Cold River - Carla Neggers [50]
She entered the living room. It had a working fireplace and windows that looked out on the village green with its white Christmas lights shining in the black night. Ever since Devin had found Drew Cameron’s body on Cameron Mountain, and in particular since his own encounter with Kyle Rigby and Melanie Kendall, Devin had seemed unfocused and rootless, as if he were caught between his past and his future.
No wonder he’d jumped at the chance to move to Southern California.
Hannah found Toby hunched over a mountain-biking magazine at the kitchen table. “I thought you were working on your take-home test,” she said.
“It’s all done.” He looked up at her. “Dev told you?”
“Yes,” she said, more sharply than she meant to. “He told me he’s heading to California, too.”
Toby leaned back in his chair. “I only sort of knew. I kept it to myself in case it didn’t work out.”
“That I understand.” She hesitated. “Are you sure about going to California yourself? You have so much to do before you graduate.”
“I’m finishing my last college application tonight. If I don’t do this now, when?”
Her throat felt constricted. For the past seven years, she’d been responsible for her two brothers. She’d been their sole legal guardian. She’d worked and sacrificed for them and laughed with them and cried with them. They were a family.
She’d bought Toby his first mountain bike.
“I don’t have to go,” he said in a small voice.
“No—no, Toby. It’s okay. You’re right. If not now, when? It’s a great opportunity.” She found herself blinking back tears. “You and Dev need to get on with your own lives.”
“Hannah, we don’t want to you to feel bad—”
“I’m studying for the bar. I’ve got the café. Friends.” She smiled through her sudden anxiety. She’d never been apart from one or both of her brothers for more than a few nights. “I’ll be fine.”
“What about Bowie?”
“Bowie? He’s a stonemason I grew up with. That’s all, Toby.”
Toby got up from the table. “You could come out to California. I have that big race at the end of January.”
“I’d love to see you race. If I can make it happen—I will, okay?”
“You’ve put your own life on hold long enough for us,” Toby said.
“That’s not how I’ve looked at things.”
“I know, but maybe it’s time you did.” He gave her a crooked grin. “You’ll be turning gray before you know it.”
Hannah looked down at the books and papers on the table. Hers, Toby’s. Devin had gotten halfway through one college application before he quit, saying he’d decided to postpone college for at least a year. Was he going to California because Toby was? Or because it was what he himself wanted to do?
Or because handsome, rich, rugged Sean Cameron had offered him a job?
Devin came into the dining room, looking sheepish. Hannah felt a stab of guilt. He should be excited about his trip. She didn’t want to be a wet blanket and have either of her brothers put their dreams on hold because of her.
Wind rattled the old window by the table. She could feel a cold draft and forced a smile. “I don’t blame you for wanting to check out sunny California.”
She headed for her bedroom. In warm weather, with the windows open, she could hear the river. Now she could only hear the clanking of the ancient heating system. She had no desire to go out into the cold night and be sociable, but Devin’s news helped motivate her not to back out of dinner with the Robinsons. She needed to prove to her brothers—and to herself—that she had a life.
And that she was still safe in Black Falls.
Thirteen
“Bowie hasn’t been in since the fight,” Liam O’Rourke said from behind his rough-wood bar. “I expect his probation officer wouldn’t want him here.”
“Do you?” Sean asked. He hadn’t gone to the lodge after Hannah had run upstairs. Instead he’d walked down to O’Rourke’s.
Liam shrugged, his shoulders as powerful as his cousin’s. “I stopped wanting or not wanting anything concerning Bowie