What Remains by Bailey Bradford (to read list txt) 📕

Virginia’s Café. He swallowed his last sip of coffee and waved away the waitress when she would have approached with an offer to refill his cup. A glance at his phone showed it to be almost noon. Probably time for him to head back to the Sheriff’s Department, since that’s where he’d told Alma to meet them. He’d wanted his sister to meet Laine right off the bat, so he could judge her reaction to their relationship. Sure she knew about it, said she was okay with Sev being gay, but he couldn’t forget that not once when he called her had she ever asked to speak to his lover.

Laine hadn’t exactly asked to talk to her, either, but that was different. Sev was the one putting forth the effort at building a relationship with his family. It was him who called, so in his opinion the least Alma and the rest of his siblings could do was ask to be introduced to Laine, even if it was over the phone.

But they hadn’t. When he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure any of them had ever asked after Laine’s wellbeing. Sev usually just started talking about Laine and their life together early on in the call, unwilling, he admitted, to give them a chance to enquire about his lover because he was afraid they wouldn’t.

That’s just a little messed up. He needed to stop that. It would hurt if what remained of his family didn’t truly accept him, and Laine, but it would be best to know. Self-deception was a dangerous thing, and Sev didn’t have any intention of letting it continue. With that decision made, he scooted out of the booth and dug a couple of bucks out of his pocket. After leaving them on the table he headed to the register to pay his bill and pick up cups of coffee for Laine and Matt.

Hopefully Matt would be back when Sev returned. He had yet to have the opportunity to talk to his friend about Mrs. Hawkins’ spirit. Matt had taken the day off to pick Carlin up from the airport—which was why Laine couldn’t take the day off—but he’d promised Laine he’d stop by on the way home. Sev didn’t imagine Matt or Carlin would be eager to talk for long, what with Carlin having been gone for over two weeks for some trial up in New York. Carlin was a civil rights attorney, and a good one, judging by the number of cases he had even though he lived in McKinton.

“Got your coffee all ready to go,” Virginia said as she met him at the register.

Sev grinned at the woman, he couldn’t help it. If nothing else, her bright green metallic eyeshadow made him happy, though he couldn’t begin to fathom why. “Thanks,” Sev said as he pulled out his wallet. “I bet you’re making the mortgage on this place in coffee sales to the Sheriff’s Department since Doreen’s been on vacation.”

Virginia snickered as she set the drink tray on the counter. “Don’t have a mortgage on the place, but yeah, I’ve been running through several more pots of coffee a day. I don’t know what Doreen was thinking, having Loretta fill in for her.”

Sev snorted as he looked at Virginia through his lashes. “You don’t?”

“You do?” Virginia’s drawn on eyebrows rocketed up near her hairline.

“Sure.” At least, he was pretty certain he did, what with Doreen being somewhat devious even if she did love them. “Just think how glad everyone’s going to be when she gets back. I bet Laine even tries to get her a raise.”

Virginia cackled as she plucked Sev’s ticket off an upside down nail sticking up from a small piece of two-by-four. “I bet you’re right. Doreen’s a smart woman, she just made sure she’s going to be treated like a queen for a long time.”

“As if she’d tolerate being treated any differently.” Sev sniffed, then laughed and ruined his attempt at sounding haughty. “Doreen is all that and a box of chocolates, too, though. Everyone at the Sheriff’s Department would be lost without her, kinda like they are now.” It didn’t hurt to exaggerate a little, not when he knew Virginia would be passing along every bit of this to Doreen just as soon as Doreen got back from vacation.

Besides, while the deputies and Laine weren’t exactly lost, they sure as hell weren’t happy with Loretta being there. Sev didn’t blame him. The woman looked at him like he was something she’d scraped out from under her long fake nails.

Sev finished settling his bill then picked up the cardboard drink holder and told Virginia goodbye. The tinkling of the bells that hung on the doorknob was drowned out by a gust of icy wind. Sev scrambled to keep from dropping the coffee as his fingers began to go numb from the cold wind. He’d just managed to get the thing braced against his chest and walked a whole two steps when a car horn blared behind him.

“Shit! Shit!” Sev shouted as his heart tried its damnedest to leap up his throat. Even though he was on the sidewalk, this was just about the same place where Laine had told him Zeke had been run over. It was a good thing he had a strong bladder. “Shit!”

As much as he wanted to shake his burning hand, he’d kept from dropping the coffee and he didn’t want to now after having scorched some skin trying to save the drinks. Instead he carefully turned halfway around, a reprimand on his tongue. It died when he saw his sister’s smiling face through the passenger window of a silver minivan.

The window lowered and Sev stared into a pair of eyes as light as his own. Alma’s smile flipped to a frown as she looked at him. The wind gusted over him, cold seeping in intensely here and there. Sev glanced down and saw he’d splashed coffee on his jeans.

“Oh!”

He looked back up at Alma’s