed out as my chest hit the pavement.

So close.

So, so close.