Chapter Seven
The change of location had been a simple request, but Blake had found herself oddly nervous about it. No doubt Lola’s parting speech hadn’t helped.
“The fact that he already agreed to eat with you is a good sign that he won’t mind Clem being there or y’all going to the diner,” she had said over her mop and bucket.
“I’m still surprised he said yes in the first place.
Since he moved to town, that man hasn’t been very social.
Some think that’s why he got his divorce, and some think he’s closed off because of his divorce.
Either way, he doesn’t seem like the kind of man to get snobby about a kid or a change in plans. ”
Lola had shrugged.
“And if he makes a fuss, then fuss right on back,” she’d added. “If that doesn’t work, give me a call and Bruce and I will show up and fuss too. That’ll teach him to get into a snit over nothing.”
Blake had waved off the offer of the fussing backup, though she’d been touched. Not just anyone would go to bat against a sheriff for her.
Lola’s words, as supportive as they were, however, had Blake antsier than she had anticipated when driving up to the restaurant.
She wanted to talk to Liam.
She wanted him to want to talk to her.
Maybe it was because he had helped her with Ryan. Maybe it was because they both understood what it meant to be a sheriff. Maybe it was because, other than Lola, he was the first adult in town not to ask the hard questions.
Talking to Liam had so far been an easy thing to do.
So when he was quick to assure her that their change of plans wouldn’t make him leave, Blake couldn’t help but feel some relief.
In fact, there was some excitement too.
“We’re going to eat with an actual adult, Clem,” she called over her shoulder once she was back in her car. “Someone who doesn’t live in our house. That means we need to be on our best behavior. No yelling from me, no throwing food for you. We don’t want to scare the sheriff off.”
Clem was in a jumper covered in cartoon ducks.
Her hair was braided and, in the right light, looked identical to Blake’s.
It was a point of pride for Blake that she was the only one Clem would let play with her hair.
And play it had become since Blake learned quickly that doing her own hair in braids was one thing.
Doing a toddler’s hair in braids was another.
“You ready to go?” Blake asked the girl, reversing into position in front of Liam’s truck. Surely he knew how to get to the diner, yet he was waiting for them. It was sweet.
Clem apparently agreed.
“He’s gonna eat chicken nuggs too,” she squealed in delight. Blake saw her wave in the truck’s direction. She couldn’t see if Liam waved back. “Chicken nuggs with ranch,” Clem added once they were going forward again. “Ranch, ranch, ranch.”
Blake laughed at that.
“You and your ranch. You know I told your grandma that it might not be a bad idea to throw you a ranch-themed party for your next birthday.”
Clem broke out into giggles.
“With chicken nuggs?” she asked between them.
Blake nodded.
“With chicken nuggs.”
Clem started to talk about food some more, and Blake navigated the stretch between the restaurant’s parking lot right out to the town’s biggest collective grievance—the new intersection. One that Blake had only experienced a handful of times since coming back.
“It’s like whoever added in that intersection was paid to make it as much as a pain in the tuchus as possible,” Lola had once complained about the spot. “I went the wrong way twice there, and I don’t even feel bad about it. None of it makes sense!”
Blake had done enough driving in enough less-than-ideal areas that the intersection didn’t bother her as much.
That didn’t mean she let her guard down though.
She was hyperaware of the cars around them as she rolled to a stop.
It’s why she noticed that the vehicle behind her was not, in fact, the sheriff’s truck.
“I guess Liam is one of those Sunday drivers,” Blake mused aloud. “He probably let me lead because he likes taking his time behind the wheel.”
The idea of someone as intimidating-looking as Liam being a passive driver really got into Blake’s system. One more laugh and Clem caught on, and when the light changed to green both were giggling nonsense.
Blake’s heart softened and squeezed all at once.
Beth should have been able to hear it too.
That ache bloomed.
Blake had never regretted her decision to leave Seven Roads years ago. She hadn’t regretted her choices after that either. Each step she had taken after crossing the town limits line was done with confidence and pride. Even the missteps. They had been hers and she had embraced them all.
