Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Chapter 3
Zach
“Are they okay, Dad?” Aubrey asks softly from the living room as soon as I open the front door, before I even have a chance to enter the house completely.
I knew my girl would be worried about Shel and her son. I also knew she’d be waiting for me to get back so she could see for herself that I was okay. I was pissed when I found them waiting outside the store near my truck¸ with Shel and Hunter long gone. Not that I didn’t appreciate Shel getting the kids out of the mix, but I wanted to make sure her and Hunter were okay.
Closing the door behind me, I walk into the living room, where she’s standing with her jacket and shoes still on. “They’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure? Hunter looked really upset,” she whispers, biting her bottom lip and looking toward the door.
“He was upset. He didn’t know about Samuel until now, and it was a lot for him to take in.” I’m still pissed way the fuck off at Tina for the shit she said in front of him and the kids. I knew when she saw Shel was moving in next door that it wouldn’t take long for her to bring up the past, but I had no fucking clue she would spew her venom in the middle of the grocery store with everyone present.
“Is… is Shelby okay?”
The answer to that was fuck no, but I won’t tell my daughter that.
“She’ll be okay, gorgeous.” I give her a small, reassuring smile and grab my shed keys off the table. “I’m gonna go unload the truck. Do me a favor and keep an eye on your brother. Make sure he’s not doing something I’ll have to arrest him for.” I say trying to make her smile.
“He’s in his room, talking to Jay. He’s mad at Mom for telling you he wants to live with her,” she says, taking off her jacket and tossing it to the couch, where all of her and her brother’s jackets and sweatshirts have piled up. Looking from the pile to her, I wonder why the hell I even have a coat closet a few feet away. “Mom was really upset,” she points out, kicking off her boots near the door. “Steven said she was jealous.”
“Bre.” I run my hands down my face, wishing she was three again and oblivious to the world around her.
“I’m just saying you guys haven’t been together in, like, forever. Plus, she dates all the time, and you don’t care.”
“I don’t know why your mom does half the shit she does, and I doubt I’ll figure it out anytime soon.”
“Quarter in the swear jar,” she murmurs, and I shake my head watching her smile before it fades away. “Steven doesn’t really want to live with mom you know,” she says quietly after a moment, and I pull her in for a hug. My girl has been trying to hold our family together since she was little.
“I know that, gorgeous.” I kiss the top of her head then lean back to catch her eyes. “If you’re gonna be down here awhile, hang all those in the closet and take Steven’s and your stuff to your rooms.” I nod to the pile on the couch. “Then figure out what you guys want to do for dinner.”
“Fine,” she mutters, as I let her go and turn for the door, only stopping when she speaks again.
“She’s really pretty.”
“She is,” I agree, knowing she’s talking about Shelby. I also know pretty doesn’t even come close to what I would call her. When she was younger, she was pretty. Now that she’s grown up, she’s beautiful, beyond beautiful.
“Do you think they’d want to come over for dinner?”
“Not tonight, but you can ask another time, once things settle.”
“Okay, Dad,” she agrees, and with that, I open the door and step out onto the porch then head down to the truck and start to unpack it, keeping my eyes on the house next door while I do.
When Shel left years ago, I was determined to wait her out. I knew in my gut she would be back. I knew she just needed time to sort out her head. After three months, and no word from her, the reality of the situation started to effect me in a way that was unhealthy, and that was when I started drinking and doing drugs daily to deal with the pain of not only losing her, but our son too. Then one night, I fucked up in more ways than one and slept with Tina.
I wish I could say there was something about her that led me to doing what I did, but the truth is, she was just there. She honestly could have been anyone. The next morning, when I woke up with her in my bed, I ended things and cut her out of my life completely. That was also the day I realized I needed to get my shit together, so I went and talked to the sheriff at the time and asked him for a job since working on boats wasn’t going to get me the stability I needed. He knew me, and my history and told me if I was serious, I had a job, but that I needed to complete school first.