Cricket Cove

by Haddix, T. L.

  “The idea of leaving feels an awful lot like running,” she admitted in a low voice.

  Sarah shook her head decisively. “No. Protecting yourself from someone like Roger isn’t running. You know that. You wouldn’t say Lori was running, would you?”

  “Of course not.” She sighed. “You’re sure they wouldn’t mind?”

  “Pretty sure. I’ll make the call right now. Just say the word,” Owen offered.

  She nodded. “Do it.”

  She knew she could write just as well from Laurel County as she could from home. And the more she thought about the idea of getting away for a while, the better it sounded. Remembering last night and the temptation Logan had provided, she figured a few weeks away from him while she got her head on straight might not be a bad thing. At the very least, it might give her the emotional equilibrium to handle whatever might crop up between them.

  Her father came back in the living room a few minutes later. “You’re set. They’re not just okay with you coming, they’re insisting. Eli said he’ll drive up here and get you if he has to. And you can stay as long as you need to.”

  Amelia swallowed back her trepidation. “I’ll miss my birthday.”

  Owen raised an eyebrow. “London’s ninety minutes away. We’ll come to you.”

  “Do you want me to help you pack?” Sarah offered.

  Amelia was skeptical. “Do you feel like helping me pack?”

  Her mother smiled softly and tucked a lock of hair behind Amelia’s ear. “Yes. I’ll get dressed and we can drive around, though. I don’t particularly want to make a trek through the woods in this cold weather.”

  After Sarah went upstairs to change clothes, Amelia joined Owen at the window. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”

  “I do. It’s the only thing you can do right now.”

  “And what about when I come home? What then? What if he doesn’t relent?”

  Owen hugged her. “Then we’ll do whatever we have to do.”

  Whatever they had to do. She didn’t ask what all that entailed. She was afraid to.

  Chapter Twenty

  Sarah sat on the bed and watched her youngest child pack her bags for an extended trip. Over the years, she’d watched four of her five children get ready to leave home as they’d gone to college or gotten married. John was the first to permanently leave the nest when he and Zanny had married, Rachel the last. She’d watched Amelia prepare to move out on her own when she’d started renting from John and Zanny. She’d only been moving to the foot of the mountain, and that move hadn’t been so hard for Sarah. But for the first time, the dread that was in the pit of her stomach wasn’t due to the natural letting go a mother had to do when her children left the nest.

  No, this concern was much deeper, much darker. There were no words to explain how enraged she was that Amelia had to flee for her own safety.

  “How long do you think I’ll have to stay?” Amelia asked.

  “I don’t know. I wish I did. A few weeks at least, I would think.” Sarah handed her a stack of socks. “So, Logan.”

  The guarded expression that crossed Amelia’s face was telling. “What about him?”

  “Nothing. I’m just thinking out loud, I suppose. It was nice of him to stay last night.”

  Amelia frowned. “It was. And that leaves me a little leery of his motives.”

  “Amelia!”

  She spread her hands. “It does. You have to admit we’ve not exactly been on the friendliest terms.”

  “That doesn’t mean he has ulterior motives.”

  The way she looked at Sarah sent a warning chill across her shoulders. Sarah knew she wasn’t going to like whatever it was her daughter was getting ready to say.

  “Logan doesn’t have a high opinion of me, Mom. I overheard him telling Archer that in very plain terms several months ago. He’s nicer to me now, but I have no reason to think his opinion of me has changed.”

  Sarah was shocked. “Just what did he say?”

  Amelia shrugged. “Things I almost wish I hadn’t heard, except for the fact that I like knowing the truth.” She told Sarah some of it, and Sarah gasped. “Please don’t say anything to anyone, especially not Daddy. I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t want to cause him trouble with the family. Just because we’re related by marriage doesn’t mean he has to like me or vice versa.”

  “No, but there’s a difference between not liking you and being a donkey’s ass.” Sarah was indignant. “What did Archer say about his brother’s opinions?”

  “He was less than pleased. And when he found out that I’d heard everything, he was devastated.”

  Sarah looked down at her hands. “I suppose we expected him to be more like Archer, and he isn’t. Which isn’t fair of us. But now I wonder just how different he is.”

  Amelia fastened the suitcase and set it on the floor, then sat down next to her. “I think he’s a good man, like Archer. He just has a lot of scars from his childhood, and he doesn’t trust people easily. Certain people in particular. Like me. I apparently remind him too much of his mother.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

  “It is what it is. So do you think I should take anything else?”

  As she finished packing, they talked about mundane things like who would pick her mail up, check the trailer regularly, that sort of thing. After Sarah promised to take care of her literacy duties and reassured her that she was making the best choice, Amelia was ready to go. Not for one moment did Sarah believe Amelia was as unaffected by Logan’s attitude as she pretended to be.

