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He nods silently, tilting his head so I’ll follow him down the hall.
The living room has toys scattered around. I glance at a big family portrait on the mantle. There’s Cee, Jamie, and two little boys, probably six and four. Knowing he married Jamie somehow makes me happy. At least they got back together. Is that the plan he tried to explain to me?
I shouldn’t be so upset at him, but I don’t know if I’ll ever see past the way he treated me.
“Big brothers are supposed to take care of their little sisters,” I whisper accusingly as we head up the stairs.
“I know,” he says remorsefully.
“You did a pretty fucked up job,” I continue.
“I regret every moment of it. I even tried to look for you, but it seems like Ameline Lewis disappeared. I searched for Mom and Declan’s last name, too,” he says as if trying to convince me that he looked through the seven seas. “But you were nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until Gabe told me you were in town that I was able to get ahold of you.”
“Decker,” I clarify in a flat tone instead of telling him that Mr. Google isn’t a private investigator, just a fucking search engine. He could’ve paid for one.
He glances back, brow furrowed. “What?”
“My last name is Decker now. I changed it when I married Gabe,” I state matter-of-factly.
He frowns, clearly surprised. “You married Gabriel?”
“Yeah, he proposed when your father left me destitute.” I let out a bitter laugh.
“Have you been living with him all this time?”
“Nah, we had a rough start,” I simplify what happened between Gabe and me in just five dismissive words. Though, the world of hurt would probably fit in an entire encyclopedia. “We separated—love wasn’t enough to keep us together back then. I moved to New York. But Izzy, on the other hand, didn’t have any trouble finding me.”
He shrugs helplessly. “I wouldn’t know where to even start looking for someone. After I helped her with the divorce and she moved back into town, I hoped she would assist me with Dad, but . . . she had changed a lot.”
“She neglected them. Cora and Caleb,” I state plainly. “Obviously, I’m not in your position, but you should’ve checked on them more often.”
“Jamie told me I should call CPS on her numerous times. She wasn’t very kind to Cora especially. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. We couldn’t afford another kid,” he admits regretfully.
I glare at him because that’s not how he should’ve handled the issue at all. Our sister is sick and instead of helping her he was just judging her.
He opens a door that has a gate locked on it. “Hey, Dad, you have a visitor,” Cedric says gently as he unlocks the gate.
I don’t like the setup, even if it’s for a cruel man like Richard. “You really should have him in a proper care facility.”
“I can’t afford it on my salary,” he sighs.
Richard turns from the book he’s holding and frowns in confusion. “Where have you been, Ameline? It’s been ages . . .”
“Hello,” I say, taking a couple of tentative steps toward him, waiting for him to be angry at me or . . . I’m expecting the worst from this encounter, and maybe I regret not bringing Gabe with me.
“You look different,” he says, studying me. “Older. Did you waste my money on makeup again? I told you, you’re too young and pretty to be needing that.”
I glance uncertainly at Cee, who just shrugs helplessly. I wish I knew who this Richard is. Obviously, the man who still loved me as his child.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
“Don’t I get a hug first?”
I hesitate, wanting to shake my head no, but this man loved me once . . . I’m torn between rejecting him and getting one last embrace before our final goodbye.And I choose to follow my heart. When he hugs me back, I can’t hold back the tears and I cry.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” he asks, concern creasing his wrinkled face. “Why the tears?”
“There’s so much to say,” I whisper.
