A Beautiful Funeral: A Novel (Maddox Brothers Book 5) (11 page)

My eyes fell to the floor. The hope I’d had just moments before gone. When I looked up again, and Taylor’s eyes met mine, I could see the anger melt away and shame take over. Even then, he couldn’t let go. He picked up the stack of towels and shoved them into the box on top of some trinkets, ripping at the tape and slamming it across the top. He grabbed a thick black marker and wrote
master
across the top and then hurled the box into the corner of the room behind the door, its contents scattering.

Two dark silhouettes were standing in the hall, and when I realized the kids were present once again for the shitshow that was our marriage, I covered my mouth, unable to stop the tears from falling.

“No, baby, don’t cry…” Taylor glanced down at the hall. “I’m sorry,” he said to the kids. He sat on the bed, hunched over. “I’m sorry,” he choked out.

“Can we still go?” Hadley asked, stepping from out of the shadow of the hall.

“I’m still going,” Hollis said.

I wiped my cheeks and walked to the doorway, holding Hollis and Hadley as if they might shatter like the ceramics in the box. “Yes. Yes, we’re still going. Dad wants us to, and I want us to. We’re happier in Estes, right?”

“Right,” they both said, looking up at me and nodding.

Soon, Hollis would be taller than I was. Maybe taller than Taylor. I couldn’t let him think it was okay to use violence and intimidation to solve anything. I couldn’t let Hadley think Taylor’s was acceptable behavior, and that it was okay to stay without real change. And I couldn’t let them—or my own guilt—talk me into taking Taylor back before we were ready.

Taylor’s phone rang, and he fished it from his back pocket. He sniffed once before answering. “Hey, Trent.” The longer he listened, the more his shoulders sagged. “What? What do you mean shot? Like with a gun? How? Is he okay?”

Taylor let the phone fall to the floor, and I scrambled to pick it up, holding it to my ear. All the blood had drained from Taylor’s face, and he was staring at the floor, a single tear streaming down his cheek.

“Trent?” I said. “It’s Falyn. What happened?”

Trenton sighed. “Hey, Falyn. It’s, uh … it’s Tommy. He, uh … there’s been an accident.”

“An accident? Is he okay?” I asked.

“No. Taylor and Tyler need to come home. Can you get them here?”

“
No?
” I asked. I had heard him, but the words didn’t make sense. Thomas Maddox was the strongest of all five boys; the smartest. He had the best head on his shoulders, and Liis had just given birth to their first baby. He was a new father.
How can he
not
be okay?

“It’s bad,” he said, his voice low. “Just get them home, Falyn. Call Tyler. I don’t … I don’t think I can.”

“I’ll take care of it. How’s Liis?”

“She’s with Stella. You’ll get ‘em on a plane?”

“Yes. We’ll all be there tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Falyn. See you soon.”

“Mom?” Hollis said, watching Taylor with worried eyes. “Is Uncle Tommy okay?”

I held out my hand to the kids, letting them know to wait before inundating us with questions, and to let me care for their dad first. I kneeled in front of Taylor, searching for words to say. There were none. He was still trying to process what Trenton had said.

“Honey?” I said, gently tugging at his chin. “I’m going to call Tyler, and then I’m going to call the airline.”

“He’s at the fire,” Taylor said, his voice monotone. “He won’t answer.”

I dialed Tyler’s number with my husband’s phone, listening as it rang several times before his voice mail picked up. I tucked the phone into my back pocket and pointed at the children. “Pack for five days. Five jeans, five shirts, five socks, and five pairs of underpants. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Go now.”

The kids nodded and ran to their rooms. I emptied a small roller bag Taylor had already filled with my unmentionables and packed for five days as well. “Where’s your bag?” I asked Taylor.

“Huh?”

“Your bag. You packed a bag to come here, right? Do you have at least two days’ worth?”

“Three days. It’s in my truck.”

“Okay,” I said, pulling up the handle on my bag. “Let’s go. I’m driving. I’ll reserve tickets on the way.”

“To where?”

“Estes Park. We’re going to tell Tyler, and then we’re driving to Denver to catch a plane.”

“Falyn …” Taylor began, but he knew he couldn’t be the strong one this time. We were broken, but we weren’t alone.

I held out my hand to him. “Come with me.”

He looked up at me, seeming lost. Taylor reached for me, intertwining his fingers with mine and bringing my hand to his lips. He closed his eyes tight, breathing hard through his nose.

