The Best Goodbye (2 page)

All too soon, her smile fell, and she wiped away the tears that had formed from laughing so hard. She shifted her gaze to Brad. I made her nervous, but then I’d never been nice to her, exactly. She was just an employee I’d hired. I’d be leaving soon enough. I wasn’t here to make friends.

“Sorry, boss. I was reaching for a box on that shelf over there, and a bag of flour fell over, and, well, you can see what happened,” Brad explained, still chuckling. I tore my gaze from Rose and looked at Brad. He winked at her and began a futile attempt to dust the flour off. He needed a shower. I wouldn’t mind if he put some distance between himself and Rose.

Franny’s blond curls bounced as she ran from the edge of the water toward me. Mrs. Baylor sat under an oak tree with a fruity drink in her hand and a wide-brimmed straw hat on her head. The two of them had bonded, and Mrs. Baylor had offered to watch Franny while I worked. She said it gave her something to do and someone to spend time with.

Franny had never had any kind of grandparent in her life, but she wanted a family. It was something she’d always noticed about other kids—the way they were surrounded by a mom, a dad, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles—and she longed for the same thing. But it was the one thing I couldn’t give her, because I hadn’t had a family, either. As a foster child from the time I was five years old until I ran away at sixteen, I only had one person in my life whom I considered family. The only family Franny had, too: River.

She had my hair, or at least my natural color, and my eyes, and bless her heart, she seemed to have inherited my short stature, too. The only thing about her that wasn’t a complete replica of me was her complexion. I was fair, while Franny turned a golden brown from being out in the sun, even for just a little while. She got that from her father. She also had his sense of humor and his smile. But those were things only a mother would notice. To everyone else, she was just like me.

“I caught a fish, Mommy! A real live fish. Except I had to take the hook out of its mouth and throw it back before it died. I didn’t want to kill it. I hope the hook didn’t hurt it too badly. Mrs. Diana said it was OK. Fish are supposed to be eaten, but I wanted it to find its family. They could have been missing her.”

Franny hardly took a breath in her long explanation, then she threw her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly. “I missed you today, but we had fun. We made chocolate fudge brownies.”

I bent down to kiss the top of her head and turned to look over at Mrs. Baylor. She smiled warmly and stood up. The long strapless dress she wore danced in the wind around her legs as she walked toward us. She always looked so put together and glamorous.

“How was work today, Rose?” she asked.

“Good, thank you,” I replied, smiling. “I hear the two of you had a full day of fun.”

Mrs. Baylor grinned at Franny fondly. “This one makes the days brighter. But a fisherman she is not.”

Franny giggled and tugged on my hand. “Let’s go inside and have some brownies and milk.”

“Yes, let’s all spoil our dinner with the decadence of chocolate fudge,” Mrs. Baylor agreed, gesturing toward the main house. She never seemed anxious for us to go back to our own cottage. I wondered if she was going to miss Franny once school started next week. They had gotten so close. At least I knew that when Franny got off the school bus every day, she’d have a treat and a hug waiting for her.

It made everything so much easier. I had struggled with the decision to leave Oklahoma, where we were settled in and safe. Franny had friends there, and my job as the secretary at her school had kept me close to her. Moving here had been a major leap for us, but I had done it for Franny. And deep down, I had done it for River.

I didn’t want to regret this decision, although the more I saw of River, the more I wished we had stayed in Oklahoma.

Fourteen years ago

Another foster home. I didn’t get attached to any of them. I’d stopped wishing for a family years ago. Now I just hoped that no one would hurt me and that I’d get fed every day. Because I knew what being hurt and not getting fed felt like.

Cora stood beside me, with her hard frown and tense stance. She didn’t expect me to last here, either. We had been through this before. I’d been moved from home to home over the past eight years, ever since my mother had left me in a grocery-store parking lot. Cora Harper was my social worker and had been in charge of placing me in each new home.

“You be good here, Addison. Don’t argue with them. Don’t complain. When you’re told to do something, then do it. Get good grades, and no fighting in school. This home could be the one for you. They want a daughter. You just have to be good.”

