Chapter 21 - Lily
Lily
“Canned peaches?” I pulled a can from the cupboard and grimaced at the sugar content before opening it. My eagerness to start our day outshone the need for a balanced breakfast.
Loud knocking came from the front door.
“Dad?” The can dropped on the countertop with a dull clank as I ran to answer it.
“Dean, someone is here,” I yelled as the banging continued.
Dean’s heavy footsteps thudded down the stairs. “Don’t open that without me.”
I threw open the door rather than wait. “Julian!” I launched myself into my old friend’s waiting arms. “How did you know I was here?”
Julian grew up with us in Deer Lake and graduated the same year as Ryan and Dean. “We saw a vehicle during my morning patrol and came to check it out.” Julian moved aside, revealing a strange man in his patrol car. “Your father will be the happiest man in town. How did you get here?”
“With me. That’s how.” Dean grabbed my arm to pull me away from Julian.
Julian’s eyes flicked from the pale bruise on my neck to Dean and back again. His amiable smile disappeared. “You’re here.” He bit down on his lower lip. “No one figured you’d be back again, Montgomery. Not after your dad did us a favor by letting the alcohol kill him.”
“Nice costume you have on. Did your uncle let you wear it?”
Julian wore his familiar blue deputy uniform, clean, crisp, and shiny. “Afraid you’ll be arrested again?”
Dean’s mouth opened before his lips drew up into a smirk. “Don’t forget to get your uncle’s permission first.”
I shivered, and not from the morning chill. Their mutual dislike confused me. I didn’t expect friendship, but after the comet and everything else, why start the day with a rumble in my front yard?
“The same crazy asshole,” Julian said.
Dean chuckled. “No. I’m worse.”
Dean suggested that our memories of Deer Lake differed. Did that include a strained relationship with Deputy Julian Gustafson?
“Do you know where my dad is? We came home late last night. I planned to look for him this morning,” I said to forestall that threatened rumble.
Julian leaned against the doorjamb, pretending Dean didn’t exist. “He’s lived in town since the comet. It’s been a hard time since that thing landed. Maintaining order, that sort of thing. Anyway, he’s at City Hall. I’ll give you a lift if you want to see him.”
Sit in a car with an unfriendly stranger?
Dean spoke first. “She stays with me. You can go.”
I used a more diplomatic tone. “Thanks, Julian, but that’s unnecessary. I’ll surprise him myself.”
We said our goodbyes, and I shut the door.
Tears filled my eyes as the tension in my stiff body drifted away. A part of me, a part I didn’t acknowledge, worried that the lack of news from Ryan and Violet foretold a dark ending for William Sutton.
“If that ass touches you again, I’ll kill him.”
“What?” I wiped my eyes. “I’ve known him since we were kids. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“He’s a trust-fund kid who thinks his last name entitles him to whatever he wants.” Dean tilted my head so our eyes met. “I will kill him, Lily. Let’s not start problems on your first day back.”
I pressed my lips together. Today was for reunions, not conflict. “The only one who may start a problem is you.”
“Uh-huh. You ready to get this over with?” Dean asked.
His snappish question drained some of the morning’s joy. “You don’t have to go.”
“And leave you to face it all alone? Not going to happen.”
“I meant Deer Lake.”
Our partnership ended soon. He’d fulfilled his obligation and kept his promise to Ryan.
He’d also apologized for leaving me the way he had last Thanksgiving, and despite the miserable and weak words he’d picked, it didn’t change the truth.
I needed to accept that a few moments of temptation and comfort wouldn’t overcome Dean’s hatred of Deer Lake, and my need to stay.
His brief interaction with Julian Gustafson proved it.
“I know what you meant.” Dean cocked his head to the side. “It’s true, I’m not excited about today. I’ll still be with you for all of it. Now, shall we go?”
“Yes. I want to see him,” I said.
“Get ready then. Time to meet your dad,” he said, as one might speak of a funeral.
Breakfast forgotten, we turned out of the driveway a few minutes later, towards Deer Lake’s small downtown and away from Dean’s old home.
He gripped the steering wheel and glared at the road ahead. Dean met my polite questions with short, clipped responses, so I gave up after the third non-answer.
Our uncomfortable silence ended as we crossed the town line.
“What the fuck,” Dean said as he stopped the truck.
I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It wasn’t real, merely a trick of the imagination.
Two bodies hung from a scaffold. Heavy winds turned them into a macabre dance, facing each other and turning away.
