Southern Secrets (Southern 7)

"He doesn’t want shit from me because he knows if he looks my way, I’ll put a bullet up his ass," Ethan says, looking at Beau. "When was the last time he reached out to you?"

"The envelope," Casey says. "Where is this envelope?"

"I have it in a safety-deposit box two towns over," I say. "Why?"

"The barn you lived in," Casey tells me, and everything around me starts to turn. "You lived in the barn, and it goes up in flames."

"Then you live with Amelia, and she gets knocked over the head," Ethan says, looking at his father.

"Then your car is ransacked along with Amelia’s," Jacob says. "All this time, he’s been out for you."

"I didn’t even know he existed, and I doubted that he gave me a second thought,” I tell them.

“The pieces are all here,” Casey says, his hand going in a circle. "We just have to put it together."

"Great," Beau says. "Another fucking puzzle."

"We need to see the envelope," Casey says, and I nod at him.

"I can go get it tomorrow," I say to him.

"I’ll come with you," Jacob says. "We don’t know if he’s waiting for you or following you."

"I’ll come with you also," Ethan says to me. "We’ll figure this out."

"I have to go,” I tell them, not sure what the fuck will happen tomorrow, but I know that one thing has to happen right now, and that is me going to Amelia. “I can’t leave her with her space. It’s going to fucking kill her." I look at Jacob. "I was also going to tell you that I’m in love with your daughter."

Ethan laughs, and I turn to look over at him as Beau’s head is down, and he laughs silently. "It’s the worst-kept secret of life,” Casey says.

“Everyone knows,” Beau says.

“She won’t forgive me for this,” I say my fear out loud. “I know she won’t, and I have to accept it." The numbness comes to me. "But I have to at least see her."

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" Jacob asks, and I just look at him.

"Even if I’m not in her house," I say, "I’m not leaving her. I’ll sleep in the truck in front of her house." I swallow down. "And if anyone fucks with her, I’ll kill them. I have nothing left to lose. I can spend the rest of my life in jail as long as she’s safe," I say, walking out of the bar.

Chapter 30

Amelia

I don’t say a word as we make our way to my house. “Are you okay?” I hear from Quinn beside me. He walked me out the door, but as soon as the door closed behind him, he picked me up. It didn’t help that my knees buckled, and I almost face-planted into the gravel road.

"No," I answer him honestly, staring out at the blue sky. My stomach is a ball of fire. "Not in the slightest," I say, my eyes never leaving the front of the truck.

"Do you want me to call Chelsea?" he asks, and I just shake my head.

"I just need to be alone right now," I say when he pulls up to my house. "My head is just …"

"Will you call me if you need me?" he asks when my hand comes out and grabs the handle of the door. "If not me, then at least someone." I look down, blinking away the tears. "You shouldn’t be here alone," he says.

I look back at the house. "Actually …" I swallow down my pride. "Do you think I could stay with you tonight?" I ask him, my bottom lip trembling. "It’s totally okay if you have plans."

"Go get your bag," Quinn tells me. "I’ll wait for you here." I nod and open the door. "Um," he says, and I look back at him. “You know he’s going to show up here.” I close my eyes, knowing he is right. “I would hear him out, regardless of what he did.”

I hold up my hand, not ready to hear anything that anyone has to say about him. In the end, he lied to me, just like Tex did; the only difference is people actually know about it. The only difference is people will look at me and know the mistakes I’ve made. "I don’t want to."

"Go get your things," he says, and I nod at him, getting out of the truck and allowing the tears to come. Better now, when I’m alone, than in front of everyone. I unlock and open the door, the cold air hitting me, and I can smell him in the air. I close the door behind me softly and head to my bedroom.

I stop at the doorway and look at the room, the bed still a mess from this afternoon. I walk in and smell him all around me. The woodsy smell that only he gives out, the smell that made me feel so fucking safe.