Goodbye Earl(76)

Kasey pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t say the word murder aloud. She watched Silas’s arms as he pulled some more branches down; his sun-kissed biceps were annoyingly attractive against the salty white of his shirt. She could watch him do that all day, but she forced herself to look away.

“Caro’s shoulder surgery is this afternoon. I’m gonna pop in to see her. I made lemonade. Want some?” Kasey asked. Wanting him to say no. Wanting him to say yes.

“No, but thank you. Grayson and I are taking the boys go-carting in Adora Springs, so I gotta get going. I was just thinking about ya and wanted to say hey because I can, since you’re still here and everything,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hey,” she said, smiling back.

“Hey,” he said. “Talk at me later?”

They were hugging now. She nodded against him.

*



Trey had been a fortress when Kasey first approached him about coming to the farmhouse for dinner. They’d stood outside of Caro’s hospital room and he’d leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“I know none of Caroline’s friends are interested in getting to know me. Especially now that you all believe anything she says about me,” he said, not breaking eye contact with Kasey. She got chills looking back at him. How he could stand there and lie like that without blinking. How he was so calm. How he didn’t seem desperate in his attempt to convince people he’d never hurt Caro. He simply expected everyone to believe him.

“Trey, I haven’t been back to Goldie in fifteen years. I haven’t had a chance to get to know you! You don’t know me either! So let’s fix that. I know you love to eat,” Kasey said, quickly poking at his stomach.

He smiled a little then, softening. That was when he asked her if she was flirting with him.

“No, and don’t you dare,” she said, widening her smile even more and swatting at his unscratched arm. “I’m serious. There has to be a way we can fix this.”

Let’s fix this, Kasey thought, picturing Caro’s swollen face. Let’s fix this, she thought, picturing her mom’s headstone, the one she hadn’t seen yet.

Yes, let’s fix this, Trey.

*



The mushroom lasagna was hot hot hot. Kasey left it in the oven to reheat for too long. She opened the kitchen window and set the dish on the counter.

She put on the red sundress she’d thrown in her suitcase but hadn’t worn yet. It was a smidge too short, which meant it was perfect for convincing Trey she’d slipped it on especially for him.



Now Trey was standing in the doorway wearing a Foxberry Distillery T-shirt. Kasey would never forget that shirt—the tomato red of it, screaming hot summers. She’d never forget how that red was the same red as her dress and the same color of the fresh scratches on his arm. Their Caroline, fighting, even still. Even with one arm out of order, even from her hospital bed. Never giving up.

Trey was wearing a ballcap too, but he took it off and put it in his back pocket when he stepped through the door. Kasey wondered if his mom or grandma taught him that. If someone had told him it was rude to walk into somebody’s house with a ballcap on. If they did, why didn’t they tell him it was rude and wrong to fucking rape and beat your wife too while they were at it?

“Caroline’s surgery went well. I’m guessing Mimi told you?” he said, not moving from where he was.

“Yeah, I went to see her earlier. I’m glad it went so well.”

The way he said Caroline made Kasey’s skin crawl. He said it like he didn’t like her name. She wondered if he always said it like that, but she couldn’t even remember it coming out of his mouth before.

The lasagna was still too hot. Kasey was going to have to keep him talking for a bit longer. She’d sprinkled some mushrooms on top and put extra sauce over them like Ada suggested. She hadn’t bothered reheating the pie; it was on the counter next to her. She’d also put together a salad for herself. The lasagna made the whole house smell delicious; she fanned the platter with the cookie sheet, hoping it would help cool it down.

“I’m sorry she got hurt so bad. She reminds me of a clumsy kitten sometimes. Or a colt, learning how to walk,” Trey said.

“Tell me exactly what happened, please…if you can,” Kasey said. “Here. Have a glass of bourbon. I’ll have one too. We need bourbon for this.” She poured some Foxberry Bourbon from the laced bottle into one short glass for him and explained that she was drinking the cheaper kind so he could have the good stuff as she opened a new bottle for herself. She motioned for him to sit across from her at the kitchen table.



Kasey sipped at her bourbon while Trey told her the same load of bullshit he’d told everyone down at the police station.

He drank. Kasey drank too.

“But Caroline said you did it. Why would Caroline say you did this?” Kasey asked.

“Honestly? I think she thinks I did it because she’s mad at me all the time for being a man, because her daddy ain’t worth two dead flies. She hates men. She expects me to be an asshole every second of every day, and I’m not beyond criticism by any means, but neither is she. Nobody is,” Trey said, knocking back the rest of the bourbon. Kasey did hers too, matching his pace.

Trey kept talking. This was all Caroline’s fault, but he felt sorry for her. He was only trying to help, but she made things harder for herself. He said it was probably because her parents didn’t want her and she only had Mimi in the past. Now she was a Foxberry, so he didn’t know what the problem was. Kasey listened patiently, fighting the urge to claw his eyes out.