But they only stoked my anger, the rage burning through the pain. “You have no right to be an asshole after what you did!”
“What I did?” he laughed, incredulously. “You need a history lesson, Joey.”
“Stop fucking calling me that!” I ground out.
“Okay, succubus.”
“Fill me in, asshole!” I exploded. “Fill me in on your version! Tell me you didn’t leave me to take the fall for something you did!”
He looked at me like I was the nut job, the liar that conveniently changed the past to look better. “What are you talking about?”
I was trembling from head to toe. “Don’t play that game, Luke!”
He shook his head, continuing to eye me up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Liar!” I cried, the anger keeping any tears at bay. “You’re such a damn liar! You’ve always been a liar! You’ll always be a liar!”
“Well, Tally and I are leaving now since you’ve lost your fucking mind. Have fun in the land of stolen souls.”
“Who?” I asked, snapping my attention to his face.
“Tally,” he replied, waving at the dog. “She doesn’t need to hear some whacko screaming at me.”
I straightened. “Your dog is Tally?”
“Uh, last I checked, yeah.”
Well, I was the world’s biggest idiot. I didn’t hint at it, however, still pissed that he was lying about everything else. About us. “Bye.”
He didn’t hesitate, strolling across the grass with his dog in tow and leaving me to stew in my misery in the darkness.
Luke Eleven Years Earlier
Nan rescued me from the station around 1:00 A.M. after I called, scaring apologies out of everyone she saw. Rightfully so, seeing that she'd called twice looking for me when I didn't show for dinner. They told her they'd keep an eye out while I bled in a holding room down the hall.
Allegedly, it was a misunderstanding, a case of mistaken identity, not that it sat well with either of us, especially when Nan saw what they'd done to me.
To add insult to literal injury, my wallet and the ring box were tossed in my face, Reed leaving without apologizing.
Josie wasn't at the station, and I only left after they proved it, showing me each holding cell, mine still smeared with blood. Nan refused to take me to the Roberts’ house, driving me straight to Portland for treatment, not trusting the county hospital after everything that happened.
It took twelve stitches to close the gaping cut in my lip, and another three to close a gash on my cheek I hadn't noticed. X-rays revealed a broken collarbone in two places, my right arm cradled in a sling until we could schedule surgery to insert pins and rods. It would keep me out of the shop for at least six weeks, robbing me of precious funds needed to start our life together.
The hospital staff was horrified at my treatment, promising to file complaints with the Board of Health and the Governor's Office, not that either would do anything.
Sure, I sat in a holding cell for almost twelve hours without treatment or a phone call, but I was a Barrett — a second-class citizen in Briar. We always had been and always would be.
But I wasn't worried about myself or other Barretts. I worried about Josie. Where she was. How she was. Who she was with.
All that mattered was finding her, saving her. Freeing her from Ed's prison.
But Nan insisted I stay in until morning, and I did, not because I wanted to, but because her tears hit me like fists. I couldn't leave her up worrying all night, so I settled in my room in the bottom bunk, Ethan looking on in horror when I came in.
I'd save Josie in the morning. She was nineteen and no longer under Ed's rule. She would stay with us until we found a place of our own. Nan already said she could, assuring me that everything would be alright. All while a doctor sewed my face back together like a fucking quilt.
Morning couldn't come fast enough, and I drove into town one-handed as soon as Nan gave the okay, the seatbelt unbearable against my battered flesh.
I parked in front of the stately home on Collins Ave. The grand columns and pristine facade couldn't hide the sadness I knew lived behind them. Josie's years of anguish were finally ending. I'd never let Ed lay a hand on her again. She'd never cry another tear over him.
Our new life was right around the corner, one where love would win. Where love would thrive. All we needed was each other.
I rushed down the cobblestone and up the stairs, ringing the doorbell with a deep breath, hopeful that Trish would be the one to answer and not Ed.
No one came.
I stood there for several minutes, intermittently knocking and ringing the bell to no response. The rocking chairs shifted with the ocean breeze, beckoning me to peer down the driveway hidden alongside the house, both Ed and Trish's cars gone.
With my arm in a sling, I couldn't climb to look in Josie's window, so I resorted to throwing mulch chips at it from the yard, again to no response.
After an hour of waiting, I headed home, more baffled than anything. I hoped Josie would be waiting when I got there, but she wasn't.
What was waiting was far worse.
Nan met me at the door and handed me a typed letter that was delivered by mail just minutes after I'd left.
Luke,
This wasn't an easy decision to make, but after today, my mind is made. I can't go on living like this any longer, risking my future for you and your choices. This isn't love. This is hell.
I'm sorry that it has to be this way. I wish you the best, but for now, Briar is in the past. I can't live a lie, pretending I'm okay. I've been unhappy for a long
