Her Last Love (Small Town Hearts Trilogy #1)

by H. C. Bentley

  “It’s Mrs. Murray.”

  10

  All eyes were on Carter as the phone rang again. No one moved, or even spoke, as they watched Carter's face for clues about what was happening with Kyle. The only sounds in the room as they waited was the collective sound of everyone breathing, and the ticking of the grandfather clock, loudly sounding off the seconds as they creeped by.

  "Hello?" Carter answered the phone, his eyes locked with Lynn's. She studied his eyes, saw the trepidation and fear he had that he was about to hear the worst. Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched Carter listened to Mrs. Murray speak. Lynn reached out and took Carter's other hand, holding it while he took whatever news was coming. When his grip tightened, and she saw his eyes close and heard his breath hitch, she could tell the outcome without him having to say a word.

  "Yes, ma'am, I'll take care of it." Carter told Kyle's mother hoarsely, eyes still closed. "I'll be by later on this evening. Is someone there with you in the meantime?" He waited as she answered. "Good. I'll see you in a little while." He closed the phone and, taking a ragged breath, turned to the others in the room.

  "They found Kyle." His voice faltered over the words. "He didn't make it." Still holding her hand, Carter turned back to Lynn.

  "He's gone," he whispered, just before Lynn pulled him into a fierce hug. They stood there, clinging to each other, for what seemed like hours. Hot tears slid down Lynn’s cheeks, her heart breaking for Carter. She felt tears fall onto her shoulder as Carter had allowed a few of his own to escape. A man he had known most of his life, had been friends with since childhood, was dead.

  Carter took a deep breath as he released her and once again turned to the other men in the room.

  "We should go over to Mrs. Murray's and pay our respects, even if it's for a few minutes. I'm heading over there anyway. I promised I would take care of Kyle's locker at work so they wouldn't have to. So they wouldn't have to rely on a stranger doing it for them."

  "Hey, man. I'll go with you." Anthony he stood and walked over, looking at Carter as he clasped a hand on his shoulder. "It will be hard enough, and you shouldn't have to do it alone."

  "Thanks, man. Appreciate it." To the rest of the guys, he asked, "Let's meet back here in an hour, and head over as a group?" With nods of agreement all around, he turned back to Lynn.

  "I’m not sure how late I'll be."

  "It's okay." She sniffed, swiped her hands over her face. "I'll be here when you come back from getting Kyle's things, and I'll just head home then."

  Carter nodded, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before looking over at Anthony. His friend nodded, and in silent agreement, they went out the door together, piled into Carter's truck, and headed back to the mine that had just claimed their friend's life.

  * * *

  Carter and Anthony rode in silence for the first few moments on the road. Sorrow hung in the air like leaves on a tree in late spring, thick and full. Carter drove with one hand on the wheel, his left elbow propped up by the window, his hand rubbing his forehead. Anthony slouched in the passenger seat, one arm resting on the center console, the other laid in his lap as he texted his girlfriend to tell her what was going on and that he'd see her in a little while.

  After hitting the send button, Anthony stuffed his phone in the deep pocket of his heavy coat and looked over at Carter. His pal seemed to be on auto pilot, lost in thought and grief.

  "Hey, man. How are you holding up?"

  "Honestly? I'm kind of numb right show. Like it hasn't hit me yet." Carter pulled up to the stop light and looked over at Anthony. "Can he really be gone? It doesn't seem like it."

  "Know what you mean." Anthony's gaze slid out his window, and back to Carter again. "I've only been friends with him for a few years, and it hurts. But you, having grown up with him, and dealing with it? Can’t imagine. Not trying to get all touchy feely with you, Carter, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."

  "Yeah," Carter replied. The light turned green, and he put the truck in motion once more. "It means more than I can say you're coming with me to do this. Kyle's mom asked, and I couldn't say no. But I'm not sure I would have been able to do it on my own. That doesn't sound very manly, but there it is."

  "It's okay. I'm not feeling very manly about the whole thing either."

  The two rode in silence again for a while longer until the sight of the mine's main gate came into view. When he brought the truck to a stop at the guard shack, Carter rolled down his window.

