Page 37 of Don't Leave Me Behind
“My ass is currently sitting in front of my laptop, watching old westerns all summer.”
“So, you’re just content to sit and rot for the summer while we languish away missing you?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re dramatic?” I glance up at the clear blue sky, my chest swelling with a peace I haven’t felt in a long time. I love the skies out here.
“Of course, it’s part of my charm.”
“None of you assholes have char—ahh!” I squeal as my toe sinks into the top of a gopher hole. One arm flails, the other arm gripping my phone tighter, trying to keep myself from eating dirt.
“You good?” Mercer sounds amused on the other end, if not a little sad. I bet he’s working too hard. I don’t know much about law enforcement, but I’m not sure Mercer has taken any real time off since he started four years ago.
“Yeah, almost fell off my bed.” It occurs to me how easily I can lie to him. I never lied to him growing up. Mercer was my best friend. We were inseparable before he met Clay, and I started spending every spare second with Miya. Guilt settles onto my shoulders, making me hate myself a little more.
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Mercer’s voice goes soft, the one he reserves for weaseling out information.Mercer is a master at getting people to talk about exactly whatever it is he wants to know. It makes him a great sheriff, but it’s annoying as hell being the gullible sibling.
“I know, Merc, but there’s nothing to tell.”
“Is it money?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you need money to get back home?”
“No, Merc, I don’t need money,” I sigh, picking up my pace to the cabin. I want to get home.
“It’s just...I know you don’t want to take any from Ma and Pa, but if that’s why you’re not coming back, I could help.”
“No, Mercer, I…I don’t know. I’m not ready to be home, that’s all.”
“Because of Clay?”
“I don’t know, maybe. It was ten years ago; we’re both adults now. It shouldn’t be this hard, but I can’t force myself to rip the band-aid off yet.”
I’m going to hell, lying through my teeth like those bastard mechanics who up-charge you because you’re a pretty girl. That’s the level of hell I’m headed for.
“Then let me come see you.” The earnestness in his voice makes me pause.
“I—what?”
“Come on, Leni. You didn’t come home for the holidays. I haven’t seen you since last summer. Let me come visit. Edna won’t mind. She loves me.”
I can hear the smile in his voice. It’s true, Edna loved Mercer the one time she met him.
“I don’t know D…”
He sighs into the phone. “You know, now that the idea is in my head…”
He won’t drop it. I know that. We’re nothing if not consistently stubborn, the whole lot of us.
“Might as well pick a day, Sis. It’s gotta happen now.”
I groan. “That’s not how it works, Mercer. You can’t just?—”
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!” Voices boom in the background, chaos erupting on Mercer’s end of the line.
“Gotta go, Leni!” He doesn’t wait for my reply.
I sigh, looking out across the open field between the main house and my cabin. Blowing my bangs out of my face, I force my legs to move as I keep my mind focused on my pulse throbbing in my index finger. Grounding my thoughts in the weird sensation to keep my mind from wandering too far. I have a habit of assuming everything my family does is for some ulterior motive. The chances that Mercer does miss me are more likely than him wanting to visit to get information out of me.