She had created an unmovable foundation for her future.
It was only after coming back that she realized there had always been a crack that ran through it.
Beth.
The golden child. The baby of the family. The little sister who had made all the right choices in the eyes of their father while Blake had done everything wrong.
That’s how she had seen Beth in her mind, even if she had convinced herself that she hadn’t.
Beth, though, had never once said a word against her. She had supported each choice Blake had made, forced her to endure phone calls and video chats at least once a month, and had always kept her updated on her life. She had also always asked for updates from Blake’s.
Their mother had left them. Their father had let Blake go.
Beth?
She had held on as best she could until she had been forced to leave too.
It wasn’t until Blake was sitting in an attorney’s office, holding a small note written in her sister’s silly little handwriting that Blake had finally found the crack in her life. The one that would now forever be filled with regret.
If you’re reading this, then I guess something not-so-great happened to me, the note had begun. So let’s skip the sad part and get to the nice. I love you, Blakey. Let my kids love you too. Take care of each other. And make sure to eat something yummy. Love, your sister, Beth.
Regret. Grief. Immense sadness. Total love.
Just under fifty words in total and Blake felt everything all at once.
She was living in Beth’s home, raising her children a week later.
Now, she knew Clem had a passion for ranch dressing that rivaled most epic love stories.
That Bruce kicked his feet a little when he was content.
That Clem didn’t talk at all while watching TV but would sing the intro songs loudly and with delight as soon as the screen went dark.
That Bruce happy-danced when his sister started her singing and became even louder when Lola joined in.
Blake had learned a lot of little things since she’d come home.
The biggest thing?
She missed her sister something fierce.
“Hey, Clem?” Blake said, clearing her throat to stave off tears she knew would come if she kept on with her current thoughts. Instead, she went to a happier memory. “Let me tell you about something your mama used to eat that ran me up the wall when we were kids.”
They were moving along the access road that eventually would take them to the side of the diner. The lighting along the road consisted of exactly one outdated streetlamp. It left an orange glow in the dark across Clem’s curious expression as Blake glanced at her in the rearview mirror.
The headlights coming up fast behind them cut through that glow with startling quickness.
Blake pressed the gas pedal down hard.
It was the only reason the approaching vehicle didn’t rear-end them.
Adrenaline flooded her system, but Blake reserved her gut reaction to curse the driver. It was surely an accident. The driver probably wasn’t paying attention. The alarms in her head going off had nothing to do with some kind of ongoing danger.
Why would there be any here in Seven Roads, after all?
No sooner than she had the thought than it vanished.
The headlights became bigger as the car behind them sped up again.
Blake didn’t leave room for interpretation now.
The car was trying to hit them.
And there was no time to figure out why.
“Hold on, Clem.”
A DRIVER WENT when they weren’t supposed to at the headache of an intersection.
Once they realized their mistake, they panicked and stopped in the middle of the street.
Blake and the car that had been able to slip in between her and Liam had managed to get ahead of the confusion.
Liam, however, rolled down his window and slowed next to it.
He recognized the older woman behind the wheel and motioned for her to roll her window down too.
She did so, eyes wide.
Liam cut off any lengthy explanation or apology.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Connie,” he called out. “The light changes here don’t make much sense. Just try to be more careful. You can go on now.”
She had been trying to turn into the same lane as he was in, so Liam waved her ahead, glad that they were the only cars around.
Mrs. Connie wasn’t so sure, so he called out to her again and told her to go ahead with more assurances.
She did so after a few more moments that seemed to crawl by. Not everyone became nervous around Liam, but Mrs. Connie always acted as though she’d been on the fence about law enforcement. Her overcautiousness showed as Liam’s speed was reduced by twenty following her down the two-lane road.
He sighed and accepted the delay. Blake’s taillights were nowhere in sight. He idly wondered how people had treated her during her times as a sheriff. She had left a small town that hadn’t known her originally and yet she’d managed to be elected during her time living there.