Page 55 of Ripple Effect

“Was a massive FUBAR. We know it. We’ll work it out before you get back. Work on your marriage. Consider it an extended honeymoon.” He hangs up in my ear.

“This one sure as shit isn’t like the last,” I mutter. Turning down the private road that leads to Akin Hill, my heart begins to pound. I pull up to the call box at the end of the driveway. Dialing the number for Libby’s parents’ house, I wince when I hear Marcus’s hostile “Yes?”

“It’s Cal.”

He hangs up without a word. But the gates swing inward. “Okay, here we go.” Slowly, I accelerate my truck through the long drive so I can visit with my wife.

Hopefully today I can find the words I need to get her to talk with me.

Maybe she’ll feel more open after the police leave.

Pulling up in her parents’ driveway, I walk around the front of the car and slide out the heavy package. I jostle it in my arms while I lock my truck. Not that dropping it can make it much worse. I just want Libby to see it in one piece.

* * *

“We appreciateyou coming out all this way, Lieutenant Briggs.” My father-in-law shakes hands with the department representative they sent to convey the news that the person who hit Libby will remain a guest of the county for some time. “I’m sure that will help all of us sleep a bit more soundly tonight, won’t it, Nat?” Marcus’s arm tightens around his wife.

“I know I will, but what’s most important is you, Libby. How do you feel, honey?” Natalie turns to my wife. Libby’s bruises are beginning to change color, but the biggest transformation is the lack of smile. My chest spasms in agony, realizing I may be the cause of it never appearing again.

“I appreciate the visit, yes” is her response. Her face is pale and filled with shadows, but how much of that is due to what happened versus what I did to her?

“Why don’t we walk you out, Lieutenant. Cal, can you stay with Libby for just a moment?” God, I want to hug my mother-in-law right now.

Marcus obviously feels differently but holds his tongue. Instead he walks over to the bed and kisses Libby on the forehead. “We’ll be just a few moments, honey.”

“That’s fine, Dad. I need a few moments of peace to process this,” she replies.

The three make their way out. I hear Natalie exclaim, “Libby, it looks like Cal brought you a gift!”

My wife raises a brow in my direction. “Oh? More sunflowers.”

I flush. There are vases of them around the room, none of them near the bed. “No, not those.”

Libby turns her head to stare out the window, seemingly indifferent to my presence.

“I…” The expression on her face isn’t giving me any hope. Then again—I shore myself up internally—she isn’t shoving me away. “I baked you a cake. Coconut pecan—your favorite.”

Libby’s eyes bug out before she turns it back toward me. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that? Maybe there was hearing issues as a result of the injury,” she asks with a little of her old sass.

“I had a little trouble, but I made it through the whole recipe.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That cake takes me hours, Cal. I hand shuck the damn pecans.”

“Shit, you’re supposed to shuck the pecans?”

Her hand flies to her mouth to hold back the giggle. “Oh, sweet heaven, have mercy. Where is it?”

“In my defense…” I leave the room and quickly come back with the box. “I followed the recipe.”

“So, I know it’s going to be dry because that doesn’t include the extra butter, but go on.” She nods. Her eyes are beginning to dance. It sparks something inside of me I didn’t realize I’d lost.

Hope.

And I bask in the glow of that tiny light emanating from Libby. I decide to keep telling her about the disaster she’s about to open. “By the way, where do you keep the measuring cups?”

“Did you borrow some?”

“I improvised,” I tell her proudly.