Beautiful Sacrifice (19 page)

“I got it,” Taylor said, pulling my carry-on off the conveyor belt.

We had overslept and were running a little late, trying to get through security before they began boarding our flight.

I hopped on one foot to slip on a sandal and then dropped my other shoe on the floor, sliding the strap between my first and second toe and then pulling the back over my heel. Shoes and clothes from the thrift store were always wonderfully worn in. It wasn’t the first time I appreciated not having to use the buckle on my three-seasons-old, half-size-too-big Steve Madden sandals.

Even though Taylor was in a rush to get to the gate, he watched me, a patient smile on his face.

“Ready?” he asked, holding out his hand.

I grabbed it. “Yes and no and yes. Stop asking me that. I’m trying to stay calm.”

“Haven’t you flown before?” he asked as we walked.

I shot him a look. “I’ve flown all over the world. My parents loved to travel.”

“Oh, yeah? Like where?”

“Not Eakins.”

He grimaced. “I’m trying to respect your privacy, but I’m getting more and more nervous about walking into this blind.”

“For someone so nervous, you sure fell asleep fast.”

He squeezed my hand. “You’re comfortable.”

“Sleeping with you wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be.”

He made a face. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard that from a woman before.”

I looked up at the four large screens secured to the ceiling. The flights were listed by city, alphabetically, with the corresponding gate number.

I pointed to the first screen. “Gate six. They’re boarding now.”

“Shit! Let’s go!”

Taylor and I ran, heaving by the time we reached our gate. There was still a long line, but we were both so happy to have made it that we didn’t care.

“Damn,” Taylor said. “I’m glad this is a small airport. If we were in Denver, we would have been screwed.”

After making it down the jetway and all the way back to row twenty, Taylor shoved our carry-ons into the overhead bin and collapsed next to me.

“Fucking hell, Ivy League,” he said. “You stress me out.”

“Which one of us overslept?”

“That would be me.”

“Okay then.” I let my head relax back and closed my eyes.

A warm hand slid under mine, and our fingers interlaced.

“Falyn?” Taylor whispered.

“Not yet,” I said, looking over at him.

He was leaning his head back, too, his face turned toward me. “You had another nightmare last night.”

“I did? Is that why you overslept?”

“What happened to you … was it bad?”

“It was.”

He grimaced. “Is going back going to hurt you?”

“Yes.”

He breathed out a puff of air and looked forward. “Then why are we going?”

“Because it has to hurt before it can get better.”

He looked back at me, his eyes falling to my lips. “I don’t want you to hurt.”

“I know,” I said, squeezing his hand. “But you’ll be with me, right?”

“For as long as you’ll let me.”

He let his head fall back against the seat. He was fidgeting. “I talked to Tyler. He said you were a fantastic kisser.”

“Oh, yeah?” A smug grin curved my lips. “How did that go over?”

“I punched him again.”

“Do you ever argue without your fists?”

“Not really. I …” He looked at my mouth again. “I can’t figure out why I can’t stop thinking about you. From the moment I looked up from my menu at the Bucksaw, everything has been different.”

“I’ve gathered that Maddox boys just aren’t told no very often. You love the challenge. Even Tyler admitted to it.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s more than that. I saw something in your eyes, something familiar.”

“Loss,” I said simply.

Taylor blinked, and I turned away from him, pretending to pay attention to the flight attendants’ safety instructions.

He shook his head, confused. “What makes you say that?”

“You’ll see.”

He sighed. “I guess I can’t expect you to tell me your shit when I haven’t told you mine.”

The captain came over the PA system and instructed the flight attendants to prepare for takeoff. Taylor tightened his seat belt and squeezed my hand.

“You don’t have to tell me,” I said.

“I know,” he replied. “But I want you to trust me. So, I’m going to trust you.”

I swallowed down the absolute dread threatening to strangle me. There was no telling what he was about to say.

“My little brother Travis is in deep shit,” he spoke close to my ear, whispering as softly as he could while still being heard over the noise of the plane. “He was involved in a fire a few months ago.”

The plane surged forward, and the entire fuselage rattled until the front wheels left the ground. The wings shifted, and we drifted right, the blinding morning sun shining through our window. Taylor closed the shade and then looked to me for a reaction.

“Is he with the Forest Service, too?” I asked.

Taylor shook his head. “He’s a college kid. My brothers and I used to fight all the time—with the locals and later with the college kids who would come to our parties and start fights. One night, Tyler beat this freshman, Adam’s, ass at a frat party, and Adam approached him later about taking bets. From there, they started these floating underground fight rings at Eastern.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

Taylor breathed out a laugh, amused. “Yes, very. But Adam organized the fights well. No one would know about them until an hour before the fight, sometimes less. We made a lot of money, and we never got caught. Our younger brother Trent fought a few times when he was a freshman, too, but our baby brother, Travis, was the rock star. He was unbeatable. Never lost a fight.”

“He sounds lovely.”

Taylor lifted his chin, his expression one of pride. “He’s a badass.”

“Is he okay?” I asked.

His smug smile vanished. “The fights were held in the basements of campus buildings where a lot of kids would be crammed underground. Adam set up a spring break fight. It was the last fight of the year. Travis was set to make a shit-ton of money. Something happened. A fire broke out. A lot of kids didn’t make it out. Adam was arrested. I think Travis is being investigated.”

“Why?” I asked, dubious.

“I have reason to believe they sent someone here to get information from me, but I can’t confirm—at least, not yet. I know they think Travis had something to do with it.”

“Who’s they?” I asked.

He stared at the floor. “I’m not sure. The local police. Maybe the FBI.”

“Did he?” I asked. “Have something to do with it?”

He shifted nervously. “He was getting married that night. In Vegas.”

