My hands were shaking. I knew that something bad was about to happen, and I was positive I didn’t want to know anymore, but there was no way to stop him.

He leaned forward again, wringing his hands. “She called me again, around three in the morning. I was in bed, and it took several rings for me to wake up and answer. Hilary was livid. I was about to hang up, but her breath was coming in short pants. ‘I think there’s someone in my apartment,’ she said. Something in her voice made me listen this time. So I told her I’d come over.

“Hilary told me not to bother coming back if I walked out the door. And I almost didn’t go, but somehow I knew that Savannah was in real trouble.” He grabbed the sides of his head. “I should have called 911 myself, but I was still kind of drunk and not thinking straight. I definitely shouldn’t have been driving.” He paused. “I ran into a ditch when I was a couple of blocks away and banged up my car pretty good. But I was still determined to check on Savannah. So I walked the rest of the way and when I got to her apartment, the front door was wide open.” Tears streamed down his face.

“Joe, you don’t have to tell me anymore.”

I put my hand on his knee, but he pushed it off and stood, turning his back to me. “Yes, I do. I need to tell you. I don’t want to hide it anymore.”

“Okay.”

He took several gulps of air. “When I went inside, I saw signs of a struggle, but I didn’t see Savannah. When I called her name, she didn’t answer.” His eyes sank closed “I found her in her bedroom. She was lying on her bed. She’d been repeatedly stabbed.” Joe’s voice broke. “She was still alive though, and she reached for me, whispering ‘I knew you’d come.’” Joe’s shoulders shook as he cried harder, his back still to me. “She’d expected me to come save her all along, and I’d ignored her. I had convinced the officers on patrol in her area that she was only trying to get attention. But she wasn’t, Rose. A guy from a coffee shop she went to had started stalking her.”

I knew I should do or say something, but I was too overcome with horror to react.

“I finally got my act together enough to call 911, but it was too late. She died before the ambulance showed up. She died holding my hand.” Joe’s head hung forward as he cried.

I watched him for several seconds, waiting to see if he was going to add more. “I don’t see how this involves Mason.” But as soon as I said the words, I knew. I sank back into the sofa cushions, squeezing my eyes shut as though to block out the horror playing out in my living room.

“Savannah was Mason’s sister.”

I started to cry.

“Mason was furious, and he blamed me for his sister’s death. I alternated between blaming and recusing myself. Hilary took me back, of course, but I decided I was done with her for good and moved out.”

“When did this all happen?”

“Last March.”

My mouth dropped in shock. “That recently?” It had been less than a year ago.

He nodded, still refusing to look at me.

Neely Kate had told me that Mason had come to Henryetta because something bad had happened to him, something that had been buried so deep even she couldn’t figure out what it was. It had to be part of this mess, but why would he hide his sister’s death? There had to be something else. “What happened to Mason?”

Joe’s head lifted. He turned toward me but still refused to look at me. “What do you mean?”

“Neely Kate said he was exiled here because of something he did in Little Rock. What did he do?”

“He beat the shit out of the guy who killed his sister.”

“Can anyone blame him for that?”

“He put the guy in a coma.”

This just got worse and worse.

“The DA was about to file assault charges against him, which was an embarrassment to the Little Rock prosecuting attorney’s office as well as his prominent family. My father used his political connections to get him out of it.”

“Why would he do that?”

For the first time, Joe looked at me, bitterness in his eyes. “Because I was such an embarrassment to my family. My father swept everything under the rug that he could reach with his political broom. Mason got out of the charges and moved to Henryetta. Only he was pretty bitter about it. He had a very promising career in Little Rock. Moving to Henryetta was the death of that.”

No wonder Mason had been so cranky when he first moved here.

“Do you have any questions?”

Did I? I wanted to know how long he’d dated Savannah, how serious they’d been. If he’d been cruel to her. But I also didn’t want to know any of those things. Part of me wished I didn’t know any of it. “No.”

He watched me, a variety of emotions playing across his face. “Say something.”

I bit my lip as tears burned my eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Do you hate me?”

I stood, then shook my head and threw my arms around his stiff shoulders. “I could never hate you, Joe.”

Some of the tension in his back faded.

“I’m sorry.”

His head lifted, incredulous. “Why are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry you had to go through this.”

He shook his head, crying again. “I never wanted you to know, but I realized how wrong that was. If I didn’t tell you, our life together would be based on a lie. I’m a different man with you, Rose. When I’m Joe Simmons, I’m hard and jaded. But Joe McAllister is kinder and gentler. I want to be that man.”