I was always good. At least, I tried to be. I didn’t argue. I asked for food when my stomach hurt because I was hungry, and I only got into a fight that one time at school because the other girl had pushed me down and called me names. I tried my best to be good. I just realized that my best wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t hope it would be different here.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied politely.

Cora glanced down at me and let out a small sigh. “You’re a beautiful child. If you’d just act right, you’d find a home you could stay in.”

I had the urge to tell her that I did act right. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back and only nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” I replied again.

I followed Cora up the steps to the pretty yellow house with a big white porch wrapped around it. I liked the look of this place. The other houses I had lived in didn’t look anything like this. They were usually old and smelled funny.

Before Cora could knock on the door, it opened slowly. A tall boy stood there. He had blond hair that was a little too long and shaggy. His green eyes went from Cora to me. Then he frowned. I had never really seen a boy I thought was beautiful until now, and he was frowning at me. I hadn’t even messed up yet.

“You’re little. Thought you were my age,” he said, staring at me.

I hated being called short. Everyone talked about me being small for my age. I got teased about it at school enough. Straightening my shoulders, I tried to stand taller. “Maybe you’re just too tall,” I snapped in response.

Cora’s hand wrapped around my shoulder, and she squeezed so hard I winced. Her long nails bit into my skin, reminding me that I had to make this work. If I didn’t, I would be taken to a girls’ home next, and I knew the nightmares that happened there. I’d heard stories.

“Sorry,” I murmured through the pain in my shoulder, where Cora hadn’t let go of me.

“Let her go. You’re hurting her,” the boy said angrily, jerking my attention back up to his handsome face. He was glaring at Cora like he was ready to remove her hand himself. “Jesus, she’s tiny. You don’t have to squeeze the hell out of her,” he said, scowling.

“River Kipling! Watch your language,” a voice called out, just before the figure of the woman who would become my worst enemy filled the doorway.

My eyes flew open, and I threw off the blanket, bolting up and sliding to the edge of the bed before taking a deep breath. I was covered in cold sweat, and my heart was still pounding. This dream was one I knew well, but it had been a while since I’d had it. From the time I was sixteen, I’d been fighting one demon—the one that tore my heart out and never gave it back again.

Fucking death. I had killed men. So many men. Men who deserved to die. Men who had abused children. Men who didn’t belong on this earth. With each one, I was saving
her
. The one I had failed. The one I hadn’t been able to save. I had tried to conquer that horror in so many ways, yet ten years later, I still dreamed about her. On other nights, I dreamed about how I had lost her. How I hadn’t been strong enough to save her. Screwing my eyes shut, I inhaled deeply and buried my face in my hands. Each breath burned, and my chest cracked open.

Addy’s beautiful face looking up at me, smiling, while her blond hair danced around her in the wind. The image made me feel complete, but it was just a tease. A sweet memory. One of the last memories I had of her. But the dream always turned so quickly. Blood everywhere. Addy in a pool of it, and all I could see was her. The woman who had raised me laughing as she watched Addy die. I screamed each time, but I was unable to get near her. I was frozen. Unable to save her in the dream or even to hold her.

She had been my soul mate. My other half. Even when we were kids, I had known she was the best friend I’d ever have. It hadn’t taken long for me to realize I loved her. Once, I feared I loved her too much.

Thinking about Addy hurt more than I could describe. I kept waiting for it to ease, for the day when I would be able to think of our time together with a smile. But I knew I’d never do that. She had lost her life because of me. So beautiful and delicate. All I had ever wanted to do was protect her and hold her close.

I had to shake this before I went to work. It had been months since I’d dreamed of Addy. Usually, it was because something spurred a memory. I wasn’t sure what it was this time. Why she was back in my dreams, which so often turned into nightmares. But something was making me think of her.

It wasn’t Elle. That much I was sure of. I was careful never to date anyone who reminded me of Addy. Blondes and petite women were off my radar. I had tried that once, and the memories had hit me so hard I almost broke down and went for professional help. Memories of her had been killing me slowly, for a while. Making me wish I’d gone with her. Life seemed pointless without her smile.

