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Me: I’m gonna head to the store. Text me a list of what you need, and don’t worry about the money. You’re family.
Becca: Thank you. I appreciate you so much.
And that right there was exactly why I hadn’t tried to leave Clayton. Bec and the girls needed me. She’d become my best friend, and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them.
I locked up and drove to the one and only grocery store in town. Going down the list, I grabbed everything Becca needed, along with some extras I knew they liked. Even though money was tight for me, it was more important that they had what they needed.
There was one person ahead of me, so I scrolled on my phone while waiting for my turn. When there was space, I began putting the groceries on the belt.
Sarah was working the register. She was two years older than me, Rex’s age, but actually had her shit together. She’d married a guy from out of town and had moved back, though I didn’t know why anyone would do that.
“How you doing, Parrish?” she asked when it was my turn.
“Good. How about you?”
She rambled on for a moment, then eyed the diapers. “You’re a good brother.”
I scoffed because I didn’t feel like I was anything special. My nieces shouldn’t suffer because their dad was a jackass.
“Did you hear the news?” When I cocked a brow at her, she continued, “Riven McKenna is back. He got out and moved home with his grandma.”
My gaze shot to hers, pulse pounding in my ears. Of all the things she could have said, that’s what I’d least expected. I didn’t know why. Eventually he had to get out, and it was clearly about that time, but shit…Riven was back? I didn’t think he would have stepped foot in this town again.
“Good for him,” I said, though having Riven back was the last thing I wanted. My brother had this way of controlling people. He did it to Becca, to Les, and he’d done it with Riven too. He and Riven got in a lot of trouble together, both always trying to one-up the other. Riven being back was bad news for Rex. They fed off each other, found trouble together, and unlike with people like Les, Rex always tried to prove himself with Riven, which made him do dumber shit.
I didn’t say much the rest of the time Sarah checked me out. If she noticed I was off or quieter, she didn’t say anything.
I put the bags in the cab of my truck and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Riven was back. Rex’s right-hand man and my sexual awakening. I’d hated him back then for being close to my dad and Rex, for them pulling him into the fold and trusting him with shit they didn’t do with me, but a part of me had wanted him too, wanted to believe there was more to Riven despite appearances, but that was my dick thinking for me. I went from idolizing him, to wanting to know what his mouth felt like on mine, to hating him because he was no better than Rex.
He’d killed a man, for Christ’s sake.
My truck rumbled to life, and I drove directly to Becca and Rex’s. They lived a little outside of town, where trees separated the houses down long driveways. Having neighbors too close was likely to get you into trouble.
Rex’s car wasn’t there, of course, him and Les out doing whatever the hell it was they did, probably already forgetting about his kids’ needs.
I loaded my arms with bags so I didn’t have to make more than one trip. The front door was open, just the screen door closed. The sound of cartoons drifted from inside.
“I’m here,” I called out, wondering why they had the door open. It was June and hot already.
“Uncle Parrish!” Lainey came running and opened the door for me. She was five, and Sophie was a little over two.
“Hey, kiddo.” She wrapped her little arms around me, even though I couldn’t hug her back with all the bags in my arms. “Where’s your mama?”
“Right here,” Bec answered, sticking her head around the corner from the kitchen. Her auburn hair was messy, in a knot on top of her head, and she looked tired, with dark circles beneath her eyes.
“I’m gonna talk to your mama for a minute. Why don’t you go hang out with Sophie? I’ll come see you guys in a few.”
“Okay!” Lainey replied with a bright smile I never wanted to see her lose.
Becca grabbed some of the bags out of my arms, and we went into the kitchen and set them on the counter. “Diapers are still in the truck. I’ll go back for those before I leave.”
“Thank you again, Parrish. It’s embarrassing that we always need your help like this. I don’t know what we would do without you.”
