IT WAS COMING ON DUSK when Courtney pulled into Katherine's driveway and parked. It was a tad warmer there, which was a little further north than where Courtney's parents lived, but it was nowhere near as warm as the day had started out. Courtney climbed out of her car and knocked on the door. She was relieved that Ev was the one who opened the door. She didn't even take in his state of undress; she just threw herself into his arms.

"Ev, I've missed you, darlin'!"

He hugged her even though she could hear the annoyance in his voice when he said, "Court, I told you the other day that I'd be down there in a week or two. Couldn't this have waited? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."

She sniffled quietly, but he must have caught it because when she said, "Or someone. Are you trying to make me jealous, Ev?" his tone changed, and he played along for a minute.

"As if you'd be jealous of an old cowboy like me. We both know you've got your eye on someone else, and I don’t have a chance.”

She was eternally grateful for his playfulness, and in the same vein, she responded, "Buddy, I'd marry you in a second. Let's get out of here."

He stiffened, and she knew she had taken it too far when he said, "Oh, yeah, well, I like being on friendly terms with your brother and your ex, so let's keep it our little secret, yeah?"

She loved him. Loved him. He was the second brother she had never had. She couldn't help the slight smile when she said, "Well, I guess..."

She wrapped her arms around Ev and whispered, "I screwed up. Cole was home, and we had a confrontation that got way out of hand, and I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry. I know you have stuff going on. I just needed my best friend. I missed you, and it was taking you forever."

Just like Ev, his response was immediate, "I'm sorry, darlin'. I've missed you, too, but I had to take care of some stuff down here first."

She happened to catch sight of Katherine peeking around the corner and watching them suspiciously, and it hit her already rough nerves, so she played on the other woman's insecurity when she said in a playfully sexy voice that only the two of them knew was joking, "Well, as long as you've missed me, lover."

He shook his head and pulled back a bit, laughing at her silliness. "You know I did. How's Dev?"

"He's alright, I guess. He isn't home yet. I think that he and Clint are flying in tonight, but I can't swear to it."

He looked up the stairs, looking for Katherine, if Courtney had to guess, but she didn't say anything, and he spoke again. "What was Cole doing back? Did your folks plan that?"

Her whole body froze at that thought. Had her parents planned the whole thing? Suddenly needing her back and then sending her back to Cole's house, ripe for the picking, with her engagement ring and his house key? Surely not, right? While she was mulling over that thought, they heard the back door slam, and seconds later, a vehicle start up. Ev yanked open the front door in time for them to watch taillights take off.  She didn't speak when Ev asked in utter confusion, "What the hell is she doing?"

He looked at Courtney, but she kept her mouth closed. She had an uneasy feeling that her little show had led to Katherine taking off, but she was hoping desperately that this wasn't the case.

Minutes turned into hours, and the realization began to set in that she had caused Katherine to flee. Why? Ev obviously loved her, and he was worried sick. What was the point in that little childish show? The only person she was truly angry with was Cole, and he wasn't here. Hurting this woman, no matter if her best friend had been hurt by her repeatedly in the past—and she didn't believe that she was the one for him—hadn't done any good and had only managed to make her feel worse. Not only was her heart shattered, but she had managed to do the same to another person. The momentary satisfaction hadn't helped in even the slightest bit. She had known since she had come home with Ev to bury his mama that he was in love with Katherine. It was ridiculous that she had acted out in such a way. She wouldn’t lie and say that she hadn’t considered that the two of them could have had fun together, but both had been in love with other people for the entirety of their friendship. She was terrified now that her little fit of jealousy would cause her to lose her best friend.

It was close to dawn when she broke the tense silence by asking for directions to the restroom. Ev quickly gave her instructions, and she made her way up the stairs, only veering off path when she heard a phone ringing in a room with a closed door. Opening that door was when she realized the gravity of what she had done. All over the room were pictures of Katherine and Ev. All throughout their lives. They stopped right about the time, Courtney guessed, when she had met him and he had stopped going home. She could see that they were in love. Whatever the issue between them was, it wasn't that Katherine didn't love Ev. It was clear to anyone who stepped foot into the room that she had always been madly in love with him, the kind of love that Courtney recognized because she herself held that same emotion for Cole.

