Page 18 of Everyone Loved Her

“So, can we consider the air cleared now?” Beth’s voice was strong despite the tear rolling down her cheek, which onlyserved to tear him apart internally. “I just lost my dad. I’m here to help my mom out with everything, and then I’m leaving. Not to mention Sarah was found this morning…”

“Huh?” He furrowed his brow, confused. “What does that mean?”

“Dead.”

“What?” Shock rolled through his system. “Like she’s…”

“Dead,” Beth clarified. “Yes.”

“Holy…” He struggled to process the information, trying to remember the last conversation he’d had with her, and paused, his stomach churning. “What happened?”

“No idea, but I might have been the last person to see her… Well, or…you.You were behind the bar last night, and Sarah left out that door.”

Garrett shook his head. “I haven’t seen Sarah… Is that why my dad was there at the ranch? I thought he was visiting Blaze or something.”

Beth stared at him. “How did you not see her? You were back there?”

“I wasdrunk,” Garrett reminded her, hating it all the same. “I don’t exactly pay that much attention to everyone when I get like that.”

“Yet,somehow, you remembered that I was there—and you remembered your promise to come and see me today. She was only like twenty minutes before me.”

Garrett rubbed his forehead, unable to recall the memories before Beth stepped out into the light last night. “I don’t think I saw her. I mean that.”

“Sure, okay,” Beth said flatly. “Whatever you say.”

His phone began to vibrate in his jeans,and he dug it out, half expecting it to be his boss. He had told him he’d be late, which was rare, even with his drunken habits. He was only trashed out in the evenings, and always made it to work, even if it was in a stupor. However, as he stared down at the screen, he grimaced.

Brittany. Again.

He silenced it and slid it in the door. “Sorry,” he mumbled when he realized Beth was staring. “What were we talking about?”

“You taking me back home,” Beth answered, reaching for her seatbelt. “I think we’ve said everything that needs to be said. I know you’re sorry. It’s been sixteen years. I don’t hate you, so you can move on.”

Yeah, but I can’t move on from you.He took a deep breath, not wanting to push it. “You still didn’t tell me why we were fighting that night.”

“Probably had something to do with the fact that my brother had found out about us,” Beth muttered, mostly under her breath. “He was pissed at you that night, and I still think you were drunk. I don’t know why you wouldn’t remember that.”

“I had to take a breath test,” Garrett said through gritted teeth, growing angry. “And Iknowthat Sam and I were fighting, but you and I weren’t getting along either.”

She shrugged. “Probably something stupid. We always fought.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Garrett turned the truck around at the next mile section, and then headed back toward the ranch, pressing down on the accelerator. “Guess some things never change, no matter how many years pass.”

“I wouldn’t call today a fight,” Beth said, her voice dropping in volume as she folded her arms across her chest. “It’s just not easy to see you, any more than it is for you to see me.”

He sighed. “I should’ve found you sooner, but by the time I got out, I just… You were with that new guy and had changed your number. Your dad offered to give me your new one, but you know, seemed like a violation of your privacy.”

“I needed to put the past behind me.”

“Glad you were able to,” Garrett said dryly, resting one hand on the steering wheel and the other on his thigh. “Everything I tried didn’t seem to work. I gave it up.”

“Me, too.”

He eyed her with curiosity, but her expression gave nothing away as to what she meant—but it still gave him some sense of small, minuscule hope. “Can I have your number? The new one? Just in case I need it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t need your drunk calls, Garrett.”

“Okay, well, do you still havemynumber?” He was starting to feel desperate, and noticed how her body relaxed as she blew out a breath. He had tried not to check her out, but she appeared the same as she always had, only maybe curvier. And for that reason, Garrett ensured he didn’t watch her too long. She already haunted him enough as it was.