The Best of Us (4 page)

Det. Stone, and his partner, Det. Wright, had come by, but Carly had been sleeping both times. The second time, they said they understood that she was not ready to talk, but they needed to get as much information as possible since there were so few clues to go on. They left without seeing her, but with a promise from Carly’s dad that she would call as soon as she woke up. She did. They were scheduled to meet the day after the funeral.

And here they were, the day of the funeral. It should be raining and storming. It shouldn’t be sunny and beautiful, it just seemed wrong.

Carly rode with her parents to the church that the Wayne’s had gone to since their oldest, Harmon, was a newborn. The church was where Jenna had been baptized and had planned to one day get married. Instead, they were having her funeral.

Carly and her parents sat in the pew directly behind the Wayne’s. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room by the time the funeral was over. They had pictures of Jenna all along the front of the church. Several of them included Carly and Jenna’s family. Several of them, Carly herself had taken. The Wayne family had endured many photo shoots during Carly’s time in college as she worked toward one day being a famous photographer. The Wayne’s were definitely grateful for all the pictures now that there would be no more taken of Jenna.

Jenna’s brothers, Daniel, Harmon and Carter were pall bearers along with a cousin and two friends of Jenna’s and Carly’s from high school, Anthony and Trent.

At the end of the funeral, Carly went up to Jenna’s parents, Lucille and Eric Wayne. They all held each other tightly and cried. Carly hugged each one of the brothers but none of them said anything, there was no need.

That night the storms came. Carly couldn’t help but think that the whole world was now mourning the loss of Jenna.

He had gotten there early. He wanted a little time to himself in the store to try to feel Jenna. She was still there, or at least he could still feel her energy everywhere. He gave a little, self-mocking laugh at that thought. Had anyone said that they could feel the energy of a dead woman, he would have thought they were nuts! But now he knew, now that he had lost his baby sister, he knew what people meant was that they were remembering. Remembering the sound of their loved ones voice, their laugh and their personality…Daniel shook his head and sighed deeply.

When the bell above the door jingled he looked toward it, holding his breath. They still didn’t have any explanation as to his sister’s death and he was on high alert all the time. He let his breathing resume without even realizing he’d been holding it.
Carly
. He hadn’t seen her since the funeral. She didn’t look much better today. She was still pale and had dark circles under her eyes and she looked like she’d lost more weight. But her eyes were what drew him. She had always had the biggest blue eyes and they were one of her strongest features, but today they were rimmed with red. She had been crying.

She stood just inside the door. He knew she couldn’t see him. He hadn’t turned on any lights when he’d arrived and it was a foggy morning. He was standing in a dark, shadowy nook and realized he’d been there long enough that if he moved he would scare her. He didn’t want to do that.

Carly took a deep breath and it came out as a sob. She turned suddenly reaching for the door. Daniel started to call to her, to stop her, but just as he drew a breath in to speak, she stopped. Her head dropped down and he heard another sob tear out of her and his heart broke for her. He couldn’t stand there and watch her torment any longer, but before he could move Carly’s head came up. It looked like she was looking just above the door. Daniel’s gaze quickly flicked to the spot it appeared she was looking at, but there was nothing there.

“
NO...” It wasn’t the word that had Daniel’s pulse quickening, it was the guttural growl spoken in Carly’s voice that got him. “I will not let this beat me…” This was also in Carly’s voice, but much quieter. Daniel realized she was fighting the ghost rather than looking for it, as he had been.

As he watched, Carly’s back straightened, her shoulders squared and she took a deep breath. While there was still some shakiness to the deep breath, there was a determined air all around Carly that you could almost see. She slowly turned around and took another, smaller, steadier breath. Daniel couldn’t help but admire her inner strength.

Carly reached over and turned on the lights and let out a gasp.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Daniel apologized, his voice thick with emotion. All the hard earned bravado she had built up seemed to crumble before his eyes. She didn’t seem to be focusing on him just looking in his general direction. He realized that she’d only flipped one of the two switches that operated the lights and he was still in shadows. She could only see a dark form watching her and she was frozen with fear.

Daniel stepped out with his hands held up to show that he wasn’t any threat. Carly let out the breath that had been trapped in her throat and seemed to sag right before him. Daniel hurried to her side to catch her but she regained her composure at the same time he reached her.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were here.” Carly said to his chest as he held her close.

“
No, I’m sorry. I should have said something when you first came in.” Daniel replied gently.

“
You’ve been here the whole time, watching me?” Carly pulled back a little to look up a Daniel.

“
I didn’t mean to.” He felt like the little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I was about to say something but you seemed to need a moment and I…” His voice trailed off as he realized that he had invaded a very private moment for her. “I’m sorry Carly. I truly am. I didn’t mean to intrude. I just…I ... I don’t know why I didn’t say something. My mind isn’t all together here right now. I was in my own thoughts about Jenna and I didn’t think.” Daniel shook his head then said, “I’m sorry.”

