Page 105 of Too Far

Jo, now laughing so hard she’s crying, slinks off the hammock and onto her knees. The lightness and playfulness emanating from her is contagious. Her laugh is a soothing melody, a perfectly curated balm.

When she’s finally caught her breath, I stand and offer her a hand. Her shoulders are still shaking as she accepts my help, and there’s a mischievous glint in her eye.

But as soon as she’s fully upright, the laughing stops.

As if the joy has been sapped from her body.

As if the world has been shrouded in darkness.

She’s so silent and still it’s eerie. Telling.

Though I suspect what I’ll find, I glance over my shoulder to confirm.

There he fucking is. The man of the hour. The man of all the hours, until he destroyed the most perfect, beautiful human I’ve ever known and left the rest of us to make sense of the pieces he scattered as he broke her.

At the door, Decker hovers. He knows he’s not supposed to be here. He’s got one foot on the deck, one foot still in the house.

He knows better. Yet there he fucking is.

I agreed to come to the cabin because the storm evac plan we have in place is solid and there was no time to create another I could guarantee was as safe. I agreed so long as he vowed to stay out of sight and out of our way.

It’s evident that plan is shot to hell.

He clears his throat. The sound grates against the silence that’s fallen over the group.

“Sorry,” he offers evenly.

As if being in her presence for the first time in weeks doesn’t affect him. He’s a liar. A liar and a thief.

“I didn’t realize…” He runs a hand through his hair and looks over his shoulder, into the house. When he turns back, he regards me. “I’m just heading out for a hike.”

The sound of a chair scraping against the deck breaks the silence that’s enveloped us once again. At the table, one of Kendrick’s sisters shifts in her seat. “Don’t forget your bear spray, Uncle Ducky.”

Innocent Jade.

She’s unaware that most of us here wouldn’t mind if he forgot his bear spray. Not to cause fatality, of course. A mauling resulting in severe injury would suffice.

I give him a second.

Then two.

At the three count, I’m releasing Jo, glaring daggers, and striding toward the door.

“Whoa.” Kendrick steps in front of me, cutting me off a few feet from where Decker stands.

I try to push past him, but the man’s massive, and he anticipates my sidestep.

“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Chill, brother. We’re going to have to start calling you Kyller if you go guard dog on his ass every time he makes an appearance.”

Heart pounding and fury running through me, I cross my arms over my chest. “We had an agreement,” I remind Decker. “We would all come here like usual. You could see for yourself that we’re safe. In exchange, you agreed to make yourself scarce.”

He raises both hands in surrender.

But then his eyes flit over my shoulder—considering, searching.

“Don’t look at her,” I snap.

Because this is the exact moment I was determined to avoid. The one where she’s forced to face the man who broke her heart.