Home to Whiskey Creek (Whiskey Creek #4)(80)
Author: Brenda Novak

“Darlene claims Helen fired her. Is that true?”

Technically Helen had done the firing, but Darlene deserved it. “She might’ve said the words, but I’ve had to threaten Darlene with her job before. I believe Mom had the right of it.”

Darlene’s eyes jerked to her. “You’ve been looking for any excuse to get rid of me! You want the restaurant all to yourself.”

Addy sat back and crossed her legs. “I appreciate what you’ve done for Gran. I just don’t appreciate how difficult you’ve been since my return.”

Gran didn’t comment. She waited for Darlene’s response.

“You’re the one who’s been making things difficult!” Darlene cried.

“How?” Addy countered.

The manager set her coffee aside. She was too wound up to even hold the cup. “You came in and took over as if I haven’t done anything right in twenty years.”

“And what did I change?” Addy asked.

There was a brief pause as Darlene searched for an answer. Finally, she said, “You haven’t changed anything yet, but…you’ve talked about it.”

“So that’s enough to make you belligerent? Unfriendly?”

“I’m not unfriendly!”

“That’s exactly what you’ve been. The hostility I’ve felt coming from you has made this transition much harder than it had to be.”

Darlene turned beseeching eyes on Gran. “Milly, I’ve done a good job for two decades.”

Gran lifted a hand. “No one’s questioning that. But is what Addy says true?”

“No! I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Then why would Helen fire you?”

“Because she…she…flew off the handle!”

“For no reason? And Addy supports her in that?”

Darlene didn’t seem to have an answer.

“Maybe if it was just Helen…but I can’t believe my granddaughter is different from the person I’ve known her to be all these years. I trust her opinion.”

Darlene came to her feet. “So you’re taking her side? You weren’t even there. I think you owe me more than that.”

“I don’t owe you anything,” Gran said. “I’ve employed you for twenty years, as you say. And I’ve treated you well and paid you as much as I can. I’d continue if only you’d be a bit more flexible. But you’re mistreating my granddaughter, and I’m afraid I can’t live with that.”

A vein popped out in her neck. “So you’re letting me go?”

“Unfortunately, I am. Consider this your two weeks’ notice.”

“I’m not coming in again at all.” Darlene pointed a finger at Addy. “You have no right to get involved after so long and ruin everything!” she said and, after purposely knocking her coffee cup off the table, stormed out.

The china broke as it hit the wooden floor. Addy winced at the clatter but she didn’t get up right away to retrieve the pieces and neither did Gran. They sat in silence until Darlene had peeled out of the drive.

“That’s…too bad,” Gran said. “I was hoping for better.”

“I’m sorry,” Addy murmured. “I wish I could’ve come back over the years, Gran. I wish—”

“Addy.”

She stopped talking.

“I came to you instead because I sometimes get the feeling that…something chased you away. And what’s happened since you’ve come home seems to confirm it.”

Addy’s heart was beating hard and fast. For the first time, she was tempted to tell Gran about that graduation party. She might have done it, might have blurted out the truth right then so her grandmother would understand why she hadn’t been able to return.

Except she knew that Gran would insist on telling Chief Stacy, and she couldn’t abide that. Regardless of the statute of limitations, reporting the crime would come too late to do her any good. And she couldn’t bear the thought of Noah finding out she was the reason his brother had died.

“I’m here now,” she said. “That’s all that matters.”

* * *

It was one of the longest and loneliest Sundays Noah had ever spent. He’d been holed up in his house, going back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. He wanted to visit Baxter in the hospital, but doubted he’d be welcome. Would Baxter recover more quickly without him? Or should he try to fix what was broken between them?

He collected his keys half a dozen times, determined to try. But he always set those keys down again.

Eventually, he allowed himself to call. Eve was at the hospital. Ted, too. They asked Baxter to talk to him, but Baxter refused.

“What’s going on with you two?” Eve whispered when she called him back a few seconds later.

From her question, Noah knew Baxter hadn’t admitted the truth. Not to anyone. That was when the reality of the situation hit him. Baxter was obviously planning to go on pretending. But he couldn’t pretend anymore. Noah firmly believed that was what had driven him to attempt suicide.

“Nothing’s going on,” he told Eve, and hung up before she could put any more pressure on him. No one would understand until Baxter explained. They looked to Noah for answers, but it wasn’t his place to give them.

Or was it? What would happen if he did the unthinkable? Maybe keeping his mouth shut only enabled Baxter to continue the behavior that was so damaging to him. What if Baxter got out of the hospital but, later, tried to take his own life again?

The prospect of that made Noah’s heart pound, because it was possible that he’d succeed. He’d almost succeeded this time.

Baxter needed help, but he couldn’t get the right kind of help as long as he went on lying.

Noah stood immobile in the middle of his living room. He didn’t want to ruin Baxter’s relationship with his family, but if he kept Baxter’s secret and Baxter died, he’d never forgive himself. And how much could a relationship be worth if it was based on a lie to begin with?

That was the question that got him. That was what made him head out into the cold. He was terrified that he might regret what he was about to do. But he’d kept his mouth shut for Cody. And Cody was dead.

27

Noah’s palms were sweating when he showed up at the Norths’. He’d spent a lot of time at their house when he was a kid, but he hadn’t been back that often since college. After San Diego State, he and Baxter had rented an apartment above the mercantile in town until Noah had launched his cycling career and earned enough to open the store and buy a house. He’d moved out of the apartment after a couple of years, but Baxter had chosen to stay there until he could afford his own place.