Dynamite & Whiskey

Chapter 5

Your phone woke you up at just after eleven that morning. Your heart fluttered in hope. Maybe it was Andy. You hadn't heard from him since the last night he'd snuck into your house.

It was Lawrence. You decided to answer at the last minute. He probably wanted to know how your interview with Lilah Bennett went the day before.

"Hey, you been watching your TV?" he asked sounding way more excited than he normally did.

"Just woke up, actually," you admitted. You sounded like you just woke up.

"Then look at the fucking news online," he grumbled. "Jacob Barber had all the charges dropped against him. Some pedophile admitted to the murder and hung himself."

It was over?

"What?"

"Yeah," Lawrence went on. "Now you can get your ass back here. I need you."

Your brain was struggling to get up to speed.

"I just met with Lilah Bennett yesterday," you told him.

"I'm sure you did," Lawrence went on. "But you'd be starting over, and you don't want that. You can start back on the Monday after Christmas."

You appreciated that he wanted you back, but he'd also laid you off. You understood why, but still...

"Can I have until Sunday night to think about it?"

"Are you shitting me?" Lawrence was loud. "What did she promise you?"

"Not as much as what I have with you," you admitted. "But I'd like to think about it if you don't mind."

"Yeah, fuck, okay," Lawrence said after a moment. "If I don't hear from you by five Sunday evening, I will assume I'll see you that Monday morning. Okay?"

"Okay," you told him, ending the call.

The trial was over. Andy's son was free. He didn't commit the murder after all.

Your head swam with the implications as you got up to grab your laptop and brought it back to your bed. You pulled up the local news website. The first thing you saw?

Your heart dropped to see a picture of Andy with his arms wrapped around his wife and son. They looked so happy in that moment.

You knew they were. The last several months had been complete hell for all three of them. You were glad it was over. You couldn't imagine having someone you love, your child, accused of such a thing. Andy had never really discussed the case with you except to say he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jacob was innocent.

Once again, he was right.

You were happy for him.

But what did it mean for you?

Tuesday went by with no word and Wednesday was even slower. By Thursday night, your insecurities preyed on your mind to the point where you were struggling. You didn't sleep that night, even with all the bourbon you put down with your dinner. You'd ended up watching romantic comedies alone in your bed with the volume ridiculously low, hoping Andy would come to you.

It's over. The words played over and over in your head until your vision blurred.

You were a safe place for him when he needed you. A place outside the chaos, beyond what he couldn't control. You'd held him, held him together.

Now that their son was free and the nightmare was over for them, they could put their family back together. They would put their family back together. Andy had told you his marriage was over but never why. And it would be for the best for them to heal their family, right? It would be the best thing for Jacob certainly.