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Shit.
I felt terrible for some reason. Probably because I wanted to deny what Eric was saying… but at the same time, I couldn’t.
“I came back for my birth certificate,” David murmured when it was quiet again. “I think it’s in a box in the attic.”
“It is,” I said quietly.
“There were some other things too,” he said awkwardly. “Stuff I needed for the wedding. I’m staying at Ryan’s tonight, but I wanted to tie up some loose ends here. I wanted to… well…”
He stopped, letting his sentence trail off into nothingness. With the five of us staring at him, it was all too much.
“I think I’ll just come back tomorrow,” he said abruptly.
Picking up the duffel bag, he turned away. I felt like total shit as he started down the driveway.
“David!” I called after him.
Tate grabbed my arm. He prevented me from taking a step.
“Let him go,” he said quietly. “Give him a minute.”
Eric rushed after his son, meeting him at the curb. After a fierce little back and forth David turned and started up the street, shrugging his father off.
“Who’s Ryan?” asked Cole quietly.
“One of his childhood friends,” I answered. “He lives a few blocks away.”
I watched sadly as David disappeared around the next corner. Eric came storming back, looking absolutely furious.
“You did this,” he snarled, pointing at me. “If you weren’t such a—”
“EASY there,” said Cole sharply, as all three of them stepped up. “You might want to think about your next words, because they’re going to have consequences.”
Eric stopped in his tracks, the wind suddenly going out of his sails.
“He’s right,” Tate added, folding his arms. “Make sure you really want to say them.”
Standing face to face with all three of them, my ex-husband’s face went sour. The anger was still there, but now it was laced with fear.
He stared at each of the guys in turn, then at me. Finally, after one last defiant look, he turned and walked back down to the street.
“You really married that asshat?” asked Jacob, as my ex-husband skulked out of sight.
“I was young,” I shrugged, adding a sigh. “My decision-making skills weren’t as finely-tuned as they are now.”
“You got that right,” said Tate, sliding an arm over my shoulder.
Forty-Six
SERENA
I spent the rest of the day at home, brooding over what happened. Trying to figure out a way to somehow contact David, preferably without going through Eric.
His old number had stopped working, and I didn’t have his new one. I thought about walking down to Ryan’s house — if I could even remember which one it was — but the guys wisely advised me against it.
“He asked for time,” they told me together. “Give it to him.”
I was thrilled to learn of their plans to take me out, but disappointed it was no longer going to happen. Instead we agreed to a raincheck, then stayed in and drank the wine Tate brought. I also climbed into the attic and retrieved the box of David’s things. I’d never gone through it, but I knew it contained everything to do with his childhood. The early part of it anyway, before his father got involved with me.
