Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,118
out of this. He’s suffered enough.”
“I know he has. I’m sorry.”
She wiped more tears and snot from her face. “Just make sure they’re okay. Make sure Selena helps them.”
“I will.”
She nodded and stared at me for a second. Then she hung up the phone and got up, heading for the door to leave the room.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Thad and Marco were waiting in the hall, and I looked at them both and thought, what now? What did I do for this troubled boy? I couldn’t just drop him off at home like I’d take him to the convenience store to buy a slushy.
“We’ve called Selena,” Marco said. “She’s on her way, and she and Thad are going meet with Pam’s attorney.”
“Oh,” I said, clasping my hands in front of me. Thank God for Marco. We made a pretty good team. I searched Thad’s face. “Are you good with this?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”
She arrived a few minutes later, and we met her out at the curb. Thad got into the car, and Selena gave me and Marco a questioning look. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Thad just saw his mom,” Marco said. “He has information to tell her attorney.” He glanced at me. “It was his decision.”
“Should I be scared?” Selena asked.
“He’s going to need a lot of support,” I said. “If he goes through with this, Pam thinks Rob will kick him out. I guess he kicked Ashlynn out of the trailer too.”
“That man was always too hot-headed,” she said in disgust. “It’s too damn bad she married him in the first place.” But for all her gruffness, she clearly loved Pam, and her kids. She got in her car and they drove off.
“Do you have time to take break?” I asked. “I need you for a bit after going through that.”
He clasped my hand and squeezed. “You have me for as long as you need me.”
We drove to the park, but we stayed in the car while I told him everything. We were silent for a long moment after I finished.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “You’ve had a hell of a day.”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing compared to what poor Thad went through.” I turned toward him. “Do you know anyone who is gay?”
“In Drum?” he asked in surprise.
“That and Ewing.”
“I don’t in Drum, but Thad is right. The town’s about twenty years behind, so while I know there are gay people, I don’t personally know of any.”
“That’s wrong,” I said insistently, hating that Thad and Spencer felt they needed to hide. “If Thad decides to stay silent like his mother wants, Jim Palmer will keep his sterling image. But if he goes public, he’s the one who’ll suffer.”
“Jim was probably countin’ on that,” Marco said.
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
We stayed there for ten more minutes, while he held me awkwardly over the center console, but I soaked in his strength and support. I needed him more than I’d expected. I’d let him in more than anyone else before. Even Jake. And that scared the shit out of me.
“Why don’t you take tonight off?” Marco said. “We can go to Greeneville for the night and get away.”
“I’m sorely tempted, but I asked Lula to tell Bingham I’d be working and to contact me at the tavern.”
“It’s obvious whatever Emily is up to has nothing to do with Pam,” he said. “In fact, I think you should ignore the whole thing. I don’t trust her.”
“Neither do I, but I’m not inclined to ‘let it go’ just because she’s messing with me and Bart’s sending men to threaten me. I’m not going to let him win.”
“This isn’t about winning or losing, Carly. This is choosing sanity over danger.”
I pulled away from him. “Are you serious?”
“It can at least wait until tomorrow. You’ve been through hell. You’re not expected to grin and bear it with everything.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Marco.”
“I don’t get to have a say in what you do?” he asked in disbelief. “Does that mean I can do whatever the fuck I want, and to hell with what you think?”
No, that wasn’t what it meant, but I couldn’t ask him to follow a different set of rules. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
He flinched as though I’d slapped him. “If I’m doing something dangerous, you don’t think you should have a right to express your concern?”
“There’s concern and then there’s control,” I snapped.
“You think I’m being controlling?” he asked, scooting back from me. “Are you fucking kiddin’ me?”