Carly stood there looking up at him, knowing that he didn’t mean to scare the life out of her and could see he was still in pain over Jenna. At the thought of her, Carly closed her eyes as a tear escaped. Daniel, still watching her, said something that would have made his mother blush and pulled her back into his arms and held on tightly. Carly didn’t want to move from the comfort of his arms but she knew she needed to distance herself from him. She had loved Daniel once, too much, and she didn’t think she could survive loving him like that again and being devastated and humiliated all over again. She knew the fear of humiliation was irrational, but it was deep rooted and she couldn’t get around it. After eight years, it still burned her cheeks a little to think back to prom.

“
Carly?” Daniel’s voice brought Carly out of her thoughts. She looked up at him and saw the worry and concern in his eyes.

“
It’s okay. You just startled me. You’re right, I needed a moment to myself when I first walked in and I appreciate you letting me have it. It wouldn’t have made a difference if I had known you were there. Well, it might have made me feel like a simpering idiot, but my reaction would have been the same.” Carly took a steadying breath, stepping out of Daniels comforting embrace and looked around the room. “This is the first time I’ve been in here since…” She trailed off and felt Daniel give her arm a gentle, encouraging squeeze. “Anyway,” she continued, “you have nothing to be sorry for.”

“
So, what are you doing here?” Carly asked.

“
Mom asked me to pick up a few things from the apartment.” Daniel paused,“And I know today’s the day you are supposed to meet with the police and I didn’t want you to have to go through that alone.”

A fresh sheen of tears appeared in Carly’s eyes. “Thank you. I am not sure how much I can add since I was hardly ever here.” Almost as if to herself, Carly softly said, “I think I’m going to stick around for a while, at least until they figure out what happened.”

Daniel took a good look at Carly, “You know that could take some time.”

“
Yeah, I know. I’m freelance so I can take time off as long as I can afford it and I’m doing pretty well.” Carly walked around ‘Treasures’, Jenna’s resale shop. Jenna had always wanted this and she made sure it happened. Jenna had always known what she wanted and went after it. “I’m going to stay in the apartment upstairs if you and your family don’t mind.”

“
I don’t know how safe that is…but it’s your place as much as it was Jenna’s. None of us have ever stayed here with her. She called the second bedroom yours. It was always ready for when you came to visit.”

Carly took a steadying breath, “I feel safe here, up there…” Carly nodded toward the door to the apartment. “It’s the closest thing to a home that I have. I’m hardly ever at my apartment. It’s more of a stop off point in between assignments. This is the only place I truly call home, no matter how hard I try to get away, it keeps pulling me back.”

Daniel stood there looking at the girl he had once known in the woman before him and marveled at how she could still be the same but so different. “There will be a reading of Jenna’s will tomorrow…” Daniel let the sentence drop.

“
I’ll be there.” After a slight pause, “I’ll have the locks changed today if you don’t mind.” Carly turned toward the apartment door; once she reached it she turned to Daniel, who was watching her closely. “It has never occurred to me that at twenty six, I might need a will.” A single tear escaped, “I guess you never know.” Carly turned and went upstairs.

The two detectives arrived about ten that morning. They couldn’t have been more different from each other. Now that Carly had gotten her head together some, she realized she hadn’t even noticed Det. Wright that day they found Jenna; but Det. Stone looked familiar enough that she knew they’d met, but she wouldn’t have been able to tell you where from if she’d met him again in a different setting.

He was an extremely attractive man, tall, dark and handsome…very cliché, but very true. He was what you’d classify as a hunk. He had muscle, but not so much that he was bulky. He had eyes that drew you in and could either be a comfort or intimidating. “What an odd thought”, Carly muttered to herself. But it was true. She could see compassion in his eyes as he introduced himself and his partner to her again, as if they were meeting for the first time. Carly could also imagine him on the offensive with a criminal…going after him, attacking him in interrogation, staring him down…yeah, he was a man in charge, and didn’t need to advertise it, it was a given.

Carly couldn’t help but compare him to Daniel. Daniel had filled out since she’d last seen him eight years ago. He’d always been handsome, but he’d become even more handsome…and sexy, man, was he sexy! He was solid. That wasn’t always a compliment, but in Daniel’s case, it was part of what made him, well, him. At six-two, he was close to the same height as Det. Stone, just a hair shorter. Daniel had thick brown hair, just long enough to make her want to run her fingers through, but still short enough to be considered clean cut. He was muscular, but it was lean muscle. Carly had always loved the way he looked in jeans, and that hadn’t changed. In fact, he looked even better in them now. Being a fireman kept the man in shape, and there was no doubting the he was all man! He wasn’t intimidating like Det. Stone, but you wouldn’t want to face him when he was angry…he wasn’t one to shy away when someone got in his face or messed with someone he loved.