The phone started ringing again and jerked her from her reverie. She grabbed it and rushed down the stairs calling out, "Uh, Ev? I've got her phone right here..."

He was frozen as he took in the phone resting in her palm, and he didn't break out of it until his own phone went off. From what she could gather, the sheriff was calling about Katherine. She felt it in her stomach when he asked in a voice she had never heard from him before, sounding like it was torn from him, "Can she have survived? Maybe gotten to help?"

God, what had she done?

She had caused this, and obviously, something serious had happened if Ev was asking in such a broken voice if she could have survived.

All my fault.

All. My. Fault.

In a trance, she made her way to the kitchen and sat at the table, dropping her head into her hands and letting the tears fall. She had done some really messed-up things in her life. But this? This took the cake.

She didn't look up when Ev walked into the room and sat down next to her. She could feel the tension and fear radiating off him, but still, he took the time to ask her, "Court, why are you crying?"

She looked up at him and knew then that she was about to lose her best friend, and it was her fault. She had gotten by with a lot of things in the past, but this one wouldn't be one of them. This was too big, too important.

"Ev, it's my fault she took off."

He jerked up and looked at her like she was crazy. "How in the hell is it your fault?"

It was then that she gave it to him. All of it. "It started several years ago, back when you brought me home for your mama's funeral. I was jealous. I knew how much you loved her and didn't understand why you wanted to stay away from her, but I took it excessively too far. When you needed her the most, I made sure I was always in the way. She would draw your attention, and I would distract you. And when we were about to leave, I told her parents and some other people around town that we were getting married... I didn't think you'd ever come back here, and I didn't want to take a chance on her coming after you later." She didn't add that she thought at the time that she was protecting him. She didn't think it would make a difference to him in this situation.

He freaked. She knew he would, and he had every right to. All he had ever done was act as a good friend and take her back, at times through some serious shit, and her repayment was to betray his trust and drive the woman he was in love with into danger. She held herself perfectly still as he barely breathed saying, "So, that’s why she asked about you. Why it was so hard for me to get through to her. The rant about the sisterhood. But I still don't understand how that would have caused this."

"I... Oh God, this is hard. She came into the room when you opened the door and were holding me. I kind of took advantage of the situation and made it look like we were having an intimate moment between lovers, not simply sharing a friendly reunion."

"You... Dammit, Courtney, dammit!"

Abruptly rising from his chair, he swept his arm across the table, throwing everything to the floor, and immediately went to the liquor cabinet and filled a glass up to the rim, tossing it back. He patted at his chest pocket and pulled out a cigarette, and normally she would nag him since it took ages for him to quit, but she just watched as he lit it and then, looking around, rushed to the sink and turned the faucet on to extinguish the heat. With nothing else to do, he went back and refilled his liquor glass and again threw the contents back. She couldn't fault him for doing so. She sat there and watched in silence, horrified at the damage she had caused.

There was a knock at the front door, and she rushed to get it and saw that it wasn't just a sheriff, it was the man known as Sheriff, Katherine's godfather and Ev’s close family friend. Also someone she had spread her lies to on her last visit, one of the townspeople she had told they were getting married. It was a toss-up as to who was more shocked, him or her, but she took the lead in the conversation since she had caused the damage. "He's in the kitchen, Sheriff. He's workin’ on getting obliterated."

When he walked past her, he was still ever so polite and touched his hat in her direction while saying only, "Ma'am."

That’s Texas for you. Politeness to a fault.

She stood there for a moment, but she knew. If there was a way to save Katherine, and if there was a chance of ever getting her friend back, she needed help. She knew that calling her brother would bring Clint, and Clint would bring Cole, but at this point, she had no choice. The time for her to wallow was over, and she needed to fix this pronto. She picked up her phone and dialed her brother’s number, but it went to voicemail. She called her home phone, and it, too, went to voicemail. Cursing herself for not having the foresight to take down the landline number of the La Barron place, she sat down on the couch and waited. She would give them a little bit, then call them back. If anyone could find Katherine and save her, it was her boys. It was ironic that this situation had her thinking of them that way again after so long.

Life or death situations were funny like that, I guess.