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“She’s in Storm’s territory? Well, I’ll be damned. That’s only a few hours away.” The surprise in her voice was mixed with sadness. Momma had liked Karma, although she’d thought she was too young for me.
Everyone had given me shit about Karma’s age, calling me a cradle robber. They hadn’t been wrong. Nine years was a big age gap, but that didn’t stop me from loving her.
For two years, we’d snuck around, hiding our relationship. For two fuckin’ years, I waited patiently until she turned eighteen to pop her cherry. I was supposed to have been her first and last. For eight weeks, we had been a real couple out in the open, then she was gone.
“Yeah. Three hours away.” It burned me up to know she’d been right under my nose. Fuckin’ unbelievable.
“Have you talked to her?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And what?” I cut my eyes at her. “This isn’t any of your business.”
“Don’t give me that. Karma destroyed you when she went off the grid. If it hadn’t been for me, your dad would’ve passed you over, and Micah would be president. Thisismy business.”
Momma wasn’t wrong. She’d gone to bat for me while I had wallowed in my heartache, drinking myself into the gutter for more than a year after Karma disappeared. I’d gone out of my mind, raging at everyone, especially Karma’s parents. They’d denied knowing where she’d gone, but I was sure they knew.
I’d turned Fargo upside down, searching for my girl. None of her classmates had known anything about her. Like Lady M had said, it was as if Karma had gone off the grid.
“She wants nothing to do with me.” Dammit, I caved. There’d be no stopping my fuckin’ mouth now. “I’ve tried to get through to her, but she just shuts me down.”
“Did she tell you why she left?” Lady M patted my hand. “She was so young. Maybe she didn’t love you as you loved her.”
“Bullshit,” I growled, whipping my hand away from hers. “How dare you say that to me? She loved me. I know she did.”
The pity in her eyes undid me. “If that were true, then why did she leave? Sometimes the truth hurts. But it makes sense, son. If Karma had tried to break up with you, you wouldn’t have let her go.”
“Damn straight, I wouldn’t have! She was mine.”
“See?”
“Just stop trying to piece it all together. I know why she left.” I scrubbed my hands against my face. “I’ve always known.” Like a coward, I hadn’t told my parents the truth about what had gone down that day.
“Then tell me why.”
“Jesus, Mom. I’m handling it. Karma just needs time.”
“Handling it? You’re handling it rather poorly if you ask me. If you’re so sure you can fix things with Karma and that you even want to, you make her listen.”
“It’s not that easy with her. She’s changed.” Gone was my sweet, caring girl. I could tell life had been hard on her. Raising a kid on her own after what happened couldn’t have been easy.
“Changed how?”
“For one, her hair is black, and she’s got more tattoos on her arms than I do.” She was absolutely stunning too. Her dyed hair gave her an edge that was sexy as fuck. I missed her blonde locks, but I could get used to black. “She’s a fearless bitch with a lethal bite. She hasn’t been easy on me.” Not that I deserved her grace, but she wasn’t without fault either for taking Nova from me.
“And you let her treat you that way?” Mom arched her brow.
I groaned. “Trust me, if you knew the truth, you’d side with Karma.” But Lady M wouldn’t have hidden a baby from my dad for seven goddammed years.
“Just tell me what you did. I have a bad feeling it had to do with another woman.” She shot me a dirty look. “If that’s the case, only God himself can help you.”
I knew that all too well.
Heavy footsteps came from the stairs off the kitchen. One of my brothers was coming—conversation over. I shot Lady M a warning look to keep her mouth shut. She could be trusted. Just because she liked to butt into her kids’ business, it didn’t make her a blabbermouth.
“Morning,” Buff muttered as he went to the coffeemaker.
