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“You can’t keep me safe when Iamwith you, Jaxson.” She hollers, stabbing her finger against me. “You left us alone and Weller found us. You weren’t there!” She screams, her chest is heaving, and tears are running down her cheeks. I rough my hands over my face, the stress of the last few months catching up with me.
“You don’t know how sorry I am that I wasn’t there, Ace,” I begin, and she cuts me off.
“Stop.” She whispers, shaking her head and gathering her things. She pulls a folder out of the top drawer of her desk. “My resignation,” she whispers, handing me the envelope, a lone tear streaking a path down her cheek. “I can’t do this with you anymore.” Her voice cracks on the last word as she excuses herself and walks out of Callaway Accounting and out of my life.
****
“Shit.” The one word comes from the doorway, but I’m too hungover to lift my head to see who it is.
“I told you we should have come hours ago,” is that Dean? Huh. I thought I locked the front door. “Ah hell,” Dean’s face appears over the back of the couch.
“Hey pal,” Ford says hesitantly, like he's approaching a wounded animal, slowly coming into view and assessing the situation. Once Avery walked out on me earlier, I went straight to my office and drank the entire bottle of whiskey I keep in the cabinet. Once I was done with that, I called Fred, the town cabbie. He drove me to the liquor store and then home, to an empty house. Peeking in the kid’s rooms and seeing all their things gone fucking destroyed me, so I continued drinking. At some point I must have passed out, because Ford marches to the window and rips the curtains open, sunlight streaming in.
“Fuck, man,” I grumble, throwing my arm over my eyes and shielding them from the light as my headache roars to life.
Dean knocks my legs off the couch and sits down. “What the hell are you doing, Jax?” He asks with a sigh. I sit up and the room spins, my stomach rolling. I scrub my hands over my face.
“What time is it?”
“Almost noon,” Ford says, dropping into the recliner and crossing his arms. “Avery asked us to check on you.” My stomach clenches at his comment as I recall the events of yesterday. Her, telling me she’s leaving. Turning in her resignation. Storming out of my office and out of my life.
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck,” Dean says, narrowing his eyes at me. “Fix it.”
“If I thought I could fix it, I would. But she’s made up her mind. I’m not what she wants.” The punch to my face blindsides me.
“Shit,” Ford says, scrambling to pull Dean off me.
“What the hell, man?!”
Dean lunges for me again but Ford holds him back. Dean shrugs Ford off him.
“I’m good, man,” he says as Ford stands between the two of us. “She’s had enough people walk out of her life, Callaway. Don’t be that fucking guy.”
“I didn’t walk out on her. She walked out on me,” I say, slicing that wound back open. I drop back down on the couch with my head in my hands. “I let her down the other night when I took off. I should have fuckin’ been here when Weller showed. Even after the call from Dana, I still left.” Dean sighs and drops down beside me.
“You couldn’t have known he’d be here that night. Don’t beat yourself up about it too much.”
“If something had happened to any of them?” I shake my head, “I’d never be able to forgive myself.” My stomach clenches with that thought, knowing I can’t live without Avery and those kids. “Fuck. What do I do?”
“That’s on you man, we’re just here for moral support.” Ford says and grins. I’m not sure what I can do to prove to Avery that I’m in this for the long haul, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes.
Avery
I let the curtain fall closed, huffing out a breath. Jaxson is parked on the street, again, for the third night in a row.
“I think it’s sweet,” Lainey says with a shrug and Clarissa rolls her eyes.
“I think it’s stalkery,” she says and Lex snorts.
It’s Thursday night and that means girls night. I haven’t been able to host in a while since we were staying with Jaxson but now that we are back in our own home, I insisted the girls come here. Whitley comes in from the kitchen with a soda in her hand and a Christmas tree cake, her little baby bump popping out.
“What?” She says around a mouthful of cake.
“Jesus, Whit.” Lex says with a laugh and she sheepishly shrugs her shoulder.
“The baby is hungry,” she says, dropping down on the couch beside me. “Did you hear what Dean did?”
