Southern Comfort - Natasha Madison Page 0,22
the detective,” I say, lifting my hands in the air. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter who called who. What matters is that it’s safe to go back home now that they caught the guy.”
“I don’t know, Olivia.” She blinks away her tears.
“I can’t stay here forever, Kallie,” I say, blinking away my own tears as my stomach sinks. I feel like I’m going to be sick. “It’s time that everyone gets on with their lives.” I try not to think about Casey and him getting on with his life. He’ll go back to being the hottest bachelor in town, but this time, I won’t be stopping him from dating.
“Everyone is getting on with their lives with you here.” Her voice is soft now, but then it rises just a touch. “Is it Casey?” she asks, getting angry now. “Did he say something to you?” She shakes her head. “Fuck him, you can stay with us.”
I laugh. “No,” I tell her. “He didn’t say anything to me. I swear.” I hold up my hand like Scout’s honor.
“I don’t want you to go,” she finally says. She wipes away the tears coming down her face, and I don’t even bother hiding mine anymore. “I mean, who is going to help you with taco not Tuesday?” She mentions the time I tried to make tacos, but the turkey meat I bought got stuck to the pan, and it was crunchy when you bit into it. “Who is going to make you watch reality television?”
“We can FaceTime,” I say. “My life is there. My home is there.” I try not to think about how I’ve never called anywhere home.
She takes me in her arms, and I try not to sob. “I’m not dying.” I try to joke with her. “You know I can come visit, and you can come visit.”
“Where are you going to stay?” she asks, and I shrug.
“I haven’t stayed at the Four Seasons in a really long time.” I smile. “I thought I would stay there until I got a new place.” We let each other go, and I get online and book my flight home. The whole time, I ignore all the emotion coming out of me.
She doesn’t say anything to me, and we just hug each other. When Jacob picks her up an hour later, she looks at me. “I’m going to come right back, so we can spend the night watching movies.”
I nod, and when she closes the door behind her, I head to the bedroom. Taking my luggage from the corner of the room, I set it on the bed and open it up. I start packing my things. I fold all my clothes, trying not to think about tomorrow. I’m so inside my head that I don’t hear the back door open, and I don’t hear him stomping his boots on the floor. So when I hear his voice, I jump.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I look up to see that his shirt is almost see-through from the sweat. His face is red all over, and his pants are filthy. He looks like he just ran through the mud.
“Jesus, cowboy,” I say, putting my hand on my chest. “You scared the shit out of me.” I place the last pair of my pants into the bag.
“Answer the question, Olivia,” he demands. I can tell by his tone that he’s pissed, but for the life of me, I don’t know what he’s talking about.
“Good news.” I start talking, hoping my tone is peppy. I’ve been preparing this speech ever since I made the decision this morning to leave. “Since the guy was arrested yesterday, the detective said it was safe for me to go back home.”
He steps into the room, and I can see that his face is dirty now, especially his forehead. “Which detective told you this?”
I try not to breathe in, and my heart starts to pound even harder than ever. “The one working on my case in LA.” I ignore his look or at least I try. “I booked a flight out tomorrow morning.”
“You aren’t going,” he snaps. “You don’t leave until I’m sure the threat is over, and I’m”—he points at himself—“telling you it’s not right now.”
I shake my head, trying not to read too much into his words. It’s not that he doesn’t want me to stay because he wants me here. No, he doesn’t want me to go because he doesn’t think I’m safe.
“Cowboy.” I realize I’m going to miss saying