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Back Lying Next to Me Save as PDF
Chapters (87)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  65. CHAPTER SIXTY
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  75. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  76. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  77. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  85. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  86. EPILOGUE
  87. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Before she could speak, I put a lid on the conversation.

“Let’s go check in on your folks.”

I could count the times I returned to Shelton after Kip’s funeral on a single hand. I didn’t go to any class reunions or anything like that. I wanted to shake the sawdust off my clothes for good. I wanted a better, bigger life than my father had. And yet, it was still a part of who I was. Who I used to be anyway. Every now and then I’d check the Shelton-Mason County Journal’s web page to see what was happening in the place I’d called home until college gave me the excuse and means to escape. I read about DUIs, funerals, levies that failed.

It both surprised me and made me very happy to see that Lee Husemann had been hired on as a Mason County sheriff’s deputy, then later that she made detective. Her picture was online, and I looked at it on my SkyAero laptop, taking it in for the longest time. I could still see traces of the girl I knew, but Lee was all grown up now. She looked pretty, which I guess she always was, but she’d been a kid when I last really paid attention to her. She stood there with a couple of other new hires, looking confident. She wore her red hair a little like her mother did, which brought a smile to my face. I thought of reaching out to her through Facebook. I even found her profile. But I didn’t message her. Just as she was a reminder of the place I left, I was sure I was a very real reminder of the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

ADAM

Carrie looks at me with smoky, sad eyes—rainy campfire eyes. Without saying a word, she ushers me into her office and shuts the door. For a second it feels like old times, but it isn’t. Carrie is seven years older than I am, a sturdy brunette with nice teeth and a habit of touching my knee whenever she’s speaking. For a time, Carrie was fun. Serviceable for what I was looking for at the time. I assume she felt the same. What we had was never more than “an office fling without strings.”

Her words. Not mine.

“Are you okay, Adam?” she asks.