Imogen Hardy hit the dirt hard and often when in the presence of Kane Jessop, not because she was so besotted with him and clumsy that she fell at his feet, but because he put her there. Usually with a hard shove or a swift swipe of her ankles.
He was a vicious and unruly child; then a boy, now a man. He is in every bad memory Immy has ever had. He consumes her thoughts, her nightmares and reluctantly, her dreams; even now, years after she fled.
She hoped she could stay gone, but life hands out jokers sometimes disguised as aces. The ace being her grandmother is dead, good times. The old hag can rot, but not before Immy makes the journey back to Faceless, Texas, to give a eulogy fit for no child’s ears. Releasing years’ worth of weight from her chest. A much-needed release.
The joker being… this brings her straight back to her hometown, straight back to him.
And unfortunately for her, he is waiting.
A.E. Murphy
