Safe and Sound by E.M. Lindsey

Author:E.M. Lindsey [Lindsey, E.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Regan didn’t want to admit he still knew Isaac well enough that his only option in that moment was to avoid going home if he didn’t want a full-blown confrontation. He hadn’t really anticipated the way his panic would settle in, but he’d run and hadn’t been entirely aware of it until he was on the road and heading toward his trailer.

He pulled over to avoid crashing when the peak of his anxiety attack hit, and by the time it was over, he knew he had to get out of town. He had a few friends he could count on after this many years of living and working there, but there was only one person he could actually trust to get him through.

Only one person who actually knew what Regan’s trauma was like. Paul had seen Regan at his best and his worst, and he was one of the only people Regan truly believed didn’t judge him when everything became too much. He didn’t see Paul as often these days considering he lived out in the boonies and was too old to drive at night, but he had an open-door policy.

One Regan had only made use of a handful of times.

But that night felt like it counted.

Pulling into the driveway, he hoped the headlights on his car had alerted Paul to his arrival, and he quickly hopped out, making his way to the door. Hitting the buzzer, he saw the doorbell lights flash through the slit in the curtain, and after a long beat, the man appeared. Paul looked the way he always did these days—haggard and tired, slightly hunched in the shoulders, and showing more bald patches than before.

He also looked completely unsurprised to see Regan standing there and waved him inside with his slightly bent arthritic hand. The air in his house was warmer than outside but not particularly cozy, and Regan hugged his middle as Paul nudged him toward the kitchen.

Regan took his customary seat at the little wooden table and looked over at Paul, who was staring at him with a familiar expression on his face.

‘Tell me what happened.’

Regan passed a hand down his face and felt a groan rumble at the back of his throat. After a beat, he sat back and let his hands fall into loose signs, weighed down by the fatigue of his day. ‘Someone from my past showed up at my work tonight.’

Paul’s eyes narrowed. ‘Your father?’

Regan scoffed. ‘I’m sure that old man’s dead.’ His fingers fluttered through the air for a second as he tried to find the courage to spell Isaac’s name, and eventually, he did. He watched Paul’s eyes widen, but there was still no judgment on his face.

‘Talk to me,’ Paul urged again when Regan’s hands stilled.

Regan swallowed, then gave a sharp nod before sitting forward a bit and squaring his shoulders. ‘A few weeks ago, Debbie told me that some famous writer was moving into town. I didn’t think it was going to be him.’

‘But it was,’ Paul signed.

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