Page 6 of Finn's Future

Lucy’s face crumpled.

No.

My stomach dropped.

No.

“Kate . . .” Lucy’s voice broke.

My chest tightened painfully.

“No,” I whispered immediately. “No, he told me to come here.”

Tears filled Lucy’s eyes and ran down her cheeks. “He’s gone,” she whispered. “Caleb died seven months ago.”

The world tilted violently beneath me, though I think part of me already knew. There was no way Caleb would’ve stayed gonethat long otherwise. No way he would’ve left Noah, but hearing it spoken out loud shattered something inside me anyway.

“No.” My voice cracked apart. “No, he wouldn’t?—”

“He didn’t choose to leave,” Lucy choked out as a sob tore from her throat.

The motel room blurred around me. I clutched Noah tighter against my chest, panic and grief crashing together so hard, I couldn’t breathe properly.

Finn pushed away from the wall immediately. “Hey . . .”

I got up off the bed and backed towards the far side of the room instinctively. “He told me to come here,” I whispered again. “He promised?—”

“I know,” Lucy cried.

My knees nearly gave out, but Finn caught my elbow before I hit the floor and led me back to the bed.

“Breathe,” he muttered.

I couldn’t, because everything hurt.

Caleb was dead.

Noah would never know his father.

Finn’s phone rang, sounding too loud for the grief surrounding me. “Just need to take this,” he muttered, stepping outside.

Lucy covered her mouth as tears streamed down her face. Reaper stepped to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He stayed quiet for a long moment before finally speaking.

“Did you know him long?”

I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself enough to answer. “We weren’t together,” I admitted. “Not really.”

Lucy frowned slightly.

“We met at the bar where I worked. He was a regular.” I looked down at Noah. “It was one night.”

Nobody spoke.

“But when I got pregnant, Caleb didn’t walk away,” I continued shakily. “He paid for a place for me and Noah when things got bad. Checked in all the time. When Noah was born”—my throat tightened painfully—“he stayed with us for the first couple weeks.”

Lucy’s eyes filled again, and her shoulders shook.

“He was good to us,” I whispered. “He told me he was working something for the club,” I continued. “Said it was dangerous and he might disappear for a while, but he’d come back as soon as he could.”