“So, that’s why there’ll be another wedding. Because they eloped.”

Taylor nodded, watching me for a moment. “What if I asked you to come with me? To their vow renewal?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’d say you were trying to change the subject. Just because I don’t expect you to keep your promises doesn’t mean you also get to lie to me.”

He didn’t take his eyes from mine. “I am. I’m lying to you. And I’ll lie to anyone asking questions.”

“You could go to jail.”

“I could go to prison.”

I pressed my lips together and then exhaled, letting the air fill my cheeks before it escaped. “You’re testing me. You still think I’m a spy or something.”

“I would go to prison for Travis. I just want you to know that if it came to that, we’d all go down for him, even his wife.”

“I believe you. But I’m on your side.”

Taylor’s eyes fell to my lips, and he leaned in.

I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of his breath on my face. I wanted nothing more than to let him envelop me like a blanket, feeling him against every inch of me.

“Maybe we should wait,” I whispered against his mouth. “We’re so close.”

“Exactly,” he said before pressing his lips against mine.

My lips parted, allowing his tongue to slip inside. Every nerve sizzled under my skin. Begging to be touched by him, my body reacted exactly the opposite of when Tyler had kissed me, when I’d felt nothing. There was no disappointment, no disenchantment. Taylor’s soft lips and the way he tugged at me as if he couldn’t stand being even an inch away from me another minute made me feel everything, all at once, and I wanted more.

A chime came over the PA system, bringing me back to reality, and Taylor pulled away, breathing hard.

“Sorry,” he said, glancing at the people sitting across from us.

The two men seated across the aisle were shamelessly staring.

I sank back into my seat.

“You felt that, right?” Taylor said, keeping his voice low.

I looked up at him. “Promise you’ll never do that again.”

A grin slowly stretched across his face. “You have my word.”

Taylor pulled the rental we’d obtained at the airport into his father’s drive. He’d talked most of the way—about his job, the places he’d traveled, his brothers, his cousin, and what he knew of Travis’s new wife.

I barely noticed Taylor’s father’s house. My eyes were trained on the next plot over, the ranch-style brick home set a good thirty yards from the street, its long driveway empty.

Taylor and I had arrived around dinnertime. I watched the sun sinking all the way to the horizon instead of seeing its lights burning out behind a mountain peak. That struck me as a beautiful oddity.

“Home, sweet home,” Taylor said, opening his door. “And there he is.”

I tore my eyes away from the neighbor’s house long enough to see an older gentleman stepping outside.

“Is that your dad?” I asked.

Taylor nodded, smiling at the stout white-haired man waving at us from the porch. It was then when I noticed Taylor had parked the rental behind a silver Toyota Camry, and a young couple stepped out from behind Taylor’s father. The woman was holding a small black dog, and the man looked so much like Taylor that, for a moment, I wondered if he were his twin.

Taylor pulled our bags from the backseat, and then we made our way up the steps. He hugged his father and then whom I assumed to be his brother since they looked so much alike.

“Falyn, this is my dad, Jim Maddox.”

Jim reached for my hand, and I took it.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

He had the kindest eyes I’d ever seen, next to Chuck and Phaedra. They were patient and a bit excited and curious, too.

“This is my brother Travis and my sister-in-law, Abby.”

I shook Travis’s hand and then Abby’s. Her long caramel hair cascaded over her shoulders, much like mine. She was shorter than me, and Travis was taller than Taylor. Travis was smiling, happy simply to meet me, but Abby closely watched me, taking in every detail, likely wondering what was special about me that had led Taylor to bring me home.

“Well, it’s getting late. Let’s get you settled in,” Jim said.

The screen door complained as he pulled it open, and I followed Taylor inside.

The home was well worn. The carpets looked a lot like mine, and the furniture was so old that each piece had its own story to tell. The hallway opened up into the kitchen with a set of stairs on the other side.

“You two can take Thomas’s room,” Jim said. “We’ll see you back down here for dinner. Abby and Trav cooked.”

Taylor arched a brow. “Should I be afraid?”

Abby batted at his arm.

“All right,” Taylor said. “We’ll put our stuff away and see you in a second. Where’s Trent?”

“Chicken Joe’s tonight,” Jim said.

“He’s still doing that, huh?” Taylor said, glancing at me for half a second.

“Just about once a week now,” Jim said.

Travis and Abby left us for the kitchen, and Taylor took my hand, guiding me up the stairs and down another hall. He stopped at the last door on the right and twisted the knob, pushing through.

Taylor set the bag down on a loose board, making it creak and reveal itself beneath the carpet.

I hadn’t stayed over with friends very often as a child, and leaving for college had been difficult. Moving in above the Bucksaw had been a relief but also stressful. I never did well in foreign places, but the disrepair and decades-old furniture and wallpaper felt like a place I could call home.

My palm fell flat against my forehead. “I can’t believe I’m here. They’re just next door.”

“I can’t believe you’re here either,” Taylor said, reverence in his voice.

The bedroom was decorated with plastic sports trophies, medals, old pictures, and a blanket of dust. The whole house smelled of dinner, stale smoke, and a hint of men’s aftershave.

I took a step toward the wall, the setting sun glinting off a portrait of a very young Jim and Taylor’s mother, Diane.

“Where is she?” I asked, turning to him. “Your mom.”

Taylor rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s … not here. She passed away when I was a kid.”

My mouth fell open, and I snapped it shut. “Why haven’t you told me?”

“It hasn’t come up.”

“It sure as hell has—at least twice. All that talk about trusting each other, and you failed to mention that you grew up without a mother?”

Taylor let his hand fall to his thigh. “I don’t like to talk about it. It’s kind of like the twin thing. People see me differently when they know.”