Emmett and I, we werebestfriends, and I’d fucked it up and ruined everything by sleeping with Alec, his best friend. It was a weak moment. Experimentation. Lust. I’d just turned sixteen. Alec was seventeen, and I’d always thought he was cute.
Emmett had caught Alec and me having sex.
After we’d raced to put our clothes back on, Alec and Emmett had a massive fight right in the middle of Alec’s living room. Punches were even thrown.
Then he left for Boise and died before we could work things out.
Heat stormed through my chest, and I picked up the pace. The bare trees showed some signs of budding as they canopied the road.
I turned onto Saint Street, then pushed it a little. Even though my wrist ached, I needed to keep moving. Preach’s face flashed in my mind’s eyes. When I’d spewed out my secret about Emmett’s death, his scowl had softened, his eyes widened, and I saw nothing but grief in them. Almost like he connected with my grief on some level.
Of course he did. He was in the middle of it, too.
Usually I’d get the pity-stare, which I totally hated, but not with him. It was almost like he got it. Maybe he’d lost someone, too? I felt his tenderness all the way to my soul.
I took the next turn, not really sure where it would lead, but the town was so small, I couldn’t get lost, right? The pavement was still wet, but most of the snow and slush had melted off the concrete yesterday. Minus the small grayish-brown piles by the end of people’s driveways, things were pretty clear and, more importantly, safe.
Ten blocks later and approaching Woodhaven’s downtown, my lungs started to burn. “Nope, not yet,” I managed to say through gritted teeth. I still had two more blocks before I needed to turn around and head home.
That’s when the first drop of ice-cold rain nailed me in the face.
Oh crap…
Then the skies opened, and the frigid rain started pelting me, stinging with each hit.
I turned around but figured by the time I’d make it home, I’d have pneumonia.
I’ve gotta find somewhere to wait this storm out.
It only took a few seconds before I was soaking wet and chilled to the bone. Scanning the street, my eyes landed on a two-story house with a large porch. There was a sign out front that readHelping Hands.
I hustled across the street and raced up the steps. The large wraparound porch protected me from the arctic rain, and that was all I needed right now.
My hands shook as I retrieved my phone from my pocket. The screen was black.No, no, no!
“Hello?”
A shriek escaped my lips, and I whipped around.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” A woman with silver, shoulder-length hair stood in the doorway of the house.
My braced hand clutched my heaving chest.
“I’m Hana. I run the place. Would you like to come in out of the cold?”
I peeked around the woman and into the hallway.
“I can get you a towel and maybe a cup of tea to warm you up?” Her gray eyes lit up.
Teeth chattering, I nodded as I shuffled toward her. “Um, sure. Thank you, ma’am.”
Warmth wrapped around me like a blanket as I stepped over the threshold. The walls were cream, and the wooden baseboards were stained dark brown. Paintings of people decorated the walls, and at the end of the hallway, there was an elaborate wooden sign with the wordsHelping Handscarved into it.
This was the shelter Willow had told me about. That Preach served here or something if I remembered correctly.
Ugh, he better not be here today.
“I’ll be right back with a towel,” Hana said before disappearing around the corner.