  Within an hour, Amelia was on her way to London. Owen had walked down so he could drive Sarah back up to the farmhouse, and as they drove around the main road that led to their driveway, she watched the man she’d married more than thirty years ago. He was as handsome now as he was then, and Sarah was just as much in love as she’d ever been. More so now, as the years had bonded them together tightly. They’d had a rocky start, but what they’d built had well been worth the fight.

  “I love you, you know,” she told him. She reached out and laid her hand on his leg. “I’m so worried about her, Owen.”

  He laced their fingers together and squeezed, then brought their joined hands to his mouth to kiss hers. “I love you, too. And so am I. I put a call in to Rick while you two were packing. He’s going to swing by tonight and talk to us. I think we need to go ahead and get started on what our plan should be when she does get to come home. I don’t think for a minute that her just getting out of town will solve things permanently. Hopefully it will buy us enough time to figure out what to do.”

  “You know, we’ve never traded on any favors that might be out there. But we have a few we can call in.” They’d always preferred to be independent, to not be beholden to anyone. But they’d done a lot of things over the years for various people, and as much as Sarah hated the idea of calling those favors in now, she’d do it if that’s what it took to make Amelia safe.

  “I’m hoping it won’t come to that, but I have the feeling it will. For now, let’s see what we’re up against and try to get you over this cold. She’s not telling Lori where she’s going, right?”

  “Right. She called and left her a message, said that she’d been offered the chance to go out of town and was taking it for the adventure. She’ll write Lori and funnel the letters through someone as far from London as we can find. Ben, maybe, or maybe Charles and Kathy. Postmarks from Georgia should confuse Roger.”

  “I wish we could send her there in reality,” Owen said, “but that wouldn’t fly.”

  Sarah was regretful. “No. As much as Charles will help, Kathy can’t know about this. It would be too much like what she went through. She’s just too fragile.” She sighed. “I’m not losing my daughter to that man. I’ll kill him first.”
/>
  “If it comes to that, I’ll take care of it.”

  They exchanged a look. Sarah didn’t know how in the world they’d come to the point where they were seriously discussing the murder of another human being. But as surreal as the conversation was, she knew that if push came to shove, kill or be killed, they would do it without hesitation.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Logan debated all day Wednesday whether to call Amelia or not. He’d left a message for Archer to call him that evening so he could update his brother on what had happened the previous night. He went to the library that evening to drop some books off, and when he went in, he was pleasantly surprised to run into Archer.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Trying to keep my mind occupied, plus Sydney wanted to come in. You?”

  Logan shrugged. “Returning some books, picking up some new ones, I guess. Have you heard from Amelia?”

  “Yeah. She left town.”

  Every muscle in his body froze for a split second, and Logan carefully set the book he’d been looking at back on the shelf. “Come again?”

  Archer glanced around. “I don’t want to get into it here. Want to come to the house for dinner?”

  “Sure.”

  They didn’t have much of a chance to talk until after they ate, when Emma took Sydney upstairs for her bath. Archer led him to the living room, where he sat on the couch and stretched his legs out with a tired sigh. Logan took the comfortable recliner and waited for his brother to explain.

  “She told Sarah and Owen about Roger this morning. They all decided that it might be prudent for her to get some distance between them.”

  “Where did she go?” Logan’s mind immediately flew to the doctor, Jonah. Even though Archer had admitted the man was gay, Logan had his doubts.

  “London, to Eli and Eliza’s. She’ll be safe there.”

  “Yeah. But what about when she comes home? How long will she have to stay away?”

  Archer ran a hand through his hair. “Those are questions none of us knows the answers to. She’ll spend her birthday down there at the very least, and that’s not until the fifteenth. And she’d probably be better off to stay for several weeks. They’re hoping he forgets about her once she’s gone.”

  “I told her last night she might need to go somewhere for a while. From the sounds of things, she’s close to giving up on her friend. I can’t blame her.”

  Archer studied him. “What did happen last night? You said in your message that you needed to update me.”

  “I followed her home, we talked for a bit, and then I went down the road and parked. Roger showed up a couple of hours later.”

  “What?” Archer sat up, incredulous. “Why are you just now telling me this?”

  “Because he just drove past. I followed him when he left and he went up the road toward that bar on up past the turnoff to Firefly Hollow. That’s when I figured it might not be a bad idea if someone slept on Amelia’s couch. So I went back and that’s what I did.” He took a sip of his coffee to avoid having to meet Archer’s gaze. He had no intention of telling his brother that he hadn’t stayed on the couch, even though nothing had happened between him and Amelia. “The rest of the night was quiet.”

  After a minute Archer relaxed, though he didn’t return to his casual position. “How’d she take it?”

  “What, Roger being around or me spending the night?”

  “Both.”

  Logan gave a half shrug. “Well enough. It’s definitely bothering her, having him menacing her. And I think we’ve called a truce, though I don’t know how long it will last.”

  Archer laced his fingers together behind his neck and rested his elbows on his knees. “Of all the people I know, Logan, that young woman is truly the nicest person. She’s just good. And she can’t catch a break. If she has to give up on Lori, it might destroy a part of her that she’ll never get back.”