  "Hey, Darrell." Carter greeted the long time security guard who sat at his post.

  "Hey, Carter. Helluva thing, huh?"

  "Yeah, helluva thing." Carter nodded once. "Listen, are they letting anybody into the wash house?"

  "Well, most of the place has been shut down, but you're cleared. Kyle's family has already called to inform us you were coming, and the shift supervisor okayed it."

  "Thanks, buddy. We shouldn't be long." With a small wave, Carter rolled his window back up as he drove on through the gate to the parking area. The twin sounds of the truck doors slamming shut echoed in the empty parking lot. Each man took a deep, bolstering breath before entering the building that held the wash house, where the lockers for the miners were kept. They followed the familiar path down desolate hallways and entered the wash house, stopping just inside the doorway.

  On a normal day, the room would be bustling with sounds and activity of miners getting ready for their shift, or of those coming off of one. The chatter, the clang of metal hitting metal as locker doors slammed shut, occasional bursts of laughter as men joked with one another. But now, the room sat quiet and still. Several rows of steel gray lockers, each with a bench secured in front of them, filled the room. The lockers, old and banged up, each bore a plate of the name of the miner who claimed it. Rails above them to allow the men to hang dirty uniforms. Some of the metal boxes had locks hanging from the handles while other were free to be opened by anyone. Though the area was often cleaned, the entire room, from lockers to benches to floor, had the fine film of coal dust on it.

  Anthony reached up and patted Carter on the shoulder, telling him without a word it had to be done. Carter looked to Anthony, who nodded, and the two wound their way around the room to get to the locker with Kyle's name on it. Neither said a word as they considered the locker before them. Though a lock had always been there before, it seemed the supervisor had cut it off, knowing that Carter was coming to retrieve the locker's contents. Just seeing his friend's name on the door, Carter became overwhelmed and sat with a thud on the bench in front of the locker. Anthony, in understanding, sat next to him. Bracing his elbows on his knees, Carter hung his head, clasped his hands together. He sat this way, in complete stillness, for several minutes before speaking.

  "This shouldn't have happened to Kyle. Not to anyone, but especially not to Kyle." He stated, before turning sad eyes to look at his friend. "Do you know why he was working today?"

  "No, I hadn't talked to him in a couple of days."

  "The guy he was working for today? He asked Kyle to swap with him because it’s the second anniversary of the day this guy and his girlfriend started dating. And he wanted to spend the day with her so he could propose. Kyle told me about it, got a kick out of the story."

  "Sounds just like him."

  "Yeah, it does." Carter looked at the floor between his shoes again. "Where do we go from here, Anthony? Kyle was too young to die this way, all because he was doing something nice for a friend and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It doesn't seem fair."

  "It's not fair. But then, things like this aren’t. We pick up and carry on the best we can, Carter."

  Carter nodded, then braced his hands on his knees before he stood again. He closed his eyes, took a steadying breath, and reached out to slide the locker handle up to open it. The squeaking of the door’s hinges filled the room, sounding louder than it should have. Carter and Anthony stood side by side, studying the inside of the locker.
<
br />   All of Kyle's spare gear was stored neatly in the narrow metal closet. A pair of clean gray uniforms hung on the short rod, their neon green reflective tape shining in the light. A pair of dirty, scuffed steel toed boots sat underneath them. The wide leather belt, complete with a gas detector and a self-rescuer used as emergency oxygen, sat curled next to the boots on the floor of the locker. On the top shelf sat Kyle's second red safety helmet, scratched, scraped and covered in stickers, with its headlamp point out towards the room. Next to it, a pair of beaten, worn gloves and an extra set of safety glasses. None of this was out of the ordinary; every miner had the same contents in his locker. It was what was on the door made Carter's heart stutter.

  Photographs, half a dozen of them, had been taped to the inside of the locker door. Pictures of a smiling Kyle with his arms wrapped around his parents, and another with the girl he'd just started seeing. But one picture stood out among them. A photo taken the night of the last bonfire showed Carter standing next to Kyle, with Anthony, Michael, and Jeremy on either side of them. Some of them had their arms slung around each other's shoulders, and they were all grinning and toasting the camera with their beer bottles.