With my free hand, I cupped the back of his head and hugged him to my middle. “I’m here.”

He let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my shirt.

CHAPTER NINE

ELLIE

T
HE TELEVISION WAS THE ONLY LIGHT
in our dark living room, dim and then bright and back again, depending on what scene and camera angle was presented at the time. I’d told myself not to watch this movie, knowing it was about an alcoholic, foul-mouthed reporter. Even after a decade on the wagon, my throat tightened every time she took a drink; my heart pinged when she was out, laughing hysterically, sloppy drunk with her friends, taking dick from anyone who had one. I’d made it to the last scene, and she had fallen in love with a decent dude.
Fuck.
I was too old to say dude. At least, that was what Gavin had told me because he was five and knew everything.

I ran my fingers over the prickles of Gavin’s dark, buzzed hair. He’d fallen asleep using my lap as a pillow like he always did when his dad was on shift. Tyler and I had fallen in love sometime between a one-night stand (mostly my fault) and a stint in rehab (totally my fault). Somehow, we lived in a three-bedroom house with a dog, two cats, and a son who wasn’t into throwing temper tantrums and never held on to anything—not a bottle, a pacifier; he even potty-trained early. Addiction didn’t seem to be in his future. I just hoped his penchant to let things go didn’t spill over into his love life.

I glanced at my watch and sighed. It was nearly three a.m., and Tyler was still fighting the fire at the warehouse. Years of sleepless nights kept me from trying to go to bed before he was back at the station, so I waited for the call that he was safe at his second home.

Just as the credits began to roll, a light knock sounded on the front door. I carefully moved Gavin’s head off my lap and slipped out from under him. I approached the door with caution. We lived in a nice neighborhood in a smallish tourist community, but whoever was at my door in the wee hours of the morning wasn’t selling LipSense.

“Who is it?” I said, trying to be both loud enough to be heard and quiet so I wouldn’t wake Gavin.

“It’s Taylor,” a deep voice said.

“And Falyn.”

I twisted the bolt lock and yanked open the door, staring at my in-laws as if they were a hallucination. Taylor had both of their sleeping children hanging over his shoulders, his face pale and his eyes glossed over.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, and then covered my mouth. I hadn’t heard from Tyler in nearly an hour. A lot could happen in an hour. “Oh, God.”

“No,” Falyn said, reaching for me. “This isn’t about Tyler.”

I pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her tight. She was surprised, and I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t typically the snuggly type with anyone but Tyler and Gavin.

“Have you heard from him?” Taylor asked, walking past me.

“You can put them in the guest room,” I said but wasn’t sure why. Taylor knew exactly where it was and was already headed that way. Taylor and Falyn had spent a lot of their time in our home and vice-versa until Falyn had left. She hadn’t been gone that long, but it somehow still felt strange being under the same roof with both of them again.

Taylor returned. His hands were free, and he didn’t quite know what to do with them, so he crossed his arms across his middle.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Tyler.”

I shook my head and then glanced back to check on Gavin. “He should be wrapping up at the warehouse. I haven’t heard from him in the last hour.”

Taylor sniffed. “Guess I’m going to have to go to the warehouse.”

“They should be finished soon,” I said. “Everything okay?”

“He’s grown so much,” Falyn whispered, walking over to my son sprawled out on the sofa. She kneeled beside him, smiling as she took a closer look. “Gavin looks identical to Taylor and Tyler when they were his age.”

“He misses you,” I said. “He asks about you a lot.”

Her expression fell. “I miss him, too. And you.” She stood. “Taylor got a call from Trent.”

“We’re going home,” Taylor said.

“To Eakins? When?”

“Tomorrow,” Falyn said. “You and Tyler, too.”

“We are?” I asked, touching my chest. “What’s going on? Is it Jim?” I knew Dad’s health wasn’t the greatest. He was overweight, ate bacon every morning for breakfast, and smoked cigars. By the look on Taylor’s face, I knew something terrible had happened.

Taylor opened his mouth to explain but couldn’t.

Falyn continued for him. “It’s Thomas.”

“
Thomas?
” He’d just become a father. “Oh, God. The baby?”

“No,” Falyn said. “Thomas was shot.”

“
Shot
?” I said, my voice going up an octave. The room began to spin.

“We don’t know many details.”