  “I don’t know. I think part of her has already given up. She thinks something’s going on with Lori, and from the way she said what she did, I get the impression she doesn’t trust her that much. Not like I would expect her to.”

  Archer frowned. “Something like what?”

  “An affair, maybe. Amelia said she’s not been home twice now when she should have been, which I gather is quite unusual.”

  Archer nodded. “That is. Man, what a pisser that would be. Pip’s been trying to save her, she’s cheating on Roger, and now Pip’s in danger?” He stood and strode to the fireplace, hands on his hips. Logan could practically see the wheels turning in his brother’s head.

  “I may be speaking out of turn, but I’m not much impressed with this Lori person. I’m not blaming her for being abused, so please don’t think that.” Logan hurried to explain when Archer turned, his eyebrows up. “But it sounds like Amelia has devoted a lot of her life to someone who maybe isn’t as concerned with what that sacrifice means. Emma told me about the groceries.”

  “Lori changed after they lost Jimmy. From what I saw of her the first couple of years I was here, she was a sweet girl. Still is, but I think she does a lot of the taking in the relationship. She lost a lot of her pep when her brother died, became pretty fatalistic. She kind of takes life as it comes at her now, good or bad, instead of making her own way.”

  “Like Dad, after we lost Mom.”

  Archer nodded. “Exactly.”

  As someone whose childhood had become a casualty of their father’s grief, Logan was torn. He felt sorry for Lori, he did, but knowing her passivity was causing Amelia pain tempered that sympathy quite a bit.

  He left not long after that, making Archer promise to keep him updated. When he got back to his apartment, he was unsettled. He paced back and forth in the small living room, trying to pinpoint the cause of his restlessness. Amelia was safe, tucked away in Laurel County where Roger couldn’t get to her. He should be able to put her in the back of his mind where she needed to be. He came to a stop at the kitchen counter that divided the small kitchen from the living room and braced his hands on the surface.

  “Who am I kidding? All I can think about is this morning.” It wasn’t just the way he’d fled but the memory of how it had felt to lie beside her and hold her. Logan had never been one to linger in a woman’s bed. He’d spent the night a few times but not with the intention of waking up beside someone. Either he’d fallen asleep on accident or the night had just gone on into the morning. So waking up next to Amelia this morning had been a novel event for him.

  There’d been such peace and contentment inside him, he’d been terrified. He knew if she woke up while he was still there, there was every chance he’d try to seduce her against his best judgment. So he’d left.

  Now he was second-guessing that decision. “What if she woke up and thought I’d gone as soon as she was asleep?” On top of everything else he’d done to her, the guilt was too much. He stared down at the counter in front of him, trying to figure out what he could do. His gaze caught on the Christmas cards that were stacked up on the end of the counter, their envelopes still beneath them.

  Sorting through the papers, he found the envelope he wanted, the one from Eliza and Eli, with their address on it.

  Logan would be the first person to admit that he wasn’t great at communicating. He knew he wasn’t the most sociable person in the world. But if there was one thing he was good at in the area of personal interaction, it was writing letters. Tapping the envelope on the counter, he nodded. He knew what he had to do. Gathering his supplies, he sat down to write.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Amelia rode her favorite horse, Charlie, down to the mailbox late Saturday morning to get the mail. Eli and Eliza had been so welcoming and so concerned, much of her guilt at having to stay with them was fading. Still, she’d apologized to her grandmother the first morning th
ere.

  “I know you two are newlyweds and the last thing you need is me hanging around, getting in your way.”

  Eliza had laughed so hard she’d cried. “Amelia, sweetheart, we’re in our eighties. Being newlyweds isn’t like it would be if we were your age. Not to say we’re completely ready for the nursing home,” she said with a chuckle. “But our pace is a little slower, a little more relaxed, than you seem to imagine. We love having you here. Never doubt that.”

  So Amelia had taken her at her word and tried to relax. Eli had reiterated the message later that day in the barn as they were feeding the horses.

  “It’s nice to have you here. Of all her grandchildren, you’re the one Eliza never got to spend much time around growing up. She’s thrilled to get the chance now. And you know you’ve always had a home here whenever you needed it.”

  Now confident that she wasn’t intruding, she put that fear behind her and started trying to look forward. Though she’d discussed the stalking and the situation with Lori and Roger with her grandparents, she was trying to shove it to the back of her mind as much as she could.

  She reached the end of the long driveway and got off the horse, tying him to the fence post. “Let’s see what we have, big guy.”

  The chestnut gelding followed her movements closely as she walked to the mailbox across the road. Amelia had been present when Charlie was born nearly ten years earlier, and Eli had allowed her to name him. She’d bonded with the foal that summer, and he with her. The family teased that Charlie was in love with her as he tended to trail after her like an overgrown puppy whenever she was on the farm.

  She pulled a large stack of mail from the box and waited for a truck to go by before crossing back over the road. She stashed the mail in one of the saddlebags and got back on Charlie, patting his neck as they headed back up the driveway.