At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

A few minutes later, Maddox burst into the house. “Marley?” I was still on the floor. He skidded forward, dropping to the floor next to me. “What happened?”

“Our mother happened,” I growled.

I divulged all that she had done in a long-winded panic.

His own fury clouded his vision, and he said the only thing that needed to be said, “We’re going to fucking win.”

24

Savannah

March 11, 2013

We landed in the Savannah humidity the next afternoon. The air hit me in the face, and I nearly cried again, thinking about all the days out in this weather with Gramps. The news kept hitting me fresh. It was still too real. And at the same time, completely unfathomable.

“Who’s picking us up?” I asked, brushing aside the tears again. I’d put the entire trip into his hands. I hadn’t even considered who could get us at the airport.

“Dad offered to send a driver.”

“In Savannah?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I could have called Maddox.”

“While you’re all grieving? No.”

He seemed so adamant that I just went with it.

Derek recognized a man in the crowd. They shook hands, and then we were escorted into the back of a black Mercedes. It’d have made me feel vaguely important if I didn’t feel utterly ridiculous.

“Here you are, sir,” the driver said when he pulled up in front of Gran’s house.

“Wait here for me while I get Marley inside.”

“Of course, sir.”

Derek popped open the door and held his hand out for me.

I took it gratefully but said, “You don’t have to do any of this.”

“I know.” He threaded our fingers together. “But I want to.”

“I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

I headed up the stairs to the front of Gran’s house. Just being home made me so much more solid. Like this was where I was supposed to be. My bones belonged here. Savannah was smaller than Durham and Cambridge by a long shot. It wasn’t big or glamorous, but it was home.

I knocked once on the front door and then let myself inside. “Gran?”

“Marley, you made it.” Gran scooped me up in her arms. She smelled like earth and fresh bread and a hint of the lavender perfume she’d been wearing for years. “I’m so glad that you could get here so quickly.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank Derek.”

He was still standing in the doorway. Half in, half out, as if he were intruding.

“Well, come in, young man. I’ve heard an awful lot about you.”

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad,” he said with a short laugh.

Gran just pulled him into an unexpected hug. “Whatever happened before hardly matters now. You brought my Marley home.” She patted him on the back twice. “Now, close the door and come inside. You’re more than welcome to share a meal with us. We’re having fried chicken and okra. The sweet tea is better than whatever you’ve been drinking. Maddox should be here any minute. He’s so busy with that damn job.”

Derek glanced back outside at the car, waved the driver off, and then carefully stepped inside. “What’s Maddox doing these days?”

Gran headed for the kitchen. “Something with computers.”

“Graphic design and animation,” I filled in for him.

“Ah, that’s what he said at Thanksgiving.”

“Right,” I said, forgetting momentarily that he’d hung out with Maddox when he visited me last semester. “He started his own company, Mad Son Productions.”

“Ah, clever. Maddox Nelson. Mad Son.”

“Yeah. It’s so him,” I said with a shrug. “He got him an in with Pixar.”

“That must be exciting.”

I nodded. “Yeah, he’s actually doing phenomenal. Not that he talks about it much.”

Another knock sounded on the door, and then Maddox burst into the house. “Made it.” A small shih tzu mix yapped at his heels. “Easy, Walt. Jesus, I’m going to let you go.”

Maddox removed the leash from Walt’s collar, and the dog zoomed around the living room like he belonged there. I laughed at his zoomies, but it was Derek who bent down to pet the tiny, ferocious predator. Walt took a liking to him immediately, jumping up into his lap and trying to lick Derek’s face off.

“Walt, come on,” Maddox said in exasperation.

Maddox’s girlfriend, Teena, shook her head as she stepped inside. “That dog is trouble.”

“Yeah,” Maddox said with a sigh. “Sunny loves him at least.”

Sunny was Lila’s dachshund. Lila had been living with Maddox since she started PT school in August, and it was a miracle that their two little dogs got along.

“No, Lila?” I asked Maddox.

Maddox shook his head. “She had something at school. She said that she’ll definitely be there for the funeral and to tell you she was sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said, waving it away. “It’s all so unexpected.”

Maddox glanced over at Derek, who had picked up Walt and was cradling the dog in his arms like a baby. Walt looked up at him with hero worship. It was adorable. “Didn’t know you were bringing anyone with you.”