Fighting for Rain - BB Easton Page 0,13

glisten as they bore into mine. “I knew we shoulda taken you with us—you and your mama. I won’t ever forgive myself for that, but at least we’re all together now.”

Lamar and Sophie both get up to hug me and give their condolences, but my attention is focused solely on Carter. The boy I grew up with. The boy I gave all my firsts to. The man who should be consoling me right now. But instead, he’s just staring at me like he doesn’t know what to say.

“Rainbow …” he finally mutters.

“Rain,” I snap back.

His honey-colored eyes fill with remorse, and for a second, I regret being so mean. That face … I was in love with that face for as long as I can remember. I know every angle. Every expression and smile and dimple. It kills me to see him hurting. I want to curl up in his lap and let him wrap his long arms around me like he used to …

But then I remember overhearing Kimmy Middleton say she made out with him senior year, and suddenly, I don’t feel so bad anymore.

“Hey, Carter, remember Kimmy?” I watch the guilt crawl across his handsome face, and it’s all the validation I need. “She burned your house down.”

“What?” Mrs. Renshaw screeches. “Our house?”

Carter’s eyes go wide and dart from me to his parents.

Sophie starts to cry.

Mr. Renshaw stands up, slams his chair in, and stomps away with a definite limp.

“What happened to him?” I ask, desperately wanting to change the subject after the bomb I just dropped on them. “Why does he need a medic?”

Mrs. Renshaw shakes her head and looks over her shoulder as her husband hobbles toward the atrium. “We got in a bad accident on our way out of town. As soon as we left for Tennessee, it was obvious that everybody on the highway was under the influence of something. People were speedin’ and weavin’ all over the road. We had only made it to Pritchard Park when a car up ahead of us pulled in front of a tractor-trailer and made it jackknife right in the middle of the road. It ended up rolling about three times and blocking the entire highway. There was a huge pileup, and we were caught right in the middle of it.”

“Oh my God.” I cover my mouth with the sleeve of my hoodie. “That pileup is why we’re here too. We couldn’t get around it, and when we tried …” My voice trails off as I glance over at Lamar.

He’s staring blankly in the direction of the tuxedo shop, like he can see his brother from here.

Mrs. Renshaw is looking at her children the same way. “Sophie and Carter were okay—thank God. But Jimbo …” She shakes her head. “His leg was crushed in the accident, and he won’t let anybody look at it. I’m afraid it’s bad.”

“So that’s why you guys didn’t come home?” I ask. “Because he couldn’t walk that far?”

Mrs. Renshaw nods.

“Plus, the dogs and Bonys,” Carter adds, staring at the table like a kid in the principal’s office. “We never would have made it.”

“So we decided to stay here. We had enough food and supplies in the car to last us this long, and Q has been gracious about sharing the drinking water from their rain barrels with us.”

Q.

I glance over at the runaways’ table and catch her watching us.

No. Not us.

Wes.

“When we woke up this morning and the apocalypse hadn’t happened, I thought …” Mrs. Renshaw’s chin buckles. “I thought maybe things would go back to normal. Maybe we could go back home.”

Carter’s mom tries to hold it together, but as soon as she looks over at Sophie, her face crumples like a paper towel. I’ve never seen Mrs. Renshaw cry before, and knowing that my words made her do it makes me want to throw up. I was so cruel. My mama had taught me better than that. I was trying to hurt Carter on purpose, and this is what I get.

Carter, Sophie, and I all jump up at the same time to comfort her. Sophie kneels at her side and clasps her hand while Carter and I end up standing on either side of her, squeezing her shoulders and rubbing her back.

“I’m so sorry,” I mutter, speaking to Mrs. Renshaw but finding my eyes drifting up to Carter’s.

“Me too.” His deep voice vibrates around me, taking me to a million different places at once.

I know what his voice sounds