My throat closed up. What happened to Deer Lake?
“There’s a sign.” Dean scooted the truck closer to the painted wooden sign hanging from the left post. “Thief,” Dean read before turning to face me. “Since when is that a capital offense?”
“We killed people, too.”
“That’s different. They deserved it.”
I didn’t argue.
Thief. Blue paint dripped from the words down the raw pine. The post by the other body, perhaps the poor man’s partner, had no sign.
“What does it mean?” I asked, unable to comprehend it. “Do you think my father knows about this?”
“William Sutton is the mayor of this town. Nothing happens here without his knowledge.”
I wish Dean spoke with less confidence. “I suppose so. He must have his reasons.”
He parked across from City Hall in one of the many empty spaces. “Listen. Before we get out…”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Whatever happens, I’m on your side.”
“I know that.”
“Even when it isn’t obvious right away. I always think of you first.”
“Dean?”
“You may not realize it, but it’s true. Let’s go.” Dean exited the vehicle, and I followed. “Wait. You wait for me,” he said as I slammed my door shut.
“I figured that ended since we’re home now.”
“It ends when I say it ends.” He put a hand on the small of my back.
“We’re renegotiating.”
“Fine, renegotiated and original decision upheld.”
“Dean, it doesn’t work like that.”
“How about I enjoy escorting you places? How’s that for a reason?”
“We’ll leave it for now.” I gave up arguing since we’d arrived in Deer Lake.
A surprising number of people lingered, some inside the stores and others under their umbrellas. I recognized several faces and wondered about a few strangers.
The major grocery store and the connected feed store were hives of activity. Men stood outside their doorways, like knights safeguarding the treasure room.
“This fucking place,” Dean said, low enough not to be overheard. “They have rifles.”
“Maybe people stole from them?” I wondered.
“Maybe,” he said with less confidence.
This could not be real. I expected a joyous homecoming, and instead received a nervous stomach.
The sheriff’s office and city hall were next door to each other in matching red brick buildings, with the town library across the street.
Julian Gustafson stood under a tarp, speaking with the same man in his patrol car. He crossed his arms and spoke as the other one frowned.
A woman strode past them, crying. No one noticed or offered help.
What had I told Dean last night? Deer Lake meant safety, yet that sense of dread remained.
We’d experienced our share of misery. Why should this town be immune?
Besides, illness can be cured.
“You ready to go in?” Dean asked. He placed a hand on the small of my back, ushering me inside. “Some advice. Never show fear. You have nothing to be frightened of here, sweetheart. Stay with me.”
How did he know? We stepped inside to another rush of activity. Where was my father?
I wrung my hands as we marched past a group of men towards my father’s office. “Dad!”
“Lily. Oh my goodness.” Dad rose from his chair to give me my second bear hug of the day. The reunion I longed for, at last.
He exchanged a brief handshake with Dean, who acknowledged him and stepped back, allowing us to speak without interruption.
I often thought Ryan would look like our father in 30 years. William Sutton’s thinning hair showed more gray than the last time I saw him. The lines around his eyes were more pronounced, while the dark circles under them hinted at a lack of sleep. The pinched lips revealed his stress.
What had he been up to during our journey home?
“Ryan said to expect you. Thanks for bringing her home to me.” Dad gave Dean a stiff, formal nod.
I didn’t expect effusive gratitude, but this was almost the opposite. It bothered me. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him. He kept me safe.”
“Ryan will be pleased to see you. Both of you,” was all Dad said.
“Have you heard from him?” I asked.
“Only the one phone call. The sheriff and I have been busy caring for our town. I hoped to learn more from you two. What did he tell you?”
Dean spoke first. “He was in DC, though not where he worked. I suspect one of his contacts told him.”
I guessed Ryan’s contact and his supermodel girlfriend were the same person.
Dad processed this new information with an unchanged expression.
“Well, we shall hope for the best. Pray and wait. That’s all we can do.
” He gave me a warm smile before returning his attention to Dean.
“Do you have plans here in Deer Lake? We can arrange lodging for you if needed. I owe you for bringing my daughter home.”
Dean licked his lips as the sheriff entered.
The man noticed Dean and frowned. “Do you have a minute?” he asked my father.
Dean spoke first. “I’ll stay where your daughter stays.” He grabbed my left hand in both of his. “We’re married, and I don’t go anywhere without my wife.”
The temporary ring glinted in the dim office, despite the lack of light, and for the first time, Dean wore a matching band of his own.