Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Officer,” she said in her fake voice. The one she used here at church and in town. The one that made everyone think she was a God-fearing, churchgoing woman who loved the Lord. “There is a man here who doesn’t belong. He went into the prayer room, where Trinity was trying to be alone to grieve. The profanity out of his mouth and disregard for the house of the Lord were awful. You need to get that man out of here. I fear he is dangerous.”
It took every ounce of self-control I had not to roll my eyes. She sounded ridiculous.
“What man? Did you get a name?” Randal asked with concern in his tone.
She opened her mouth, then shut it again. Neither of us knew his name, but even if I had, I wouldn’t have shared it with her. I was a fantastic liar. Her gaze swung to me, and I shrugged. Then, I saw her eyes narrow, as if she thought I was lying, but she wouldn’t treat me bad in front of witnesses that mattered. The man in the prayer room did not matter to her.
“There!” She pointed, and I turned my head to see him walking down toward the sanctuary.
His dark hair was cut short, and I could see from here that his eyes were a lighter color. Not boring brown, like mine. I wasn’t sure though since he wasn’t looking at me. His entire body seemed to flex with each move he made. I wondered if he was one of those built guys that had muscles all over. Hayes’s body had been that of a runner’s, and had been nothing like this man’s.
“Oh,” Randal replied, and his tone dropped. “I’m, uh, sorry, Mrs. Bennett. Uh, I can’t ask him to leave.”
I studied Officer Randal as he shifted on his feet nervously. The large Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed.
“Who is he? Surely, Reverend Darren and his family do not know this man,” Tabitha said, sounding close to losing her cool.
She rarely lost a battle. If she didn’t get the massive, good-looking man kicked out of the church, she’d have lost in her eyes, and that would not sit well with her.
Randal ran a hand over his slightly balding head. “He, uh, does indeed know the family,” Officer Randal said. “That’s Huck Kingston, Hayes’s older brother.”
Two
Huck
Tugging on the damn neck of the button-up shirt I had worn for Hayes’s sake, I felt like I was suffocating. “I hope you’re watching this shit show,” I whispered under my breath.
I wasn’t sure what I believed about the afterlife, but if we did have souls and my little brother was here, watching his funeral, then I was going to at least have on a damn suit coat and button-up. I drew the line there. My jeans and boots weren’t going anywhere. Hayes would understand that.
I stood at the back of the church, watching people come in and speak to my mother’s parents up front. They had seen me walk in, but neither of them would approach me. I’d made my choice years ago, and although the old man preached about forgiveness and acceptance, he’d never been able to give that to my father. Judgment was clear in his gaze when his eyes met mine. He saw my father when he looked at me. I fucking saw my father every time I looked in a mirror, and I was proud of it. Creed Kingston had been a hell of a man. Loyal, honest, and proud.
My jaw clenched as I thought of the things he’d said to Hayes and me about my father the day he came to take us away from the only life we’d known.
He had blamed my father for our mother’s death when he’d died, trying to save her life. He said that their deaths were God’s punishment for the evil my father had done. Carbon monoxide poisoning hadn’t been from God; it had been from a fucking faulty detector. I was fourteen years old and fucking furious. Hayes was six years old and wanted to go with his grandparents. Losing our mother was harder on him. He needed that comfort. He was softer, like she had been. Having a grandmother was something he clung to once our mother was gone.
I wanted to stay with the Hughes family, and I told them that. I knew Garrett would make it happen. I hadn’t factored in my little brother though. He hugged me tightly with tears in his eyes that day, begging me to go with him. Not to leave him too. My heart fucking twisted so damn tightly that I didn’t think I could breathe. So, I went with them to fucking Alabama. It lasted three years. The day I turned seventeen, I couldn’t take it anymore. Even though I escaped to Ocala, Florida every chance I got, I was done with this life. I called Garrett, told him I was coming home. I packed my things and left Hayes a note, explaining why I had to leave, because I couldn’t fucking face him. Then, I’d gotten on the motorcycle I’d bought with the money I’d made from working at a bike repair shop in town.