“Thank you, Beau. I’m going to take a nap now,” she said.
“Good. I’ll be sitting right here when you wake up,” he said.
*
Caroline didn’t know how long she’d been sleeping when Trey’s mother, Paula, showed up at the hospital. Caro had woken up before and Beau left, saying he’d see her again later. Somewhere after lunch, she must’ve fallen asleep again.
She was scared to be alone with Paula, but she was alone with Paula now and her face was twisted into a snarl. Her eyes were red and wet.
“Nobody’s seen hide nor hair of Trey since last night, Caroline,” she growled. She said her name the same way Trey said her name, and Caroline’s heart was kicking so hard she figured a nurse would be in soon to check on her.
“What? What do you mean?”
“You heard me. I filed a missing person report. He’d never skip town without telling me where he was going. What did he say when he was up here? What did you say to him?” Paula asked. She was pacing in front of the hospital bed, twisting a tissue in her hands.
“He told me he wanted to get me the help I needed, and I told him I didn’t need help. I told him he needed help,” Caroline said defiantly.
“Why’d you tell him that? He’s probably upset about it. That’s a terrible thing to say to somebody,” Paula said, stopping to stare at her.
“Because he tried to kill me, Paula.”
“He didn’t.” Paula shook her head angrily. “You did this to yourself! If you—” Paula stopped. “Oh God, if—”
“He goes to Jesse County all the time—”
“He’s not there. We already checked.”
“Well, he hasn’t been up here today. I haven’t seen him. He hasn’t called either.”
Paula wiped her nose, threw the tissue in the garbage can.
“We’ll find him. When we do, I’ll let you know,” she said, regaining her composure.
“Okay,” Caroline said as Paula moved to leave the room.
Trey’s dead, Trey’s dead, Trey’s dead, Trey’s dead, Trey’s dead.
“Trey’s dead,” Caroline said softly to herself as Paula walked out, and the darkest part of her hoped that she’d hear her.
2004
36
Ada had done the Castelow lake house up so pretty for Caro’s birthday it brought tears to her eyes. Ever since graduation, everything had been making Caroline cry. Anytime she thought about Kasey in New York, anytime she thought about Kasey’s mom being gone, she had to focus on swallowing the lump in her throat. She stood out front looking at the porch wrapped in twinkle lights and the big one and eight balloons tied to the railings.
“We’re doing a sparkler countdown at midnight,” Ada said proudly. Caroline would officially turn eighteen in a few hours.
“We are not,” Caroline said.
“Oh yes we are! And this green looks so amazing with your red hair. I knew it,” Ada said about the sundress she’d given Caroline that morning. Caro agreed and thanked her again. Ada touched the strap of it and swatted Caro’s butt. Caroline smacked hers back before Ada went up the steps.
“Happy almost birthday, Caro!” Grayson said to her, following Ada. Silas wasn’t far behind. He hugged Caro and said the same thing.
“Thank you, Grayson. Thank you, Si. Have you—”
“Nope. Not talking about that tonight. Birthday stuff only,” Silas said. They’d spoken about Kasey only a little bit, Caroline being very careful bringing her up to him, knowing how brokenhearted he was.
Caroline pretended to zip her lips.
Mateo walked up the driveway hollering her name. He handed her a six-pack of Goldie Light and wrapped her in a bear hug, planting kisses on both cheeks. He was tipsy already. Their relationship had been fun and playful, and neither of them was crushed when it ended. The bonus was that they could still be friends. Caro wiggled and giggled in his arms.
Ada ordered a ton of red-velvet cupcakes from the bakery; Caroline was peeling the paper off her first one on the front porch in the sunset light. When Beau came around the corner in a white pocket T-shirt and jeans, every cell in her body warmed and purred.
“The almost birthday girl,” he said. He was holding a big bouquet of daisies and a small box. He walked up on the porch and put them both on the table. “You look really pretty.”
“Thank you, Beau,” she said, hugging him tight. “Want a bite?” she asked when she pulled away, offering him the cupcake. He took a small bite and sat. She sat next to him. “Thank you for coming and for these too.” She motioned toward her presents.
“Open it,” he said.
She opened the box to find a paperweight—a glass ball with a yellow flower in it; it was cool and heavy in her hand.
“Wow. It’s beautiful. Thank you, Beau,” she said, hugging it to her chest.
“I saw it in the antique shop and it reminded me of you.”
“That’s a high compliment. I love it.”
“Good. That’s how I meant it.”
“Do you want a beer?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on,” she said, taking his hand.
*
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected],
Subject: Sparkler Kisses
Okay y’all, so Ada’s already heard this story a hundred times so Ada IGNORE THIS IF YOU WANT!!!
But yes.
Yes. YES! Beau DID kiss me a little after midnight on my birthday like it was FREAKING NEW YEAR’S EVE and y’all it was the BEST KISS OF MY LIFE. Ada made everything so perfect and we really did do sparkler countdown with everyone and then like, twenty minutes later Beau and I went to sit on the dock and share a cigarette. Beau lit two sparklers for us and when the sparklers went out and we were done with the cigarette, I told him to kiss me. I literally said it! I said KISS ME BEAU and he did !!!!!
It was SO romantic. I keep thinking about it. He’s an amazing kisser and if I hadn’t been sitting, I would’ve fallen over. We laid down and kissed and kissed and kissed for SO LONG…I don’t even know how long. Just kissing. That’s all we did and it was the best night of my life!! We fell asleep out there and didn’t wake up until almost sunrise.
I don’t know what we are. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but since it was one of the best nights of my life y’all are gonna have to get used to me talking about it A LOT!!
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT.
I’m attaching a pic of me in the sundress Ada got me for my birthday which from here on out will be called the SPARKLER KISS DRESS. And another one that I took of me and Beau sitting by the water.
Rosemarie, your mom dropped off your gift for me and thank you so much! It’s such a beautiful cookbook and I can’t wait to make everything in it.
Kasey, I got the ribbons and the apron you sent me too! Thank you!
I LOVE Y’ALL TALK SOON RACK FOREVER.
Caro
*
Three days after Caroline’s birthday, when she got to work, Beau was sitting out back of the diner with a sad look on his face. When she asked him what was up, he told her he was moving to Carson City, Nevada, in two days to go help his dad take care of his grandmother.