My breath hitched at the sound of her voice. So good to hear her. I closed the bedroom door behind me, shutting myself away from Noah and the dogs, even Harper. I tried to speak, but my throat hurt with how tight it had suddenly become.
“Randall? Are you there? Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I managed to choke out that one word, but nothing more.
She knew. Kayla knew. “Oh, honey. You’re crying. It’s okay. You take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
Yep. Sure enough I was crying. Again. How were there any tears left? Despite how wonderful it was to hear Kayla, I longed for the numbness I’d felt on the couch not even five minutes ago.
“Now you listen, Randall. I know you know this, but I want you to hear it. I don’t believe a word of any of it. Of course. It’s all a bunch of shit, and I’ll tell anyone who asks.”
It never entered my head Kayla would believe it. Not for a second, but I couldn’t believe how wonderful it was to hear. I hadn’t heard the words from Noah either, not that he needed to say them; it was clear he didn’t think they were true. But still.
Though her sentiment brought heavier tears, they released my throat for enough to speak again. “Does Dustin know you’re calling? I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“He knows.”
“Really?”
She let out a bitter laugh. “Yes. He knows. We’ve been fighting for hours, ever since I saw that stupid post.”
“And he’s okay with you calling?”
She hesitated. “I don’t want you to be angry with me, Randall.”
For a split second, I thought she was getting ready to tell me that the story had come from her, which made no sense at all. I shook my head as I started to pace the room. “Why would I be angry at you?”
“Because I can’t change this. I can’t make sure you see Bailey. That I’m too afraid to make that demand. Afraid I’ll lose her too.”
“I know that. I’m not angry.” Somewhere in me, I was. I was angry at everyone. At everything. Even Bailey, which made no fucking sense.
“I did set my foot down about calling you. I’m going to call and text you as much as I want. And you can do the same to me. And I’ll keep working on it till I get to see you. After that, maybe we can figure out how to fix the Bailey thing.”
“Seriously? Dustin said that was okay?” I growled in frustration. “Goddamn it, Kayla. How fucked is it, that I have to ask you if it’s okay with your husband if we talk?”
She didn’t answer, but I could feel her hesitation through the phone.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m just saying it’s fucked-up. I get it. I’m in the same boat. I’ve no doubt Dad would make it where you’d lose Bailey as well. Dustin too. The fucker.”
“Actually he surprised me. He is okay with us talking, mostly. After a lot of yelling. He doesn’t believe the story either.”
“He what? Dustin said that?” I hadn’t expected him to believe it, but I would have placed money on his throwing the first stone, rather than claiming my innocence.
Kayla didn’t sound as shocked as I felt. “I know he’s controlling and horrible to you. And I know sometimes he’s horrible to me and that I bitch about him all the time, but he’s not evil, Randall. Dustin is trapped. By your dad and by all the money. I’m not saying it excuses anything, but it is true.”
“I know that.” It took all my strength not to tell her Dustin needed to grow a pair and stand up to Dad like I had. Of course, he tried and got a broken nose for his effort, and I was cut off from my family. Maybe he shouldn’t follow my example.
“I know you do, but still. You need to hear it. He doesn’t believe it.” She laughed. A real laugh. One of her sarcastic, too-honest laughs. “Of course, he still hates your guts, so there’s that.”
“So how’d you get him to let you call?”
“I told you. We’ve been fighting for hours. I put my foot down. This was our compromise. That you and I could talk. I’m going to work on making it where we can see each other, but it might take me a bit. It’s easy to keep your dad from finding out you and I speak, but I doubt we could keep visiting each other a secret. And, damn it, you’re right. This is so fucked-up.” She let out a long sigh, and her tone grew colder. “However, I don’t know how long it will take me before I can get it to where Bailey can see you. Even without your dad. As fucked-up as it is, how would it look for Dustin’s political career if he let his daughter be with someone who was at the center of these stories?”
“Oh, I don’t know? Maybe that he believes his goddamned brother isn’t a child pornographer!” Without realizing what I was doing, I slammed my fist into the door, yelped in pain, and set the dogs on the other side to barking like the building was falling.
Kayla’s tone turned cautious. “I wasn’t saying I agree with him, sweetie. I was just telling you what barriers we’re facing.”
I stared at my aching fist, like it was the one that had hurt me instead of the other way around. “I know, Kayla, I’m sorry. I just—”
