Every Last Fear(80)

“She was your first love?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Okay, your first something else…” She cocked a brow.

Matt rolled his eyes. “I was fourteen.”

She watched him, waiting for him to tell her more.

“It was just a kiss.” One electrifying kiss.

“You’ve got unfinished business with her.”

Matt shook his head again. “I was a kid.”

“Unfinished business,” she repeated with a clipped nod. “You’d better finish it.”

Maybe Kala was right, maybe she wasn’t. Either way, it would have to wait.

“Thank you,” Matt said.

“For what?”

“For coming to Nebraska … For”—he paused—“for everything.”

She looked at him for a long time. For a split second he thought she was going to lean in, give him another kiss he wouldn’t forget.

“Un. Finished. Business,” Kala said, emphasizing each word with a poke of her index finger to his chest. She took his hand. “Let’s get you back. You have a long day tomorrow.”

It would undoubtedly be the longest day of his life.





CHAPTER 50


EVAN PINE


BEFORE

They spent their first full day in Tulum at the beach, dozing in rented cabanas, ordering cocktails and virgin daiquiris and watching Tommy splash in the blue ocean. Sun-drained and tired, they decided to pick up some groceries, eat in for dinner.

Evan sat at the kitchen counter, watching his family prepare the meal—Tommy’s favorite, spaghetti. Not exactly in line with local cuisine, but it brought Evan back to when they would spend Sunday nights cooking together, telling stories and laughing at the table.

Tommy was cutting onions with a butter knife, Liv guiding his hand in between sips of wine. Maggie was in charge of the sauce, and she stirred a big pot with a wooden spoon.

“No, really, sit down, relax, the womenfolk have got this,” Maggie said to Evan.

Evan sipped his beer, taking in the scene. He looked at his son. Tommy’s face was tomato red, this after Liv applying sunscreen seemingly every two minutes. He was trying to pierce the onion with the dull blade, but it kept rolling off the cutting board.

“The water’s boiling, sweetie,” Evan said to Maggie, noticing the pot nearly bubbling over. He jumped off the stool and ran around to the stove to turn down the burner.

“You been sneaking my beer?” he said, noticing that Magpie seemed a little spaced-out, lost in thought.

“Gotta prepare for college,” Maggie said.

Evan grabbed his heart, feigned a pain in his chest. “Don’t say that, not my little girl.” He hugged Maggie in an exaggerated embrace that she ordinarily would’ve fought off, but tonight she just stood, arms at her sides, until he released his hold.

With the meal finally ready, the four sat at the dining table. And for the first time Evan could remember in ages, they held hands, bowed heads, and Olivia said grace.

Liv’s tradition was to give thanks and then say a blessing for each of the children. When she got to Danny, Evan noticed Maggie’s eyes fixed on him, as if she were waiting to see his reaction. As if trying to discern whether the only thing on his mind was the case. He gave his best poker face, but his daughter knew him too well.

Later Evan sat at the edge of the bed, contemplating his wife in the faint light seeping in from the en suite. Liv was naked and had kicked off all the sheets and blankets, out cold from the sun and cocktails and wine at dinner. She was a stunningly beautiful woman.

Evan was still buzzed himself, and didn’t want to leave her. But he needed to get this out of his system. The plan was simple: He’d sneak over to the Moloko Bar, where the call had been made, check things out, confirm Charlotte wasn’t there, and come home. The rational side of him knew it was crazy—understood that Charlotte was dead—but with Evan, reason often gave way to desperation.

He slipped into his shorts and T-shirt from earlier, and padded quietly out of the room. The map app on his phone said the bar was about a ten-minute bike ride away.

“Where are you going?”

Evan felt a thunderbolt rip through him at the voice. Maggie was sitting on the couch in the dark.

“Hey, what are you doing up?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Evan looked at her.

“You don’t have to answer—I know where. I’m coming.” She stood.

“No way.”

Maggie looked at him. “I suppose we could wake up Mom and ask her.”

Evan narrowed his eyes. Man, he loved this kid.

“Seriously, let me come.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“Well then, I should definitely wake Mom.” Maggie headed toward the master bedroom.

“Wait,” Evan said. He deliberated for a moment. But once his daughter grabbed onto something, she didn’t let go. He knew where she’d acquired that trait.

“You’ll wait outside.”

Maggie nodded.

“And if I say you go home, you listen.”

She nodded again.

“And—”

“I got it, Dad. It’s only eleven thirty. Trust me, the place is gonna be packed. It’s Tulum, not Naperville.”