"Keaton James Carr, never let me hear you say you don't deserve for your parents to be at your back. You are our son. Charlie is our daughter. That isn't ever going to change, nomatter how disappointed and angry we are with you. We're here for both of you, but let me be perfectly clear. Weareon her side."
"I love you, Mom," he whispers.
There's a mixture of anger and sadness that's clear in Norma's sigh. "I love you too, my boy. Charlie?"
I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and lift my head. "Ma'am?"
"Love you, beautiful girl," she says so softly that it pierces my heart, and tendrils of warmth slip through my cold body.
"I love you too."
For a while, I lose myself in the flames, which now feel like the ashes of my life with Keaton. I’d sit here forever if the fire could tell me where it all unraveled.
How did I miss the moment Keaton slipped out of our relationship and into hers? Was I so buried in work and school that I went blind to the truth? Did I pull away when she reappeared in our lives?
"There's one last thing I want to say before we get off here," Chester says. "Nothing you do in this life is ever going to change the fact that you're our son. We may not like the choices you make, but it's our job to gently steer you in the right direction. This is a decision I never thought we'd be having to help guide you through. Keaton, son, it breaks my heart to say this, but I am so damn disappointed in you."
Chester’s quiet words slice into Keaton like a fresh blade, leaving him raw and exposed. He’s never heard disappointment from someone he loves so much, and it finally dawns on him just how deep his betrayal runs.
"My Charlie girl?"
"Yeah, pops?"
"I love you. Grab a hold of that strength you have inside of you and hold the hell on. The days will get a lot darker before the sun finally lights the way again."
We sit in silence on the cool ground, the orange firelight flickering across our skin as we brace ourselves for the next call.
"Char?"
I keep my gaze locked on the fire, unwilling to look at him a second longer than I have to.
His hips thrust against hers.
I drop my eyes to my hands, staring at my left one. There should have been a ring there someday.
His voice telling her to shut up.
What did I do wrong? Did I not love him enough, give him enough of my time? Was our sex life not enough?
His eyes filled with horror when he hears my voice.
Why didn't he listen when I warned him about her? When we all tried warning him about her?
His bare dick shining with her arousal when he pulls it out.
I flinch as the memory slices through me. My stomach knots and my throat burns, nausea rising fast.
"Char, please look at me."
"No."
"Why did you make me call them, Char?"
"If anyone is going to get you to see the destruction you left in your wake, it will be the people you respect the most."
I hate that I can’t hide how much I still love his cheating ass, and I hate even more that he never saw the damage written all over me.
"Because you still love me," he says in a hopeful voice.
