The sound of the door had her heart jumping. She hurried to it, hoping it was Hank even knowing it wasn’t, but pulled it open to see Catherine. A car was idling on the street, Henry behind the wheel.
“After the shit you pulled, the least you can do is invite me in,” Catherine said, looking down her nose at Arissa while trying to cling to her southern hospitality.
Absently, Arissa held the door wider. Catherine pushed past Arissa into her house, then made herself at home by walking through the rooms, seeing the boxes everywhere. She turned to the younger woman, lifted a brow. “So you have more sense than I thought. You’re leaving?”
Arissa studied the older woman and even knowing she owed her an apology, it got stuck in her throat. She didn’t like her, not one fucking bit. “You should have told him,” Arissa said. “Had you been honest with Hank, none of this would have happened.”
Catherine leaned closer and clipped her word. “Had you minded your fucking business, none of this would have happened.” She stepped back, looked around and added, “You are just one in a long line of women…” She glanced back. “And not very high up on the list. He’ll move on. I’ll be there to help him.”
Arissa fisted her hands because she wanted to hit her. What a smug fucking bitch. She had yet to close the door. “Get the fuck out,” Arissa demanded.
Catherine smiled but it wasn’t pleasant. “There you go, little girl. Show your true colors.” Catherine strolled to the door. “I’d say it was a pleasure, but it wasn’t.” And with those parting words, Catherine walked out. The door slamming closed behind her.
Arissa didn’t move at first and when she did, she reached for the closest thing and threw it against the wall. One thing became a steady stream of objects.
There was no knock this time as Maureen entered, saw Arissa and hurried over. “You’re not going to have anything left going the way you are.” Maureen then saw all the boxes. “What’s going on?”
Anger shifted to heartache, the tears that hadn’t stopped since her confrontation with Hank earlier welled and spilled down her cheeks. “I fucked up.” Arissa looked at Maureen, her pain so easy to see. “I really fucked up.”
Maureen pulled her in for a hug. “I’ll call the others.”
Not twenty minutes later, Arissa was surrounded by the Belles. Hya was sitting next to her, and in an uncharacteristically comforting gesture, held Arissa’s hand. “Start at the beginning,” she suggested softly.
Arissa shared everything with them, and unlike their usually boisterous selves, they stayed silent during the telling.
Silence even followed for a few minutes after she finished before Hya said, “Catherine’s a fucking bitch.”
Arissa wiped at her eyes. “She is a bitch. I hate her, but she gave Hank a home, a family. Whatever she might be, she loves him. And even with my heart being in the right place, I tried to sabotage that.”
“Bullshit. He had a right to know,” Maureen said. “They should have told him.”
“I lost him,” Arissa said, her focus turning to the window but she didn’t see anything. “He wouldn’t even look at me. Hank has made me feel so many different emotions, but he never once froze me out.” Arissa bit back the sob. “Not having him looking at me in that way he does…” She stood, needed to move. “He said he was going to marry me. We were talking kids—” She turned from the others, her shoulders shaking from the tears she couldn’t hold back. “I never saw him coming, but he burrowed so deep inside of me how the hell do I go on now without him?” She ended on a pained whisper.
“So you’re leaving?” Millie asked softly.
She turned to the women who had become like family. “I can’t stay. I caused enough pain.”
Hya stood, walked to the kitchen. “I say we drink.” She glanced back. “Drink first, then we’ll worry about what comes next.”
21
Hya drove Bertha through town. She’d lived in Summerville most of her life, and through all the changes that had come and gone, one thing stayed constant…the vibe that was uniquely Summerville. There was no other place she wanted to be. Recently, though, that feeling was missing.
There had been no mishaps with delivery boys and their food deliveries jamming up traffic, no rogue livestock holding residents hostage. No swarms of overly dressed females walking Main Street looking to commit misdemeanors. Not even Elmer and Sal were at their table when she drove passed Dehlia’s, even knowing they’d been released from lock up. Their stupid stunts, a daily event, had stopped. No stolen DeLorean, or wires running across Main Street so they could try to get back to the future…a stunt Hya knew firsthand was on Elmer’s to-do list. Summerville was in a funk, a shadow hung over it, and it did because what fed the vibe, what kept it going, was the one person who kept it under control. Life was opposites and as crazy as Summerville’s residents were, Hank Weathers was the glue that kept it together. And their solid, dependable sheriff had been missing in action for three days.
Hya drove to the outskirts of town to Hank’s. She pulled up behind his truck, climbed out of Bertha and strolled inside, knowing his doors would be unlocked. They always were.
“Sexy!” she called after the door slammed shut behind her. The sight of his kitchen stopped her in her tracks. Not littered with takeout containers, but bottles of Jack. As a lover of that fine nectar of the gods, even she wouldn’t have consumed so much. Moving through the house, she found Hank in the living room staring at the fireplace
