Page 66 of Forever Dead
Diane stopped.
Miss Marsh nodded toward the main building. "You go ahead."
Diane hesitated, then left.
Selena waited until her sister disappeared around the corner.
Miss Marsh's voice softened.
"Selena, your sister is looking out for you. Don't forget that."
At the time, Selena had been too annoyed to appreciate it.
Now, sitting outside her father's house, she remembered Diane taking the blame without hesitation.
Selena wanted to get out of the car.
Walk across the road. Knock. Hug her sister and somehow make the last months disappear.
Her hand even moved toward the door handle.
Then all the things between them returned. Her father's illness. Diane's resentment. Selena leaving Harlan County. The accusations neither of them had properly withdrawn.
A hug could not fix years.
Selena started the engine.
The house disappeared behind her as she drove back toward town.
*
Halloween decorations seemed brighter now that night was settling in. Her mother had loved this time of year. So had her father. When Selena and Diane were children, both parents had treated Halloween like a week-long event rather than one evening. Pumpkins appeared on every windowsill. Her father had once built a wooden coffin for the front yard and frightened himself when a neighborhood cat climbed into it.
Selena smiled at the memory, then lost it almost as quickly.
The sheriff's office came into view.
Connor's SUV was not in the parking lot.
Selena slowed.
She should have kept driving.
Instead, she turned in. It was like a compulsion. A scab she had to pick. She wondered what breakthroughs they had made without her.
"Just saying hello," she murmured.
Parking took more concentration than she liked. By the time Selena switched off the engine, her knee had begun to throb beneath the brace.
The walk to the entrance did not help.
Cheryl sat behind the front desk with a stack of paperwork beside her. She looked up as Selena entered.
"Well. Good to see you on your feet."
"Thanks."
Cheryl's expression shifted as Selena approached.
