Georgia Summer

by Heather Colleen

  He slowed his truck to turn off the highway and onto a dirt road. They were just a few miles out now from the Natchez Trace. The Trace was a stunning, historic corridor spanning across nearly three states that somehow managed to capture every aspect of the South’s beauty. Georgia could remember many road trips down the Natchez Trace with her family as a child, and even into her teens. But no matter how many times she saw it, she never tired of the Trace.

  Landon followed the dirt road that led into the forest. The canopy of trees overhead darkened the interior of the car, and their shadows danced across the dashboard. A few moments later he pulled over onto the side of the dirt road where the road widened just enough for him to safely park his pickup. Slowing the truck, Landon shifted the gear to park, and turned the engine off. It was silent for a moment as both Landon and Georgia sat there.

  “I was thinking we could go on a walk. There’s a trail close by,” Landon suggested.

  Georgia tried to suppress a smile as he mentioned this idea. He had clearly put some thought into this afternoon date. “Sure.” She opened her door and clambered out of the pickup. Shutting the door, she walked around to the front of the truck. Landon took her hand, and they began to walk along the road.

  Georgia looked up at the trees overhead as they walked. The afternoon light was gently filtering through the treetops, spattering its golden light onto the forest floor. The cicadas sang loudly, and the birds chirped to each other. The picturesque scene felt entirely disconnected from the rest of civilization.

  “You like it here?” Landon asked as he watched her. He gently squeezed her hand.

  “I do.” She smiled at him.

  They continued walking. Landon led Georgia over a wooden bridge before taking a right off the road onto a well-worn path. Though Georgia was in sandals, the dirt path was easy to navigate, brushed smooth from years of use.

  “If you had the chance to do it all over again, would you still join the Marines?” Georgia asked suddenly.

  “I think I would." Landon nodded pensively. He walked ahead of her by a few paces before easily jumping down a set of earthen steps. Turning around, he extended his hand to her, helping her down. “The Marines gave me the chance to be the best that I can be, mentally and physically. It was the chance I needed to channel my energy into something that, well, makes a difference,” he explained.

  Georgia nodded in understanding, smoothing her dress as they resumed their walking. “It was the answer you needed.”

  “Yes. It was,” Landon agreed, looking down at their clasped hands. He admired her creamy skin. It was smooth, soft to the touch.

  “I bet you didn’t expect 9/11 to happen,” Georgia said, her tone now void of its usual cheer.

  Landon shook his head, sighing. “No, never saw that coming. Everything changed after that.” Landon tipped his head back and looked up at the trees, imagining the Twin Towers and how they would have soared past the treetops and into the clouds.

  “Do you remember that day?” Her tone was sad, reflective.

  “How could anyone ever forget?”

  A few moments of silence passed as they both remembered, their steps soft against the earth.

  Georgia spoke, recalling the day, “I remember I was getting ready for school that morning. I walked into the kitchen to have breakfast and my dad was there, watching the television. He had tears in his eyes and I wondered what was wrong. I looked at the screen just as the second plane crashed into the other tower.” Georgia shook her head.

  She had later learned in her Introduction to Psychology class that what she remembered of that day was called a flashbulb memory. She remembered every detail of that morning. The smell of freshly made coffee in the kitchen. The tap dripping into the sink. Her dad’s abandoned toast on the table. The way her dad staggered as the second plane crashed into the Twin Towers. She had felt so lost, seeing her dad like that, and wondered what it meant for them, and for the country’s future. Georgia looked over at Landon. He was watching her, studying her face as she recalled September 11th.

  Landon remembered that day vividly, too. He had been training with his team all morning when suddenly their lieutenant was called away for an emergency. Confused, they ended their training early and went to the mess hall for breakfast. He clearly remembered someone yelling to turn on the TV as he sat down with a plate of food. Then they all watched, horrified as the planes crashed into the Twin Towers. He remembered looking around at his friends, their faces grave with the understanding that things were going to change for every one of them. Nothing would be the same after that morning.

