As she drew close to the barn, she heard a woman’s voice. It was Amber’s. Maybe that’s what that traitor Kara had been doing all day. She sidled up to the barn and peered through a crack. She fought to suppress a loud groan.
Inside the barn, Seamus and Amber were leaning against an old truck, drinking beers. They were standing about five feet apart, laughing about something that one of them had said. Amber looked like she was about to saunter into Freddy’s in a tight pale-blue dress with a printed sheer overlay. What the hell was she doing here?
Seamus looked at his watch.
“Listen, Amber, I gotta get going. Nico’s gonna be waiting back at the house. Thanks for coming up today. You really hooked a brother up.”
Amber moved closer to him.
“Of course, handsome,” she purred. “Anything for you. Here, lemme give you a few more, you know, just in case.”
She dragged her purse off the hood of the truck and pulled out a pill bottle. She began to open it, and then thought better of it, tossing the whole bottle to Seamus, who caught it deftly in his right hand.
“One for the road?” she asked.
“Sure, why not?” Seamus twisted the cap and poured two pills into his hand. He handed one to Amber, and they each washed them down with the last swig of their beers. Nicola pressed her face against the rough wood of the barn, feeling it scratch her cheek, anger rising up inside her. She wanted to run back to her car and leave. She wanted to throw up. She couldn’t do either quietly enough.
Fuck this, she thought, pushing herself off the splintery wood. She moved slowly, in shock, along the wall toward an open door. She could still hear them talking but couldn’t make out words over the blood buzzing in her ears. She grabbed the edge of the doorway and pulled herself into the barn.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Seamus spun, dropping his beer bottle in the dirt. Nicola saw him tuck the pill bottle into his pocket.
“Nico, what are you doing here? I’m just about to head back to the house.…”
“What am I doing here? What am I doing here?”
“Hey, Malibu Barbie, ’sup?” Amber drawled, a smile flickering at the corner of her lips.
Seamus turned to Amber.
“Can you please leave us alone?”
“Of course, doll.” She began to walk toward Nicola. “I told you, you wouldn’t be able to hack it.”
As she drew closer, Nicola flicked her foot and tripped her, sending Amber plunging to the dirty barn floor.
“What the actual fuck, you wretched beast,” Amber screamed. Nicola stepped toward her and clenched her fists.
“Get the fuck out of here or I will kick your sorry junkie ass to death right here, right fucking now.”
Amber scrambled to her feet and headed for the door, dirt smearing her dress, hands, and legs. She paused at the door and blew a kiss to Seamus.
“Call me, sugar,” she cooed. “And bye, loser.”
She was gone.
Nicola turned to Seamus and was shocked to see that he was leaning against the car, crying.
“Nico, come here, please come here,” he sobbed. “I can explain; I can explain everything.”
Nicola didn’t move. The pain in her chest was too great.
“Show me the pills,” she said, her voice breaking.
Seamus reached into his pocket and retrieved the bottle. He tossed it to Nicola. OxyContin. Prescribed to someone named Jill Overton. She tossed it into a far corner of the barn.
“Can you explain lying to me? Can you explain why you omitted to tell me that you were a junkie when I told you about why I had to leave Dayton? About my stupid ex-boyfriend who got my little brother hooked on fucking meth? When I told you how much I fucking hate drugs?”
“Nico, please, just listen. It’s a pill habit. It’s just prescription pills. It’s just Oxy!”
“Sure, because hillbilly heroin is so much better than the other kind.”
“No, it’s not. You’re right. But it’s just as hard to quit, and I’ve been trying to quit.”
“That definitely explains why you’re using that reality show cockroach as your drug mule on our weekend away. It looks like you’re doing a great job of quitting.”
“Please call Bluey, please. He will tell you. He’s tried to get me off it twice. I just never have ten weeks off to do it for real.” His crying went deeper, into loud wrenching sobs. Nicola thought she was going to throw up.
“Seamus, I’m leaving. I’m going home. I can’t,” she stammered. “I really … fuck. I just can’t believe I was so fucking dumb.”
“No, Nicola, please stay and we can talk. You’ll see. I didn’t tell you because I’ve been working to quit. And I planned to tell you once I had an escape plan in place. I swear on it. Nicola, I love you. I love you more than I love anyone.”