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soft on him. Evidently, he decided after almost dying in a plane crash to impregnate women all over the country.”
“Like your mother said, everything will be okay, peanut.”
“Oh, and his mother knows.”
My mother’s eyes opened wide. “What?”
“He told her without asking me first.”
With my assurance that I wouldn’t avoid Tackle indefinitely, my father got me a furnished apartment in the North End.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with us?” my mother asked.
“No, Mom. I need to be where he can’t force me to talk to him until I’m ready.”
“Ben, do you think this is a good idea?”
My father put his arm around my mother’s shoulders. “Yes, sweetheart, or I wouldn’t have made arrangements for the apartment.”
The way he looked at her tore at my heart. Even when they were arguing, the love he had for her was so obvious. For the last couple of weeks, I’d let myself believe that maybe one day, Tackle would feel that way about me. How could I have been so stupid?
30
Tackle
By the time the flight landed, I was filled with dread. Cowboy assured me he’d confirmed Sloane spent the afternoon and evening with her parents. However, when they returned home, she wasn’t with them. He’d checked the duplex in Newton and the house in Chestnut Hill, and she wasn’t at either.
Finally, I gave him the address of Sloane’s friend’s apartment and asked him to check there. Her friend was home but insisted she hadn’t seen Sloane since before Thanksgiving.
I knew she’d be furious with me if I went to either Halo or her parents, but I was reaching the point where I had to. Given her mom and dad were the last to see her, according to Cowboy, I decided to pay them a visit rather than call Knox.
“I wish you all the best,” I said to Nick when we got off the plane.
“What do you mean? You’re not just leaving me here?”
“You have all your friends and family that you’re so anxious to get back to. You should’ve planned for someone to pick you up.”
“I just assumed you’d make sure I got home okay.”
I took Nick by the arm and led her off to the side of the terminal area. “I told you before we left California that if you made this decision, you’d be on your own. I meant it. I did everything I could to get you out of an abusive situation and relocated to a place your ex-husband couldn’t find you. You decided that wasn’t good enough, so I’m done.”
“But—”
“No, Nick. I’m done.” I stalked away without looking back and hopped on the shuttle that would take me to the private lot where I’d left my car. I tried Sloane’s number again from the shuttle and before I got on the road. Both times, it went straight to voicemail.
Something had happened to make her ghost me, and I had no idea what it could be. Before I left for California, I thought she understood why I had to go. She’d spent the night with me, we had the same amazing sex we always did, and the next morning, she gave me a kiss goodbye that promised more to come when I got back.
Why wouldn’t she have just been honest with me if she was that angry about me going? She had every opportunity to either tell or show me how she really felt.
I shook my head. That couldn’t be it. Something else had to have happened. I called my mom.
“Hello, sweetheart,” she said, answering my call.
“I have to ask you a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“You didn’t tell Sloane’s parents I’m her baby’s father, did you?”
