Page 16 of Everyone Loved Her

I turned to see what he was staring at, and instantly felt lightheaded at the sight of a black one-ton Dodge making its way toward us. I couldn’t see who was driving, but I already knew, just based on the expression on Sheriff Myer’s face.

“What’s he doing here, Beth?” His voice was sharp, as he turned his attention back to me.

I swallowed the knot in my throat. “I don’t know.” My gaze flickered back up to the porch, and the look on both Mom and Blaze’s faces had me feeling even worse about it. I wrapped my arms around myself as the truck came to a stop on the other side of Sheriff Myer’s truck. The driver’s side door opened, and out stepped a man in dark gray cowboy hat, built just like the sheriff—only younger.

“What are you doin’ here?” Sheriff Myers popped the question, losing all sense of professionalism as Garrett rounded the front of his truck. “Ain’t like you to be sober this early.”

A clear-eyed Garrett glared at him. “I have to work today, Dad.”

“Then you should be at work,” he shot back.

I stared at the two of them, noting that Garrett was cleaned up, wearing a black T-shirt and fresh light wash jeans. His dark facial hair was a neat five o’clock shadow, like he had taken the time to clean up. Ihatedthe fact I couldn’t rip my gaze away, realizing that Garrett hadn’t aged nearly as much as I thought he had last night.

“I came to talk to Beth,” Garrett said flatly.

“About last night?” Sherriff Myer’s voice dropped, and he spoke through gritted teeth. “Because you need to be at work, not making a scene out here. There’s an audience up there on the porch. If you want to rehash your stupid mistakes, you need to do so somewhere else.”

Garrett didn’t flinch, and he’d yet to even look at me. “Thanks for the head’s up. So you’re done here then? Or do I need to wait my turn?”

Sheriff Myers shook his head and turned to me. “If you think of anything, you make sure and tell me. You know where to find me, and if you don’t want to take a trip down to the office, just give the main number a call. There’s always someone there answering the phones. Okay?”

“Right,” I choked out. “Yeah, of course.”

“I’ll leave you two,” he grunted, and then turned to Garrett. “You keep your head on straight.”

Garrett nodded to him, and then stepped out of the way. However, the sheriff didn’t leave. Instead, he headed up to the back porch, grumbling under his breath.

My nerves were already fried from the news I’d just received, and as I brought my eyes up to Garrett, he now was looking at me. We stood there for a few moments that felt like hours, staring at each other once again.

“You wanna go somewhere?” he finally asked, looking past me to the porch.

I turned to see what he was looking at and frowned at the sight. My mother’s eyes were wide as Sheriff Myers spoke to her and Blaze. I could only imagine how shocking the news was to her. However, Blaze stood unmoved, and his gaze wasn’t on Sheriff Myers atall.

It was on me.

“We can take a drive.”

I whipped my head back to him. “You really think I want to get in a truck with you?” My tone was icy, and he flinched at it, but didn’t match my coldness in return.

“You really wanna talk for the first time in sixteen years with an audience?”

I blew out a breath. “No, I don’t. I don’t know if I want to talk at all. I didn’t think you’dactuallyshow up here. I didn’t think you’d remember anything about last night.”

He held my gaze. “When a ghost shows up, Beth, drunk or otherwise, you don’t forget it—trust me, I’ve tried.”

Chapter 9

Please,just get in the truck.

Garrett’s heart pounded in his chest as he waited for Beth to weigh her options. He knew there was a chance she’d tell him to screw off, and maybe that’s what he deserved.

“Fine,” she said quietly. “But not long. I have things I need to do today.”

He looked past her to Blaze, the strange cowboy, glaring at him. “Yeah, I get that. Come on. I’ll have you back in an hour tops. I’m not here to waste your time, Beth.” Saying her name felt like conjuring up his demons, the ones he tried to numb with the bottle, but he had told himself last night that he would sleep it off, get up, and make good on his word.

And that’s what he’d done.

Because that’s what Beth deserved.