Goodbye Earl(35)

“Si, I’m serious. Please!” She slapped his shoulder.

“No, now you missed a lot, Fritz, and it wouldn’t be neighborly for me not to fill you in as best I can,” he said.

Her eyes weren’t hidden anymore now that she’d pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. She knew what was coming.

“Whew, I can’t stand to see you cry,” he said.

It was something he used to say to her when they were in high school. When he’d threaten to come to the farmhouse and beat Roy’s ass himself if he had to. Swear you’ll tell me if he ever lays a hand on you, Silas had said to her too often. By that time, Roy had stopped shoving Kasey around, but it made her feel guilty that her mom was taking the full brunt of his abuse.

Kasey remembered how Silas had asked her if Roy ever sexually assaulted her or tried to. She told him about the time junior year when Roy was drunk and grabbed her ass in the kitchen. How she’d pulled the knife from the block and threatened him with it. Slept with it under her pillow for a week after. She never told her mom about that; she never told anyone about it at that point. Only Silas.

When she told him, Silas looked right into her eyes and said he wanted to kill Roy. She saw something in him that night she’d never seen before, and it didn’t scare her one bit. She liked it. She loved it. Police uniform or not, Silas really was an outlaw. She felt it that night and had never forgotten.

“Don’t tell me you’re the cop who gets tenderhearted for every girl in Goldie as soon as they drop a few tears for you, Castelow. You’re so soft,” Kasey said.

“Nah, not every girl in Goldie,” he said, shaking his head. “Oh. Wait! Did I tell you about Wallace Brody and how he got caught in what we’ll call a compromising situation with Billy Boone’s duck?”

Kasey’s cackle shot out and bounced across the water.

*



The starry night of Taylor and Ben’s wedding, Kasey and Caroline were alone at the reception in the Plums’ backyard.

“Caro, I don’t want you to get mad at me, but are you sure you’re all right? I know Trey hasn’t been around much and you get lonely in that big house by yourself. Does Mimi come stay sometimes? Is everything really okay? You seem a little…I don’t know.” Kasey could feel something wasn’t right, and despite her best attempts to mind her business, she couldn’t let this go. She’d thought she could worry about it quietly, but she couldn’t. It was time to get loud. This wasn’t leftover weirdness from her leaving Goldie; this was something else entirely. She knew her best friend, knew something was up.

Caro glanced down and smoothed her dress—Kasey noticed she was in long sleeves again, even in this heat. Her stomach twisted. Caro shook her head and looked at Kasey, quiet. Then her face changed completely and Kasey stood still, unsettled and waiting.

“There’s Trey,” Caroline said.

Caro waved at him as he walked toward them. She posted pictures of him on social media from time to time, but Kasey hadn’t ever stood close to Trey on purpose. Also, Kasey hadn’t seen him in person since high school, when she usually steered clear anyway. His hair was a slicked wheaty-gold color; his eyes were light blue and cool and Trey was long. Both his arms and legs seemed to be nearly double the length of most men’s. He reminded her of a scarecrow that spent its evenings in the gym.

“Trey, it’s finally time for you to remeet Kasey! Kasey, this is my Foxberry,” Caro said. She kissed Trey and smiled up at him, moved her eyes to meet Kasey’s. In Kasey’s periphery, she could see Rosemarie and Leo on the stage inside the white tent. Kasey turned to watch Rosemarie adjust the microphone and sit on her stool; Leo was behind her with his guitar. Trey stuck out his hand and Kasey took it.

“You sat behind me in Spanish Two sophomore year because of our last names. That was a million years ago, wasn’t it?” Trey said with a smile that Kasey could imagine being charming if she knew him, but there was a lightness in his voice that signaled to her that he thought what he was saying was more interesting than it actually was. Yep. She remembered clearly now. How confident he was in high school, how easily girls seemed to fawn all over him. It was still hard to believe Caro was one of those girls now. No matter how white his teeth were or how commanding his presence in a suit, how the hell did Caro end up married to Trey?

Kasey had a flash of fear and a quick flick that she was somehow living in a dream. A nightmare. Whose wedding was this? She hadn’t come back to Goldie for Caro and Trey’s wedding, so why was she here? There were pops of confetti, and Taylor and Ben walked out into the backyard with the warm evening wind in their hair, holding one hand, the others raised in triumph. Everyone looked over and clapped. Kasey downed the rest of her champagne and set her glass on the table next to her. She clapped and clapped. Caro did her finger whistle. She was the only person Kasey knew who could do that; Mimi taught her how.

“It was a million years ago—you’re right,” Kasey said.

“You two chat! I’ll be right back,” Caro said, walking toward the caterers.

“One of the cupcakes is probably missing a sprinkle,” Kasey said to Trey. She heard Silas’s voice somewhere in the crowd behind her and felt better instantly. Felt guilty instantly too. She’d been thinking about him too much. She’d started pinching herself when she thought about how handsome he looked in his uniform. Started twisting her engagement ring when she thought about how long he stayed with her out at the farmhouse, making her laugh, making sure she was okay. How he hugged her in the driveway before they left. How they followed each other in their separate cars back into town. How she felt a sharp blip of sadness when he turned and disappeared as she drove straight on.