  Reading his thoughts, Georgia spoke, “I’m sure that changed the course of your military career forever.”

  Landon nodded. She was right. September 11th had altered his military future unspeakably. “It was the day that made me realize how much I love my country, and how I’d make any sacrifice to protect it.”

  Georgia nodded, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. As the daughter of the county sheriff, she knew of the unbreakable, binding contract her dad held with his hometown. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect and serve the people and the town that he loved. Georgia looked over at Landon, and she saw that same, resilient sense of duty that her father had. She understood Landon.

  They continued walking, and the sound of gushing water growing louder as they neared a running brook. They approached the edge of the water, taking in the view of the water pouring over the rocks, the stream winding its way through the forest and carving its own path.

  “Georgia,” Landon said, suddenly breaking the silence.

  Georgia shifted her gaze and looked up at him.

  “What do you know about me?”

  Georgia creased her forehead, confused by his question.

  “Surely your dad has warned you about me. You must have heard rumors…” His voice trailed off as he looked at her.

  Georgia bit her lip. “I mean, I’ve heard rumors, but…” Georgia left her unfinished thoughts hang in the air.

  Landon looked at her expectantly.

  Georgia sighed, capitulating. “My dad warned me, yes. He told me he arrested you a few years ago." She paused, feeling her heart rate accelerate. “And that you tried to steal a gun from your dad.”

  Landon nodded. He wasn’t surprised by this information. “Well, you were right about what you said yesterday. That’s not the whole truth,” he said quietly.

  Georgia looked at him anxiously, wondering where this was going.

  Landon cleared his throat. “I want to tell you the truth, Georgia, because you deserve to know. I don’t want you hearing those rumors around Willow Creek about me. I don’t want you wondering if I’ve lied to you.” He tore his gaze away from hers and looked back at the brook. He hadn’t told anyone the truth about that fateful night four years ago. He had kept his secret hidden away for so long now, he didn’t know if he could muster the courage to tell someone, especially someone he truly cared about like Georgia. Yet something in his heart told him it was the right thing to do.

  Landon led her over to a set of tree stumps that had been arranged next to the stream. She sat down on one of them, and he took a seat next to her. Georgia turned to face him, smoothing the chiffon fabric over her knees. She looked at him attentively.

  Landon looked into Georgia's eyes, knowing he could trust her. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself for the truth he was about to reveal. It was time to go back to that night four years ago, the night where it all began.

  Chapter 26

  Back to Where It All Began

  Georgia gazed at Landon, studying him carefully.

  “Back in high school, I was with a girl. You may remember her. Her name was Emmarie.”

  Georgia swallowed. She couldn’t remember her from her schooling days, but she did remember Jace mentioning an Emmarie when Landon had nearly beat him to a pulp. Georgia tried to remember what Jace had said about her. Something about how Landon had beaten him up over anothe
r ‘whore’ before. Georgia winced as she thought of that disgusting word.

  Landon went on, “Emmarie was my first love. We had plans to move away together from Willow Creek that summer after graduation. She wanted to go to an art school in Boston…” Landon’s voice trailed off as he thought of Emmarie. She was nothing but beautiful in his memories of her.

  Georgia looked down at her lap as she listened, suddenly feeling insecure as Landon reflected on his first love.

  “I was also really close to Emmarie's dad. He was like a father to me.” Landon’s thoughts drifted back to the many late nights that he had spent talking with Emmarie's dad in the way that he wished he could have talked to his own dad. Landon remembered him teaching him how to drive his motorcycle, and the countless times that the three of them—he, Emmarie, and her dad—had shared dinner together. And, most importantly, how Emmarie's dad had trusted Landon with his most precious belonging: his daughter.

