While watching Isla cautiously approach us on my right, I dig my wallet out of my pocket. The color drains from Hayden’s cheeks when I place an invoice on the cracked concrete under his knees. It is tattered and old, as damaged as my heart.
“Since you’re so gung-ho on seeking answers, why don’t I give you some facts to work with?”
Hayden’s hand shakes when he lifts the family planning clinic invoice from the ground. He stares at me, certain I’m lying, but knowing I have no reason to. As far as we’re both concerned, I’m entrenched in a hole I’ll never get out of, so why would I bother fighting with half-truths?
“You still lied to her.” Hayden’s voice isn’t as deep as usual, more pained than anything.
“Yeah, I did.” I work my jaw side to side before forcing out my next set of words, “But we could have worked past that if she had given me the chance.” My eyes take in the invoice I carry more to remind me of the promises I made than to cause more heartache. “But that’s something I’ll never get over.”
I wipe the riled expression off my face, force a fake smile in its place, then swivel my torso to face Isla. “Hey, baby girl. How was your day at school?”
She drops her eyes to the ground as her lips furl downwards. “Where’smymom?She’ssupposed to pick me up. Not you.”
Hayden takes in a sharp breath, hearing what Isla really wants to say as readily as me:You’ll never be my dad.
“She’s just over there.” I nudge my head to the tree Kristin and a still wailing Addison are hiding behind. “Give me a sec to say goodbye to my friend, then I’ll take you to them. . .”
I stop talking when Isla pushes off her feet and charges in the direction I gestured. In less than a heartbeat, I take off after her, realizing the promise I made to Dane the day before his death must remain at the top of my agenda. I shifted my goals for years, believing one day justice would be served. Now, five and a half years later, I’m still working with the same set of excuses.
One day, I’ll get my revenge.
That day just isn’t today.
“This isn’t Regan. She wouldn’t do this,” is the last thing I hear Hayden yell before Addison’s cries switch to giggles of happiness with nothing but a hairy chin.
Three
Alex
“Oh, god. I’m so sorry.”
Kristin covers her flaming cheeks with her hand as she spins away from me. I finish the sit-up I’m halfway through completing before standing to my feet. I would put on a shirt to cover my sweaty torso, but I am without adequate clothing.
“I thought you were asleep?” Upon hearing the exhaustion in my voice, my eyes stray to the clock.Fuck.I’ve been working out for nearly three hours straight.
“I was. I was just. . . uh. . . thirsty.” Kristin spins back around to face me, her nerves growing the more she twirls. “Do you often work out in the living room at 2 AM?”
“Mainly.” I grab a bottle of water off the table and chug down half its contents before slumping onto the sofa. I’m fucking exhausted, but it feels good getting back to the routine I had before. . . I stop short before I say her name. Four months have passed, yet it still hurts when I think about her.
My teeth grit. I need to stop being such a soft cock. Regan moved on months ago, yet I’m still wallowing in self-pity. Thank fuck my dad is on assignment on the other side of the country, or he would have slapped the bitch straight out of me.
When Kristin stares at me, waiting for more than a one-word answer, I say, “I figured late night workouts would save the girls from seeing me like this.” I wave my empty hand down my body, doubling the redness on Kristin’s cheeks. “The last thing I want to do is scare them again.”
Kristin would never say anything, but I know Isla saw me take down Hayden last month. She’s been even more hostile with me since that day, but in a scared, timid way I hate.
My focus snaps back to the present when Kristin murmurs under her breath, “I don’t see thateverbeing an issue.”
Certain I heard her tone in the wrong manner, I ask, “What have you got there?” I nudge my head to the CD-ROM she’s clutching for dear life, hoping to get our conversation back in safe waters.
“Footage from my wedding.” She smiles in a way I haven’t seen in months while moving closer to me. It’s not a reminiscing smile. It’s more carefree than that. “Do you remember the bridal waltz Dane forced me to do?”
I laugh. “How could I forget it? Although I don’t think you should call it a bridal waltz. It was more a corny eighties ‘Thriller’/rumba routine.”
She kicks me in the foot before sinking into the empty seat next to me. “I found some video footage in a file on Dane’s computer. Thought I might show it to the girls in the morning.”
My brow cocks. “You know Dane hid that video for a reason, right?”
“Yes!” she squeals with a laugh. “But it will be good for them to see us like that. You know, carefree and happy.Not fighting.” She whispers her last two words.
