Credence

What am I doing today? More of the same, but there’s always beer. I’ve got that to look forward to, at least, now that I missed my window for the sponsorship with DeltaCorps.

And now that the house is fucking silent again, because…

He sits down, making himself a sandwich, and I plop down across from him, taking a bite of the cookie.

But at the taste, my stomach immediately rolls. I force the bite down but toss the rest of the cookie onto the table.

I feel like shit.

“This fuckin?

?? sucks,” I grumble.

I miss her. We all miss her. Even Kaleb, too, I think. He came home twenty-four hours ago with some waterfowl, found her gone, and left again soon after, disappearing into the woods again for another whole damn day.

I miss coming downstairs and seeing lights on. Girls like it cozy and warm. I liked that touch she added to the house. And seeing her outside or in the barn or padding around barefoot in our kitchen… The house felt good. Even her pissy moods amused me.

The front door opens and Kaleb walks in, tearing off his shirt, bloody from whatever he’s stocking our freezer with for the winter. I can almost see Tiernan holding the back of her hand to her mouth, looking like she was about to throw up every time she saw him like that.

My heart aches a little.

“Just go get her,” I tell my father, but I don’t look at him.

Kaleb fills up a glass with water, and I wait for the argument from my dad, because there’s no merit in anything I think or say. He never listens, just responds in the exact opposite of whatever I want.

“She’s dealing with the death of her parents,” he says, swallowing his food. “She’s an adult. I can’t tell her what to do.”

“She’s not an adult,” I retort. “Her place is here. It’s your say. Not hers.”

He sits back in his chair, dropping his sandwich to his plate. I know what he’s thinking. I sound fucking crazy. Would I really want him to drag her back here kicking and screaming?

No.

Maybe.

“The funeral was only yesterday,” he tells me. “She might still come back.”

Yeah, right. We fought with her like assholes, and she took no time to decide to leave. Why would she come back? I wouldn’t.

I reach over and pick up the juice, uncapping the container and lifting it to my mouth.

But then a door slams upstairs, and I hear a creak of the floorboards.

I freeze, locking eyes with my dad.

His eyes narrow.

“Did you have someone over last night?” he asks me.

“No.”

I lower the juice, both of us training our ears.

Maybe Kaleb had someone…

But before I can finish the thought, we hear footfalls on the stairs and all turn our heads, seeing Tiernan swing around the bannister, dressed in baggy jean shorts, my T-shirt, hair a mess, and sunglasses shielding her from the morning light as she hugs herself against the chill in the air.

What the fuck?