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He shook his head at me. “Man, I admire you for wanting to take that on and do the right thing, but you’ve barely heard from her in months.”
Three months, to be exact. She hadn’t bothered to respond to any of my letters. Hell, maybe she was fed up with me for not having the balls to call her. I couldn’t blame her for being pissed. I missed the birth of the kid and everything. Just because I tried to do right by them didn’t make me a standup guy.
Bowie pulled into my driveway and I shook my head at how shitty it all looked. “Couldn’t she have hired someone to take care of the lawn?” Bowie asked.
The grass was overgrown and the house looked abandoned. My gut churned with worry as I flung the door open and got out of his truck, not bothering to grab my shit. Shoving the key in the lock, I opened the door and stared at the mess. The house was fucking trashed, and the smell of takeout containers was worse. I walked over and picked one up, grimacing at the mold coating the inside.
“Holy fuck,” Bowie said as he walked inside. “What the fuck happened here?”
I held out the container to him. “By the looks of it, she’s been gone for a while.”
He frowned. “She was living like this with the kid? Why?”
I shook my head. I didn’t understand it either. “She had plenty of money. She could have hired a maid.”
I walked through the house, shaking my head at the destruction all around me. A hole in the wall…glasses broken on the counter…I headed for the bedroom and flung open the closet door. All her things were still hanging inside.
“Bowie!” I called out.
He came ambling in, staring at the closet with me. “She left her shit behind?”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why?”
“What about the kid?”
I took off for the baby’s room, unsurprised to find a lot of stuff left behind. “Most of this stuff wouldn’t fit him anymore,” I said, looking at the tags on the clothes.
“You want to call the police?” Bowie asked.
I stared around the house, unsure of what to make of it. “Let me talk to Jenna. She’ll know what’s going on.”
“The aunt?” Bowie asked.
I nodded. “They weren’t exactly close, but she should have some idea of what happened.”
I headed back to the kitchen, sighing at the mess. That’s when I saw the note. I opened it up and read the short, but simple Fuck You.
Duke,
I couldn’t do it to you anymore. The baby isn’t yours.
-Carolyn
“What the fuck?” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.
“What is it?”
I handed over the note, watching the surprise fill Bowie’s face. “Is she fucking serious? She married you knowing the kid wasn’t yours?”
“Looks that way. Honestly, the whole time I was deployed, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was wrong. Maybe this is for the best.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, staring at the mess. “Yeah, fuck,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “I guess I missed a bullet.” I laughed lightly, but Bowie saw through it.
“You want me to stick around?”
“No, I’m good.”