But I was tougher than that, and I had found a way to live.

Even if that way had been to take the lives of others. My past wasn’t something I regretted, though. I had done what needed to be done to save myself and stop perverts from hurting other children. It wasn’t legal, but I wasn’t one to give a shit about the law.

I got up and went to take a shower and find a way to push the memories back into the recesses of my mind.

Two hours later, when I walked into my office, Major Colt was sitting on the sofa across from my desk, with that ever-present smirk on his face. If the guy wasn’t so good at what he did, I wouldn’t have hooked him up with Benedetto DeCarlo. Anyone who could pull off that easygoing playboy facade and kill people for cash in his spare time was impressive. I appeared to be what I was: an asshole. I didn’t have his charm. I didn’t fucking want it, either.

“Why you here, Colt?” I asked, tossing my keys onto the desk.

“Seems my next target is attached to someone around here. So I get to have a little Rosemary Beach fun while working. You seen the legs on some of these babes?”

I couldn’t imagine why Benedetto would send him to Rosemary Beach. Unless it wasn’t Benedetto. Lately, he was giving more and more power to the man he was grooming to take over: Cope. No one knew the guy’s last name. We just knew he was in charge. And no one argued with him.

“Cope send you?” I asked.

“Yep. He’s the only one I deal with now. DeCarlo doesn’t call the shots much anymore. He leaves it up to Cope.”

I suspected I was the only one Benedetto still dealt with personally. He was the closest thing I’d had to a father figure in my life. He’d grabbed me when I was a scared kid and given me a purpose.

“Don’t piss him off,” I warned Colt. I’d seen Cope kill just because he could. And that shit was scary. The dude didn’t ask questions; he just finished the game and left. It was what someone like Benedetto had to do—but not me. I agreed to one thing only: I’d take them out if they deserved it. Not in the eyes of the law but in the eyes of me. That was all that mattered to me. If I thought I was saving someone who needed it, then I pulled the trigger.

Major chuckled. “Yeah, I got you. He’s the king of badass.”

He was more than that, but Major would figure that out soon enough.

“I’ve got work to do, Colt. You got a point to this?”

Major stood up and shrugged. “Naw, just wanted to say hi and I’m here for a while.”

Great. Fantastic. Shit.

A knock on the door turned my attention away from Major. “Come in,” I called out, hoping it wasn’t more bullshit this early in the morning.

Those glasses caught my attention first. Her laughter from yesterday came back to me, and my stomach clenched. Had
she
been what made the nightmare come back? I fucking hoped not. I didn’t want to fire her over this. But I couldn’t work with her if she was going to raise my demons.

“Can I help you?” I asked, trying not to get flustered by the sight of her.

She glanced nervously at Major and then back to me. “My daughter’s sick. She woke up with a fever this morning, and the caregiver I have for her is an elderly lady. I can’t expect her to expose herself to whatever Franny has. I also need to take Franny to see a doctor.”

Relief that I wouldn’t have to see her today washed over me. “How long you think this’ll take?”

Her entire body tensed up, and it was as if she was physically trying to restrain herself from snapping at me for my callous response. I almost grinned.

“Hopefully, I’ll get a prescription from the doctor for her, and she’ll be well enough for me to come in tomorrow,” she said, in a tone that communicated exactly what her body was trying not to say. She was pissed at me.

“Kid doesn’t have a father?” I replied, wanting to see her snap for some insane reason.

But instead of her getting defensive and smarting off at me, her face went pale. I heard Major mutter a curse word that I knew was meant for me. Fuck, was the kid’s father dead or something? Damn my stupid mouth.

“I don’t think so . . . no,” she replied in a whisper, before stepping back and closing the door.

“You’re a Grade A asshole,” Major mumbled, sounding irritated. “She looks like a sweet thing. A very sexy sweet thing. And she’s a single mom.”

He was right, so I didn’t argue. I owed her an apology.