He paced the floor, dialing her cell phone number again and again, praying for her to pick up, unsure of what was causing his panic but knowing something was terribly wrong. It had been hours since she peeled out of the driveway. Glancing out the window, he could see it was almost daylight.

"Ev?" Courtney spoke up, breaking the silence. “Where’s the bathroom?"

"Upstairs to the left."

Timidly, she walked up the stairs, regretting causing a scene for Katherine to walk in on. Courtney had known that he was in love with Katherine and knew Katherine felt the same. It was stupid, this jealousy she felt, because she had always known she didn't stand a chance. She'd known when she'd come home with him to bury his mama that she was taking the ruse way too far. It was an act of desperation, bravely attempting to disguise the heartbreak caused by another man, but she refused to think about that now.

Of course, she hadn't known why Ev hadn't wanted to get close to the Dunlap girl; she liked to think if she'd known, she would have told Ev he was dumb for keeping away from a girl who loved him that much, but realistically, she knew she probably wouldn't have played it any differently. She had been brought up getting whatever she wanted, and she had wanted Sean. Maybe not for keeps, but they really could have had some fun together.

Now, she would be lucky if Ev ever spoke to her again.

As she passed a closed door, she heard a phone ringing. She cracked the door and found Katherine's phone. Taking a moment to look around, she realized she had never stood a chance with him. There were pictures hung around her room and in frames and on the dresser. Most had both Katherine and Ev in them from younger days. He was usually looking at her with eyes full of love.

The phone rang again. Remembering why she came into this room, she grabbed the phone and headed downstairs.

"Uh, Ev? I've got her phone right here..."

As he stared at her hand, his phone started to vibrate and ring.

"Dammit."

Flipping it open, he spoke abruptly, "Sheriff?"

"Sean, is Katy with you?"

"No, sir, I can’t find her."

"Her truck was found about thirty miles outside Wolfe Springs headed toward Dallas."

"She's not there?"

"Well, no, but brace, son, because it gets worse. Sean, her truck was torn to pieces. It had flipped at least a half dozen times and we found tire tracks in the road to indicate she was run off the road, but Katy wasn't there."

"Can she have survived? Maybe gotten to help?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. She was thrown from the vehicle, and from what we can tell, she has lost a lot of blood and needs medical attention, like yesterday. Two things confuse me, though... What was she doing all the way out here alone, and why didn't she call for help?"

"I have no idea why she was all the way out there, but I have her phone in my hand. She didn't tell me where she was going, and I’m not really sure why she left in such a hurry, but she always forgets her phone."

"Say, do something for me. Check her messages and last calls to see if you can figure anything out. I’m on my way to you right now."

Opening her phone, he saw her screen saver was a picture of the two of them. His gut tightened. Looking at the text messages, he saw nothing abnormal, but the missed call log showed an unfamiliar number, so instinctively, he checked the voicemail and clicked on the message time stamped for the day before.

After listening to the voicemail left by her uncle, Sean immediately disconnected and redialed the sheriff, dread filling his chest.

"Sean?"

"Sheriff, I've got something. Her uncle left her a message asking for a meeting tonight at the The BeefHouse in Dallas. I am sure by now you have heard about the scene he made the only time she met him. He wanted her to give him money. She also returned his call right before she left."

"I’m going to check on it. Is there anyone else she's had problems with?"

"Well, Chad. He was hassling her after the funeral and showed up here the day her house was trashed."

"Ok, I’m about five minutes out, so let me call The BeefHouse and see about some info, and I’ll fill you in, in a few."

After hanging up the phone, he went back to pacing. This felt worse than when his parents had died, worse than anything in the world had. Peach, she was his whole life. In these deep dark moments, he hated himself for ever leaving. If he lost her, then all those years when he was being so damn 'generous' and giving her time would only amount to waste. Life would not even be worth living.

Going to the kitchen, he saw Courtney sitting at the table, hands covering her face, crying. Sitting down next to her, he rubbed her back. "Court, why are you crying?"

Sniffling, she looked up at him through her red-rimmed eyes, knowing she was about to lose her closest friend with her confessions but having no choice.

"Ev, it’s my fault she took off."

"How in the hell is it your fault?"

"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."

He sat stock still, barely breathing. "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. 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 you 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 with whiskey. Throwing it back, he reached into his pocket for a cigarette. Although he had quit smoking, he still carried a pack around just for comfort’s sake, and even though they were several months old, he lit one out of desperation. He looked around, realizing that if... no, when Katy returned home, she was going to skin him alive for smoking in her house, so he turned the tap on and extinguished the red, burning tip. With nothing else to do, he refilled his drink and threw it back again when he heard knocking at the door.

Sensing the danger of his mood, Courtney rushed to the door to allow the sheriff entry.

On the other side of the doorframe, Sheriff Pike’s hand was still raised to knock again, but he was frozen in shock. She felt self-conscious and knew that the sheriff’s mind was now calculating exactly why Katherine had left in such a hurry, his intuitive mind already reaching the correct conclusion having more information at his disposal than Ev had, remembering the rumors she had started before they had left. Shamefully, she hung her head and mumbled, "He's in the kitchen, Sheriff. He's workin’ on getting obliterated."

Walking past her, he merely touched his hat in response and mumbled, "Ma'am." Politeness in Texas may as well be a law, regardless of the disregard you held for the person you were dealing with.

As the sheriff walked into the kitchen, Courtney knew that if she ever stood a chance of keeping Ev as a friend, she had to do something to help. She had caused this mess and now she needed to make it right, no matter how much it ended up hurting her in the long run. She had bought this and it was up to her to fix it.