a few more steps and then stopped. The officer stopped, too, and seemed to understand Lily’s growing impatience.
She handed her a business card. “All right, but if you need to talk to anyone, just give me a call. I can help you find someone good.”
Lily took the card even though she had no intention of using this. She’d already gone through therapy. She refused to depend on that again. She’d moved on. This was just a minor setback. Chances were he wouldn’t be released anyway. What board would do that after hearing her testimony?
“You’ll be notified of the board’s decision in about a week. Maybe less.”
Lily nodded with another forced smile and started walking again. “You take care now,” the woman called after her.
Lily kept walking, glancing back once to make sure she was finally rid of the woman. Seeing the officer heading back toward the prison settled her nerves a notch.
Reaching her Dodge Ram pickup truck, she kicked the front tire on her way to the driver’s door to vent some of her frustration. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to go to the parole hearing and hold her head high, show that dirty rat how strong she was. Climbing into the truck, she sat there for a minute, unable to shake her tension. She couldn’t let her daughter see her like this. Not on top of all the talk flying around Honey Creek. She’d expected some talk around town, but she hadn’t expected it to be as bad as it was. That was two things she’d underestimated.
Starting the engine, she wiped an escaped tear and backed out of the parking space. She drove toward the end of the row a little faster than she should have. Okay, a lot faster. She couldn’t wait to get away, to put the prison behind her and out of sight. The residual image of Brandon’s face lurked in her mind, the way he stayed focused on the parole board and ignored her. Would it have been better if he had acknowledged her?
Her stomach churned with nausea. Maybe once she returned to Honey Creek she’d recover.
A black SUV crossed in front of her. She didn’t see it coming and didn’t have time to avoid a collision. She slammed on her brakes, but her truck hit the SUV broadside. Her airbag exploded and her mind blanked for a second.
When she could think again, she saw that she’d sent the SUV head-on into a light pole. Its front end was crushed. So was the passenger side. Her truck didn’t appear to have sustained much damage and the engine was still running. Her heart hammered and the shock of the wreck intensified the tremble in her limbs.
A man stepped out of the driver’s side of the SUV. He was tall and muscular but lean. Lily opened her truck door and hopped out, steadying her wobbly legs as she approached the man.
“I am so sorry. Are you all right?” she said.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he stopped when she did, his eyes full of annoyance.
When he didn’t answer, she asked, “D-do you want me to … call for help?” She’d left her cell phone in the truck. She started to turn.
“No. Don’t do that. I’m okay.”
She faced him again. He’d lowered his hand and now his gaze took her in, a slow and observant once-over.
She stiffened a little. At least he wasn’t as annoyed anymore. “Your neck …”
“It’ll be sore for a few days but I’m all right.”
After studying her face a bit longer, he glanced back at his SUV and then walked to the front. There, he stood and surveyed the damage.
Lily was mortified. She wanted to crawl out of her skin and escape until this was over.
“I have insurance,” she said quickly.
He looked at her.
“I—I was … I guess I was … a little distracted,” she stammered.
“Places like this have that effect,” he said.
Was he kidding? She didn’t know what to say.
“It’s probably going to be totaled,” he said.
Great. She couldn’t remember what her deductable was. A thousand probably. And her rates would go up after this, too.
“That’s all right.” As if.
“I liked my SUV,” he said.
She hadn’t thought of it like that. “I’m sorry.” Could she disappear now?
The victims’ officer came running toward them. She must have barely made it into the building when she’d noticed the crash.
Here we go, Lily thought. Lord, she wanted to go home.
“Oh, my God … are you two okay?” The officer stopped, breathing rapidly from exertion.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Lily said. “Neither one of us is hurt, but I’ll call the police for an accident report and we’ll be on our way.” She tapped the toe of her shoe on the pavement and looked toward the road leading to the checkpoint.
The officer followed her look and then her gaze passed over the wreckage of the man’s truck. “One of you isn’t going anywhere without help. You’ll need a tow.”
“We probably need an accident report,” Lily repeated, knowing she sounded harried. “You know … for insurance. So as soon as we call….” She could drive home.
“We don’t need to call anyone to come out here,” the man said.
She stopped tapping her foot. “Really?”
“No one was hurt, and this is a private parking lot. All we need to do is stop by the sheriff’s office and fill out a form for insurance.”
“Oh. Okay. Good.” Then all they needed was a tow truck. How long would that take?
His eyes grew more curious and then he really looked at her. It made her nervous. As if she wasn’t nervous enough.
“Maybe I should get someone to drive you home,” the officer said to her. “You look a little shaken.”
“No. I can drive.”
“You were just in an accident.”
This lady was really starting to irritate her. Did she hound all the victims who came here? Lily didn’t respond, just looked toward the road again. Oh, to be on it, driving away from here, on her way home.
“Wait a minute,” the man said, which brought her head back around. “You look familiar.”
How could he possibly know her?
“Where are you from?” he asked.
She didn’t want to tell him.
“Wes Colton.” He stuck out his hand. “Honey Creek County sheriff.”
Momentarily stunned, she numbly took his hand. Colton. He was a Colton?
“You’re from Honey Creek?” she asked, her astonishment coming out in her tone.
He smiled. “Yeah. You’re Lily Masterson, right? You took over for Mary Walsh at the library.”
“That’s me,” Lily said, cringing inside. The resident bad girl. There was only one reason he recognized her. All the gossip. Honey Creek was rampant with it these days.
“You know each other?” the officer cut in.
“No,” Lily all but snapped.
“Not really,” Wes answered conversationally. “We both live in Honey Creek. It’s not far from here.”
“I know where that town is.” The officer smiled. “Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
Quite.
He nodded toward the prison. “Might be a bad sign that we’re