Page 97 of Ebbing Tides

God, I was being such an asshole. I knew it, and I didn't like it, but what could I say? He brought out the worst in me, just as I'd brought out the worst in him.

With a long-winded sigh, I looked off toward my truck and said, “So, um … I'm gonna get going. Call me, tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it.”

“Where are you going?” Lucy asked, obviously perturbed.

“I have to grab some things from the cemetery,” I replied.

Her face lit with an idea. I could practically see the light bulb above her head. “Oh! Do you think you could ask Charlie to make sure the area around the plot is cleaned up?”

“Charlie always keeps the place clean,” I said, feeling a bit defensive for no particular reason.

“No, I know that, but I mean … if he could spend a little extra time …” She smiled weakly.

I sighed and relented with a nod. “I'll mention it to him.”

“Thank you.” She wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, and against my chest, she deflated with a sigh. “I'm sorry this is torture for you.”

“I'll get through it,” I assured her, kissing the top of her head. “Only for you guys though.”

Never for him.

And certainly not for me.

***

When I knocked on the security office door, the guy who covered the day shift—shame on me for never being able to remember his name—opened the door and offered his condolences.

“Thanks,” I said with a forced smile. “I just gotta grab a couple of things, if you don't mind.”

“Yeah, sure, man,” he said, stepping aside.

“Have they found someone to cover for me?” I asked, making awkward conversation as I grabbed my book—Lisey’s Story—from off the desk.

“Todd,” he answered, naming the guy who covered a couple of hours in the swing shift before I got in.

“Ah, okay. Good. I know it was short notice.”

“It's no problem, man. Shit happens. Gotta be prepared for it.”

I offered a half-hearted nod as my eyes landed on the lighter and pack of cigarettes. My breath stuttered in my lungs as I stared at the two items belonging to Melanie's husband.

Fuck.

She had forgotten them.Ihad forgotten them.

Is she still here?

I swung my gaze in the direction of Charlie's cottage, as if I could see through all the walls and the tombstones and the trees, clear through to the curb at the bottom of his hill. To see if her silver SUV was still parked there. Stupidly, I was annoyed that I couldn't.

Dammit.

I snatched Luke Corbin Senior's belongings from the desk and tucked them into my pocket before grabbing a few other odds and ends I might need over the next few days. Then I wished the day-shift guard a good one, thanked him again, and left with a thundering in my chest.

Maybe I'm not too late.

In my truck, I sped through the winding roads, going well over the cemetery speed limit. I felt like I was racing against time, thinking she might not have left yet, but my heart sank like a ten-ton brick when I rounded the bend and didn't see her car.

I was too late. And the crashing wave of despair and disappointment barreled over me, pushing a gasp from my lungs as I rolled to a stop at the bottom of Charlie's hill in the middle of the graveyard.