“Are you sure you won’t change your mind about Thad goin’ to the sheriff?”

Anger filled her eyes. “You leave my son out of this. He’s suffered enough.”

“I know he has. I’m sorry.”

She wiped more tears and snot from her face. “Just make sure they’re okay. Make sure Selena helps them.”

“I will.”

She nodded and stared at me for a second. Then she hung up the phone and got up, heading for the door to leave the room.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Thad and Marco were waiting in the hall, and I looked at them both and thought, what now? What did I do for this troubled boy? I couldn’t just drop him off at home like I’d take him to the convenience store to buy a slushy.

“We’ve called Selena,” Marco said. “She’s on her way, and she and Thad are going meet with Pam’s attorney.”

“Oh,” I said, clasping my hands in front of me. Thank God for Marco. We made a pretty good team. I searched Thad’s face. “Are you good with this?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”

She arrived a few minutes later, and we met her out at the curb. Thad got into the car, and Selena gave me and Marco a questioning look. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Thad just saw his mom,” Marco said. “He has information to tell her attorney.” He glanced at me. “It was his decision.”

“Should I be scared?” Selena asked.

“He’s going to need a lot of support,” I said. “If he goes through with this, Pam thinks Rob will kick him out. I guess he kicked Ashlynn out of the trailer too.”

“That man was always too hot-headed,” she said in disgust. “It’s too damn bad she married him in the first place.” But for all her gruffness, she clearly loved Pam, and her kids. She got in her car and they drove off.

“Do you have time to take break?” I asked. “I need you for a bit after going through that.”

He clasped my hand and squeezed. “You have me for as long as you need me.”

We drove to the park, but we stayed in the car while I told him everything. We were silent for a long moment after I finished.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “You’ve had a hell of a day.”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing compared to what poor Thad went through.” I turned toward him. “Do you know anyone who is gay?”

“In Drum?” he asked in surprise.

“That and Ewing.”

“I don’t in Drum, but Thad is right. The town’s about twenty years behind, so while I know there are gay people, I don’t personally know of any.”

“That’s wrong,” I said insistently, hating that Thad and Spencer felt they needed to hide. “If Thad decides to stay silent like his mother wants, Jim Palmer will keep his sterling image. But if he goes public, he’s the one who’ll suffer.”

“Jim was probably countin’ on that,” Marco said.

“Yeah. You’re probably right.”

We stayed there for ten more minutes, while he held me awkwardly over the center console, but I soaked in his strength and support. I needed him more than I’d expected. I’d let him in more than anyone else before. Even Jake. And that scared the shit out of me.

“Why don’t you take tonight off?” Marco said. “We can go to Greeneville for the night and get away.”

“I’m sorely tempted, but I asked Lula to tell Bingham I’d be working and to contact me at the tavern.”

“It’s obvious whatever Emily is up to has nothing to do with Pam,” he said. “In fact, I think you should ignore the whole thing. I don’t trust her.”

“Neither do I, but I’m not inclined to ‘let it go’ just because she’s messing with me and Bart’s sending men to threaten me. I’m not going to let him win.”

“This isn’t about winning or losing, Carly. This is choosing sanity over danger.”

I pulled away from him. “Are you serious?”

“It can at least wait until tomorrow. You’ve been through hell. You’re not expected to grin and bear it with everything.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Marco.”

“I don’t get to have a say in what you do?” he asked in disbelief. “Does that mean I can do whatever the fuck I want, and to hell with what you think?”

No, that wasn’t what it meant, but I couldn’t ask him to follow a different set of rules. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

He flinched as though I’d slapped him. “If I’m doing something dangerous, you don’t think you should have a right to express your concern?”

“There’s concern and then there’s control,” I snapped.

“You think I’m being controlling?” he asked, scooting back from me. “Are you fucking kiddin’ me?”

That was the thing. I didn’t think he was being controlling at all, but I was so scared of letting a man run roughshod over me, I found myself saying, “I don’t know.”

“Then I guess you don’t really know me after all,” he said, his voice strangled with pain.

I started to apologize, but his phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket and frowned as he answered. After he exchanged a couple of remarks that made no sense to me, he glanced over at me and mouthed, I need to get back to my car.

“Okay.” I started the engine and headed back to the jail as he continued a conversation about warrants and judges.

“I’m about to head over there right now,” he said as I pulled into the parking lot. He wrapped up the call and hung up as I parked next to his car.

He reached for the door handle, and I grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry, Marco. I didn’t mean it.”

He turned to me, his eyes full of anguish. “That’s just it, Carly. You did.” He leaned over and kissed me. “I have to go. We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Yeah.”

He got out and shut the door, and I watched him get in his sheriff vehicle and drive away.

I stayed in the parking spot and stared out at the road for several minutes.

I’d overreacted and Marco had every right to be hurt. What if I’d blown it? What if he thought I had too much baggage? I burst out laughing, which quickly turned to tears. Of course I had too much baggage. I’d been telling him as much for months. If he broke up with me, maybe that was my sign that it really was time to leave.

It was nearly three o’clock, so I decided to head back to Drum and go to work early. Ruth would pepper me with questions about Marco, but I’d soldier through, because I didn’t want to be alone right now. Not when I saw solitude in my near future.

Max hadn’t opened for lunch, and he and Ruth and the new waitress, Trixie, were cleaning up the parking lot and putting the dining room back together when I arrived. Trixie was outgoing and friendly, and I was immediately thrilled Max had hired her. Tiny and Pickle were taking the tables and chairs back to the Methodist church. The event had been such a success, Max had promised to have another block party in a few weeks for the Fourth of July. He was even talking about getting fireworks.