  “Emmarie was an only child, and her parents were separated like mine. We could relate, you know?” Landon’s expression was troubled as he thought of the same sorrow that he and Emmarie had shared, and the pain that had brought them together. “But her dad didn’t deal with the separation from his wife that well.” Landon sighed, looking down at his lap as he remembered. “By the time Emmarie and I started our senior year of high school, her dad was severely abusing alcohol. He was getting himself into a lot of trouble. Picking fights with other guys at the bar, drinking himself into a stupor, he lost his job at the cotton gin…he even crashed his motorcycle." Landon recalled the many mornings that Emmarie had arrived late to class in those final weeks before graduation, and how tired she always looked as she desperately tried to keep her home life together.

  Georgia gazed at Landon intently as she listened.

  Landon went on, “The week after our high school graduation, my dad and I got into a pretty bad fight. I told him of my plans to move away with Emmarie and, well, he didn’t like the idea. He said I needed to go to college, or join the military.” Landon shook his head as he remembered that conversation in his dad's kitchen. “My parents had been separated for years, and I had been living with my mom. My relationship with my dad was…strained, to say the least.

  “The following night after we fought, I decided to go see him again at his house, to try to make amends with him before Emmarie and I left Willow Creek the next morning. We had everything packed up and ready to go for weeks.” Landon chuckled, reflecting on his younger, more impulsive self. “We were so excited to get out of this town and start a new adventure together,” he said wistfully.

  Georgia studied Landon. He seemed to be somewhere else altogether with a faraway look in his eyes as he thought of Emmarie.

  “But when I got to my dad’s house that night, someone else was already there.”

  “Where was your dad?” Georgia asked, wrinkling her brow as she tried to comprehend what Landon was telling her.

  “He was still at work at his practice on Main Street...about to head home.” Landon’s eyes were downcast as he recalled the night, and how uncanny the timing had been. “The house had been broken into.”

  Landon clearly remembered that night as he stood on his dad’s front porch, staring into the entryway of his dad’s darkened home, the door gaping wide open. Against his better judgment, Landon had gone inside the house, carefully stepping around the shards of glass on the wooden porch.

  “Do you know who did it?” Georgia asked breathlessly.

  Landon nodded.

  Georgia waited, holding her breath.

  “Maddox,” he answered.

  Georgia racked her brain. “Wait—the guy that bought you your coffee the other day?” she asked incredulously, remembering the tan-skinned man with long, dark, silver-streaked hair.

  “Yes. That was Maddox,” Landon said solemnly.

  Georgia shook her head. “I don’t understand…” she said, unable to see where this story was going.

  Landon placed his hand over hers, quieting her. “You will. Let me explain.”

  Something in his voice stopped her. There was something deeper and more complex in his voice, a sadness that couldn’t quite be articulated. Georgia waited.

  “You see, Georgia, Maddox isn’t just an old friend of mine. He’s also Emmarie’s father.” Landon waited, allowing Georgia to absorb this information.

  Georgia’s eyes grew wide. "But why...why would Maddox have broken into your dad's house?"

  Landon shook his head, closing his eyes briefly as he recalled the sequence of events that had led up to that night. Taking a deep breath, he went on, “Maddox was already unstable with his alcohol addiction...but what really sent him over the edge was what happened the night before I found him at my dad’s house, the same night I got into a fight with my dad.” Landon’s eyes darkened with fury. He instinctively clenched his fists, withdrawing from Georgia’s hand.

  Georgia looked down at his balled up fists, afraid to hear the rest of the story.

  “The very same night I fought with my dad, Emmarie had been out running errands. She had been to the store that evening, picking up some food for us to take on our trip. She was walking home…alone.”

  Georgia felt her stomach coil with fear.

  Landon’s eyes were now blazing with unspoken rage. “Two men pulled up next to her in their car. They started taunting her. It was clear they had been drinking. Emmarie ignored them and kept walking, but they didn’t leave her alone.” Landon shook his head angrily, feeling a knot rising in his throat as he thought of Emmarie, alone and frightened with no one to help her.