“Oh, Liis,” I said, covering my mouth with my hand. My heart instantly broke for her. My gaze drifted to Taylor. I felt bad, knowing he would have to hear the story again when we broke the news to Tyler. I closed my eyes, feeling hot tears streaming down my cheeks. My heart broke for my husband.

“You should sit down,” Falyn said, trying to keep her composure.

I lumbered to Tyler’s recliner and collapsed. “Fuck.
Fuck.
This doesn’t make sense. Did they catch the shooter?”

“We’re not sure,” Taylor said. He clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles dancing under his skin.

“Liis is flying into Eakins in the morning,” Falyn said.

I lifted my head. “She’s not staying with Thomas?”

Falyn shook her head. “It … it sounds like it’s pretty bad. Her flying to Eakins …” she trailed off.

Bile rose in my throat. He wasn’t going to make it. Liis was flying home to be with his family.

“I already booked the tickets,” Falyn said.

“For us, too?” I asked. She nodded, and I stood, looking around, my mind already filling with packing lists and who would care for the animals while we were gone. I paused and then walked the few steps to where Taylor stood, hugging him to me. He felt a little limp in my arms.

“I fucking knew it,” he said. “I had a bad feeling when I left the fire earlier, but I thought it was Tyler. I should have called home.”

Taylor knew as well as I did that calling home wouldn’t have helped anything, but he was doing what Tyler was going to do when he heard the news: blame himself. I let him go and walked back to the sofa, picking up my phone from the end table and disconnecting the charger.

I texted Tyler to call me, and then we all waited. Within three minutes, my phone rang. I answered immediately.

“Hi baby,” he said, sounding tired and out of breath, but happy. “Just getting in the truck.”

“I … need you to come home,” I said. It just occurred to me that he would want to know why, and I didn’t want to tell him over the phone.

“What happened?” he asked, already suspicious.

“Taylor and Falyn are here. Just come home, okay? As soon as you can get here.”

“On my way,” he said. I heard the sirens in the background, and then the line went silent.

I breathed out a long breath, knowing within a few minutes, those sirens would be blaring in the distance, getting closer until they turned off when Tyler entered the neighborhood. I tried not to think about him speeding home to hear what he already knew was bad news. He just didn’t know how bad—or who.

CHAPTER TEN

CAMILLE

A
S EVERYONE ELSE WAS SETTLING IN
for the night, I was leaving for work. I started at Skin Deep Tattoo as the receptionist, but now, I was the business manager. I hired and fired, kept books, and worked the business side that Calvin, turns out, wasn’t doing. The shop nearly closed down, but I navigated an agreement with the IRS, and we were finally making enough profit to hire a couple of new artists. Tonight, though, I was heading to The Red Door. I filled in when they needed me to cover the east bar. Very few could handle it, and Raegan and Blia had left years ago when they graduated college. Hank and Jorie had been so good to me; I couldn’t tell them no.

The federal agents asked that I not leave, but I’d promised Hank I’d cover a shift for one of his newer bartenders. The house was overfilling, anyway. Olive was sleeping on the sofa in Jim’s living room, and Shepley’s parents were even spending the night. Travis felt it was safer if everyone was under the same roof until Liis arrived in the morning—apparently with more agents.

Agent Perkins was on watch, staring out the window when I left with Trenton. He dropped me off at the side of the building, as close to the door as he could get. He was unhappy about me going to work, too.

I leaned over to kiss him. “I’ll be fine. Drew is in there. He’s a beast.”

“I’ll be here waiting at two.”

“It’ll be two-thirty,” I said.

“I’ll be here at two.”

He looked worried, so I didn’t argue.

A few years past thirty, my clothes covered more, but I found that fast service made just as many tips as tits and ass. I waved to Drew as I made my way to the door. He jogged to meet me, twisting the knob and pulling before I could. He held the door open with a smile.

“Thanks, Drew,” I said, patting his bicep. I would have had to reach up to pat his shoulder. Drew was a sophomore at Eastern State, six-foot-seven, with arms as big around as my head. His father was a champion weightlifter, and Drew was on his way. The moment he stepped into Hank’s office to apply for the bouncer job, he was hired. The only problem—if you could call it that—was Drew being so polite that he sometimes wasn’t as aggressive as Hank wanted. He was an awe-shuck, rock-kicking cowboy, but he could hold two men apart while they were swinging and yelling, asking them to please get along. Admittedly, it was always entertaining, but Hank wanted a bouncer, not a peacekeeper. Lucky for Drew, his presence was usually enough.