  With a shaking hand, Carter reached up and pulled on the photo until the tape gave way and the print was free from the metal surface. As he stared down into the smiling face of his friend, frozen in time, Carter felt the news sinking in. And realized that the person in the photograph next him was gone forever.

  * * *

  When Carter came back to Bethany's, and left again with the guys to head over to the Murray's, Lynn made good on her promise and went home. Once she got there, though, she couldn't seem to settle. She made a halfhearted attempt at cleaning, but the most she could muster enthusiasm for was a load of laundry. She tried reading a new release by one of her favorite writers, a book that Bethany had gotten for her from the library. The words all ran together when her concentration wavered, and when she realized she'd read the same sentence three times, she snapped the book closed in frustration and tossed it aside. Channel surfing just added to her aggravation.

  On a sigh, she clicked the television off and tossed the remote down on the couch beside her. Lynn snatched up a pillow and hugged it as she sat in the silence, going over the events of the day in her mind. How could a day that had begun so bright and promising end in such dark tragedy?

  She wondered how Carter was doing, now that he was home, and alone in an empty house. He'd texted her earlier to tell her he'd made it safe, but had offered nothing else of the visit to the Murray house. Lynn worried about how he may handle the grief, the loss. Carter and Kyle had been friends since grade school. They'd grown up together in every sense possible. With the suddenness of today's events, coping would be difficult. Carter wasn't the sort to find comfort in a bottle, or worse, but he tended to keep things inside instead of reaching out to those around him.

  At a glance at the clock, Lynn saw that while it was dark outside, it was still early enough to drop in on him for a while. She hoped that he wouldn't take her stopping by as an intrusion. The decision made, she put on her coat, grabbed her purse, and scooped up her keys. Within minutes, Lynn was on the road, driving the hills and curves between her house and Carter's. She hadn't called, or even texted, to tell him she was coming. She hadn't wanted to take the chance that he'd refuse her company. Maybe it was a bigger risk just showing up on his doorstep, but at least it would be harder for him to refuse her in person.

  Her car's headlights illuminated the empty road ahead of her. She didn't bother to turn on the radio. Tonight she preferred the silence. The drive to Carter's house was short, and Lynn soon pulled alongside his truck in the drive. Reaching up to cut the engine, she studied the house as she stepped from the vehicle. A single light burned in what was the living room. She made her way up the porch steps, knocked on the door. A shadow passed in front of the window just before the door opened to reveal a bare-footed Carter, looking tired and defeated.

  “Lynn? What are you doing here?” Carter stepped back, opening the door wider to allow her to pass into the house. As the door clicked to a close, she turned to him.

  “I didn't want you to be alone tonight. And truthfully, I don't want to be alone tonight either.”

  Carter stood, hand still on the door, and watched Lynn as she spoke. She seemed anxious, like she might overstep an invisible boundary by dropping by unannounced. Wanting to put her at ease, and appreciating the thought behind her coming to see him, he walked to her and drew her into his arms. He heard her purse hit the floor as she dropped it to grab hold of him with both hands. Neither said a word as they continued to hold each other. He drew strength and comfort from her embrace, in the knowing she cared enough to come to him. Carter ran a hand over her hair before pressing a kiss to her temple and pulling back so he could see her face.

  “I'm glad you're here. I've been trying to find something to do to occupy my mind, but nothing's working.”

  “Yeah, I've been doing the same.”

  “Can you stay awhile?”

  “As long as you need me to.” She gave him a small smile before reaching down to pick up her purse. Lynn took off her jacket, laid it over the arm of the nearby chair, set her purse on top of it.

  “Come on.” He took her hand and led her to the couch. When he sat, he pulled her down next to him to snuggle into his side. With a heartfelt sigh, he relaxed. “Much better.”

  He was half-laying on the couch, one leg stretched along the cushions, the other foot resting on the floor. Lynn lay curled against his side, head on his shoulder, hand on his chest, his arm around her. They lay for a few moments, just enjoying the nearness of each other. She leaned into him, drawing in his heat and scent. Here is what she'd been needing tonight, the closeness and comfort of someone she cared about, and who cared about her in return.