  “One of them got out of the car, and she began to run. But they were a lot faster, a lot stronger than her." Landon paused, thinking of the scattered, abandoned groceries Emmarie had dropped onto the road as she fled, screaming for help. But no one had heard her. Emmarie and her dad lived on the far south side of town, almost beyond the city limits of Willow Creek where neighbors were few and far in between. “They caught her…She couldn’t outrun them…” Landon stammered, unable to finish the story.

  Georgia reached over and clasped Landon’s hand tightly, her eyes brimming with tears as she imagined what would have happened to Emmarie. “Did they…?” Georgia asked, afraid to utter the word.

  Landon didn’t say anything.

  Georgia could see the tears shining in his eyes as he thought of Emmarie.

  Landon’s voice cracked as he continued, “They left her there in the field afterwards.” He shook his head, not wanting to imagine the scene. “She managed to get home. Maddox was at the bar still...But instead of calling the police like she should have, she got scared.”

  “What do you mean?” Georgia’s voice shook.

  “She was ashamed. She didn’t know who to turn to…” Landon stopped as his voice wavered. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. “So…she ran away. Hitchhiked up north to her mom’s in Tennessee that very same night.”

  Georgia clutched Landon’s hand, hanging onto every word.

  “The next day, Emmarie’s mom called Maddox and told him what had happened…and Maddox went on a bender. Drunk himself into quite a state that day.” Landon swallowed. “I had told Maddox before that my dad had a gun, an old pistol that my grandpa had given him. Ironically, the very same gun my dad shot himself with.”

  Landon sniffed, pushing the thought of his dad away from his mind before continuing, “But I hadn’t heard from Emmarie all day. We had planned to meet at dawn at her place the very next morning, but I had no idea about what had happened to her the night before when my dad and I fought, and that she was already long gone.” Landon remembered the very last time he had seen Emmarie, the way her jean skirt had swayed as she walked, and the excited smile she had given him when they parted ways. He had played and replayed that movie reel in his mind countless times since that day.

  “So when I went over to my dad’s again to try to talk to him before Emmarie and I left the next morning, I found Maddox there. He h
ad broken into the house and was searching for my dad's gun.”

  “Why?” Georgia asked, the pitch of her voice rising with alarm.

  Landon didn’t answer right away. After an unbearably long moment, he finally spoke, “He was going to go after the two men that had hurt Emmarie the night before. He was going to kill them.”

  Georgia inhaled sharply. “Why didn’t Maddox report it instead?”

  Landon shook his head. “Maddox was a drunken mess. And with Emmarie long gone and refusing to ever return, or report what had happened, there wasn’t much evidence he could use,” he said sadly. “When I found Maddox with my dad’s gun, he was flat-out drunk and determined to find the two men that night to finish them off.”

  Landon’s mind swirled with angry thoughts of that night, remembering how he had found Maddox in his dad’s study, the room torn apart. But who could blame Maddox? These men had not only ruined his daughter’s life, but they had also driven her away forever from Willow Creek. Emmarie had never returned to Willow Creek since, and most likely never would. They had completely and utterly destroyed what was left of Maddox’s family, and Maddox wanted revenge.

  “What happened then when you found Maddox?” Georgia asked.

  “Maddox told me what happened to Emmarie, and what he was about to do. But then the police sirens went off.” Landon remembered looking at Maddox that night in his dad’s darkened study, and the fear that shadowed his eyes when they both heard the police sirens approach. “I convinced Maddox to give me the gun and told him to run. I told him it would be easier for me to get out of than him. Maddox fled just in the nick of time, leaving me with the gun.”

  Landon recalled grabbing Maddox’s arm as he turned to run, and demanding that he tell Landon who had done this to Emmarie. Maddox had given him the names and fled his dad’s home, disappearing into the darkness.

  Georgia felt frozen. She pieced the puzzle pieces together in her mind, connecting them with the rumors she had heard before about Landon trying to steal a gun from his dad, and how her own father had arrested Landon.