Page 92 of Above All Else
His thumbs kneaded into the tense muscles at the base of my neck. “Would have been better if you were there.” He dropped his chin to the crown of my head.
“I’ll be right there when you get off the night shift.” I sighed, his touch a comforting normal. Turning in my seat, I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.
“Is everything okay?” He dropped his hand to my back. “What’s wrong?”
The words tangled in my throat, sticking like burrs to socks. I shook my head, focusing on the soothing motion of his hand rubbing down my back, his warmth seeping into me, grounding me in the present.
“Hey, why are you crying?” He leaned back and lifted my chin, his gaze clashing against mine, then wandered around the room. “What happened?” His hands stilled as he leaned forward over the counter. “What’s this?”
I turned as he reached toward my purse.
The edge of the photograph peeked out from the pocket, Amber’s handwriting visible to the naked eye.
No.
No.
He slid the photograph free and stared at it, his brows drawing down. His jaw ticked, the darkness swallowing his eyes as if shadows danced behind them—the photo quivering in his grasp.
A pang hit my belly. “I’m sorry.” My throat clenched. “I didn’t mean for you to see that. I just wanted—“
Carter shook his head, his eyes locked on the photograph. “You don’t have to apologize, June.” His gruff voice twisted. He licked his lips and put the photo on the counter. “I miss her too.” The words hung between us, heavy with shared grief.
I wrapped my arms around him, lost in the memories of a girl who had been taken too soon. “I found it in a box of my parents’ things.”
“Def Leppard?” He chuckled, and I sat back, swiping at my eyes.
“Right? I didn’t know she was into that.”
“Me either.”
I drew in a heavy breath. “But I guess I was the one who took this photo.”
He raised a brow. “You guess?”
Swallowing, I shrugged and ran my finger down the fading photo. “I don’t remember going, and I sure as hell don’t remember being a big enough fan towantto go.“ A small chuckle rumbled in my chest. “I don’t even know one of their songs.”
“Well, that’s shameful.Pour Some Sugar On Mewas a classic.”
I sat up in my seat. “I recognize that one. But don’t you think I’d know more than one song if I bought tickets to their concert?”
He gave me a lopsided shrug and moved to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water. “Maybe you didn’t purchase thetickets. Maybe Amber bought them and wanted you to come.”
My forehead creased, brows knitting together. “She wasn’t into this kind of music either.”
Carter paused, his hand hovering over the half-opened bottle. “Now that I think of it—“
“Right?” I cocked my head to the side. “Seems weird.”
“Maybe she went with my dad.”
“But why wouldIhave the photo?”
He put the bottle on the counter. “To make you jealous? She liked to do that with people. To give you a reason to talk about her.”
I inclined my head. “Like the time she wore fiber tape around her arm in third grade and then told everyone she broke it on the dirt bike because I was getting everyone to sign mine.”
“Dad threw a fit when she got home because she’d used the entire roll and left glue in the bathroom sink.” Carter laughed, his eyes brightening. “He had to call a plumber to replace the sink drain because it hardened and clogged it.”