  “So.” Carter's voice rumbled under her ear. “Before everything went to hell this afternoon, how was your day?”

  “Excellent, actually. My boss pulled me into her office for my sixty day evaluation before we left today. It's standard procedure, apparently. Anyway, she said that I was doing an outstanding job and that she’s pleased with my performance so far.”

  “That's awesome. I knew you'd be good at that job as soon as you told me about it.”

  “It’s surprising, but I'm really liking it. I thought I would struggle more to adapt to a civilian job after working in a military office for so many years.”

  “When I got back and started driving for the mines, I was the same way. My job's okay, but it's very different from working aboard an aircraft carrier.”

  Lynn nodded, questions wanting to be asked laying on the tip of her tongue. After a few minutes of silence, she asked the most pressing one.

  “Carter?”

  “Yeah?”

  “How did it go over at the Murray's this evening?”

  “About as well as could be expected.” He sighed as he toyed with the ends of her hair. “I've known the Murrays for a lot of years, so it was hard. I stayed a while after the rest of the guys left, and I sat talking with Pat. That's Kyle's dad. Ruth had gone to lie down, even though it had taken a sleeping pill to get her there.”

  “I can't imagine how they must be feeling.”

  “Crushed. Kyle was their only child.”

  “I know. Michael told me after we got the news.”

  “Pat and I sat in the kitchen, talking and drinking coffee. They’ll make the arrangements in the morning.” Carter sighed again, ran a hand over his face before letting out a soft, short laugh.. “Then, somehow, we got to talking about when Kyle and I were kids. The things that man remembers.”

  “Like what?”

  “Oh, like the time we climbed the tree in their backyard. We must have been... eight, maybe nine. We made it up the tree just fine. It was the trip down that gave us a few problems. We got stuck in that tree for almost an hour once we saw how high up off the ground that bottom branch really was. We just sat the
re until Pat came looking for us. He had to get the ladder from the garage so we could make it the rest of the way down.”

  Lynn chuckled as she pictured two young boys sitting on a thick branch, feet dangling, waiting to be rescued.

  "We were always finding something to get into, the two of us," he recalled fondly. "Then we got to high school and teamed up with Mike and Tony. Things got a little crazy then."

  "How so?"

  "Oh, like the time when we drag raced up and down the old flats." He referred to a wide, abandoned stretch of dirt road on the outskirts of town. "Or when we would go shopping cart racing in the parking lot of the strip mall downtown late at night."

  "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what exactly is shopping cart racing?"

  "I'm not sure I should tell you," he chuckled. "But basically, we would find two or three shopping carts that had been left out after the stores closed. We'd tie a shopping cart to the back of somebody's car or truck. One person would ride in each cart, and someone would drive, pulling the carts so the riders raced each other."

  "Oh, good grief." Lynn shook her head at the mental image his story had created in her mind.

  "Yeah, Kyle was the best at it, and always had the most fun, but I think Michael came up with the idea for that one."

  "Sounds like something he would do." Lynn paused, then asked, "Do me a favor?"

  "Sure."

  "Don't tell the boys about that particular pastime until they're grown? I have the feeling they'll come up with enough scary ideas on their own."

  "You're probably right." He was quiet for a minute, then spoke again in a low voice. "Kyle is the reason you and I met. Did I ever tell you that?"

  "No, you never told me that." She tilted her head back to study his face. He seemed far off as if he had gone back to that day in his mind.

  "I'll never forget the day he told me about you. You and I were at work, and he had gone through your department on his way to come see me in mine. His first words to me were 'who is the redhead working over in hardware?'. When I told him I didn't know who he was talking about, he made me take my break and dragged me over to where we could see... well, you. You were mixing paint and chatting with the customers while they waited. Kyle nudged me and told me then I was lucky he had a girlfriend. Because he would totally ask you out and beat me to it. When I told him I wasn’t sure if I would ask you out, he called me an idiot."