Loving Charley Read Online Free PDF Page A

takes a breath, I
jump in. “Tess, y’all, chill out. It’s a lot to explain, but you
sending me that text is gonna help put Dylan behind bars for a long
time. The only problem is that it’s evidence against Cash,
too.”
    They all look at each other
and turn as pale as ghosts. “What do you mean?” Piper
asks.
    “Basically, that video
shows Cash beating the shit outta him, and that means he’s gonna
face charges if Dylan is the typical ass he is… we know he’s not
gonna let Cash get away with it.”
    “Well, that just sucks,”
Hayden says. She’s always keeping it real.
    “Yeah, it does,” I
say.
    Cash pipes in right after
me, “It’s one of those things that you hate to have to do, but you
know it needs to be done. If I have to do a little time or get a
little dirt on my record, I’m okay with that. It’s not like I have
to pass a background check to work on the farm. Now, if y’all will
excuse us, we have to talk to our parents.”
    Cash and I make our way
into the kitchen, and as soon as Cash’s mama sees him, she bursts
into tears and pulls him into her arms. His dad is standing there
with a questioning look aimed at me. Mr. Montgomery has always
liked me, but I think he knows that I’m the one that has total
control over his son. Needless to say, I don’t think he likes that
part very much.
    Cash gets his mama to calm
down, and we all sit at the kitchen table. Dad starts by telling
Cash’s parents that they need to listen to everything before they
ask questions. He tells them that’s what they did, and it paid
off.
    Shaking their head in
agreement, they turn their attention to Cash and me. Cash takes my
hand and laces his fingers with mine, prompting me to
speak.
    “Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery,
I’m sorry that Cash has been involved in all of this. I want to
start from the beginning, but I’m not going to tell you all the
details. I’ve already told this twice, and I really don’t want to
relive it again. Cash is free to tell you as much or as little as
he wants once y’all go home. Also, please wait until I finish to
ask any questions.”
    “Charley, I believe we can
do that, but you have to understand that Cash is our child, and we
will stick with him no matter what. The fact that there seems to be
so many secrets is what bothers me the most,” his dad
says.
    “I understand that.” Taking
a deep breath, I tell them the nightmare that began a year and a
half ago. I do leave out as much detail as possible, but when I
talk about Christmas break and the plan that I put in place, I see
Mrs. Montgomery start to get fidgety. I pause and tell her to hear
me out.
    Once I get to tonight with
the party, police station, box of evidence, and how we all fit in
this awful puzzle, Mrs. Montgomery begins to cry just like my mama.
It must be a “mama thing” because I believe she understands what
has happened, why certain events didn’t add up over the time, and
now what Cash is going to have to deal with thanks to
me.
    When I finish, Dad chimes
in, “Y’all, I know it’s hard to understand, and if I hadn’t heard
Charley tell this story twice, I’d be in the same boat as you. One
thing I want you to know is what Cash did what was right, even
though he might have to pay the price. He did what any of us would
do for the woman we love. I can’t thank him enough. He saved my
sweet girl when I couldn’t. My best advice is to call a lawyer
tonight or in the morning. The Sloans aren’t gonna let this one go.
That is one thing I’m sure of.”
    Silence fills the air as we
wait for Cash’s parents to speak. Instead of waiting, Cash takes
matters into his own hands. “Mama and Daddy, I know this is a lot
to think about, but I had to. I love Charley, and if you had seen
her that night, you wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt that I
didn’t save her from it happening at all. I will say the last month
has been the longest of my life. I’ve known what was going on and
had to watch Dylan touch