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Her eyes went wide, and she grasped my fingers. “No! Kara, oh my God, no. That’s not what I meant at all. I’ve loved having you and Hayley Jade here. I just meant I feel guilty that I haven’t been doing more.”
“It’s not your responsibility to do that, you know? It never was. You aren’t the police. Maybe you were searching for the killer more because you didn’t want to face the fact she was gone.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Nobody likes grief,” I said softly.
I had my own weird form of grief to deal with too. I remembered what Hayden had done for me every time I looked at Hayley Jade. But that was also wrapped up in confusion, because how could I feel grief over losing a man who had never been mine? How could I feel grief over a man who had aligned himself with someone like Caleb and who had kept me and the other women hostage? No matter how sweet and kind he’d been, Hayden wasn’t a good guy.
Maybe trying to believe that was the only way I stopped my own grief from swallowing me alive.
I drew my shoulders back and picked up a third cupcake, shoving it in my mouth, because eating my feelings was better than feeling them.
“Louisa Kara Churchill,” a man called from the back yard. “Are any of you Louisa Kara Churchill?”
I went to call out, but Rebel grabbed my arm, shaking her head. “Do you know who that is?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Then until we do, you say nothing.”
My heart rate picked up, thumping a little harder. My mind raced through the options, quickly discarding them all.
I didn’t know the man. But he certainly seemed to know me.
His gaze caught mine, but then he lowered his head to study some paperwork in his hands. “Louisa Kara Churchill?” he asked again.
Through the window, I watched Rebel’s men straighten, staring at the newcomer with scowls on their faces.
“Who wants to know?” Fang asked with a growl.
The shorter man cleared his throat nervously. “Hey. I’m just the messenger. I can see her inside. That’s good enough.” He thrust the paperwork into Fang’s hands. “Louisa Kara Churchill, you’ve been served.”
He skedaddled back the way he’d come from around the side of the house.
Fang, Kian, and Vaughn turned to stare at me, and Fang opened the sliding door. Silently, he passed me the paperwork.
“Are you being sued?” Rebel peered over my shoulder at the official-looking envelope with my name and photo on the front.
My fingers trembled as I slipped one along the sealed section of the envelope. “I have no idea. Who would want to sue me?”
I put my hand inside the envelope and took out a sheaf of cream-colored papers. Quickly, I scanned the small text, my gaze centering on a bolded title about a quarter of the way down the page.
The papers slipped from my fingers, falling onto the floor at my feet.
“Kara! What is it?”
I could only shake my head and stare at my older sister in horror.
She crouched, picking up the papers, and shuffled through them.
But I found my voice at the same time. “It’s a summons to attend a hearing in court.” I swallowed thickly. “Caleb wants full custody of his daughter, Hayley Jade.”
34
REBEL
“Read faster, Liam,” I murmured, shifting my weight from foot to foot impatiently.
