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Her bedroom door was closed and pop music was playing from her speaker.
My body trembled, and I could barely feel my feet on the floor. "You gave me a letter on the last day of school. You said it was from Lucas." I turned to look at my brother. "You hugged me when I cried. You said I should never talk to him again, that he shouldn't be in Claire'slife or mine."
Adam's eyes drifted to his hands on the counter. "I meant that, and I still do. He shouldn't be in your life."
My lips curled back, my eyes blurring with tears as I looked at my brother. "The letter said he knew I was pregnant, Adam."
Adam hesitated. His voice was unusually low. "It was the only way I knew you wouldn't go after him. If you thought he didn't want to be a dad."
The sob that escaped me made tears slide down my cheeks. "You wrote the letter?" A rush of anger flooded me. "You wrote the letter." I grabbed his arm, squeezing as tight as I could. "What did you do?" I shoved him with all my might, and he stumbled backward into the cabinet. "Why, Adam? Why?"
He turned sideways and took hold of my wrists to stop me from hitting him. There was no sorrow in his expression. His gaze was narrowed and determined. "I was trying to protect you, Olive."
"From what?" I hissed, careful to keep my voice at a level that Claire wouldn't hear. "A life of food stamps and welfare? A life where Claire doesn't know her dad? Do you know what you've done? You took away my choice to have him in her life!"
"Trust me, Olive, I knew things you didn't. I was trying to protect you from getting hurt."
"Trust you? How can I ever trust you again?" I ripped my hands away from him and stumbled backward. "Get out."
His hands fell to his side, and his jaw clenched.
"And you stayed friends with him," I gasped. "All this time. And didn't even tell me about it."
"Because I wanted to make sure your paths didn't cross."
"Bullshit, Adam."
"Lucas shouldn't have been in your life back then. And he shouldn't be in it now."
"How dare you?" I growled. "How fucking dare you? The only person who shouldn't be in my life is you. We're done. You're never going to see me or Claire again."
"Olive—"
"Get the fuck out of my apartment."
Adam opened his mouth to say something and then thought better. He slid past me, and it took everything in me not to chuck the bottle of whiskey at the wall behind him.
When the door closed, everything inside me shattered. I gripped the counter as my knees buckled. And as the breath was sucked out of me, I collapsed, sliding down to the floor, stifling my sobs with a dirty dish towel just so Claire wouldn't hear me cry.
I don't know how long I sat there, but when Claire's door opened, my heart leapt.
"Mom? Can Uncle Adam come with us to the park today?"
Wiping my tears, I forced myself onto my feet. "Uncle Adam had to go home, Claire Bear, so it will just be us today."
And every other day after today. Because Uncle Adam was never going to be a part of our life again. But I'd figure out how to tell her that another day. For now, we were going to go to the park.
"Can we get ice cream?"
"Sure, honey." There was a sudden knock on the door, and my stomach twisted. I swore, if Adam decided to talk, he was going to learn the definition of having a door slammed in someone's face.
If only I had a peek hole. I eased the door open, and my stomach sunk. Yeah, if I'd had a peek hole, I'd definitely not have answered.
My landlord, Warren, slipped his hands in his pocket and scratched his head. "Hey, Olive."
"Hi, Warren. I'm so sorry I didn't respond to your text. My phone died, and then I was having some—"
Warren lifted his hand. "Olive. I don't want to hear it. I've always liked you, and I was raised by a single mother, so I get the struggle. But I'm running a business here. You owe me three months rent. And if you don't get it to me by the end of next week, you're out."
