No cars passed on the road, and no one seemed to be out doing yard work. Even though I had said that Emery and Enzo needed to be around other people more often, I wasn’t quite ready to just dump them in a crowd. Slow and steady worked, too.
Maybe I was a bit overprotective. I couldn’t help it. With each passing day, Enzo was worming his way into my heart as much as Emery already had.
The small voice at the back of my head warned me loud and clear to not be getting so attached. I needed to take a step back. But they were making it hard to do so.
I just hoped that in time, this wasn’t going to bite me in the ass.
Enzo was the first to pull us to a stop on the sidewalk, breaking me from my thoughts. Emery’s form pressed into my side not a moment later as he tried to become invisible.
I couldn’t blame him for wanting to disappear right at that very moment.
“How can I help you?” Somehow, I was able to keep the rudeness out of my tone, even though everything in me wanted to turn and get back home as quickly as possible.
“I’m here, alone, to talk to Emery. That’s all I want. Just a moment. Please,” Mr. Matthews pleaded. His eyes bounced between Emery and myself. “Just to talk.”
“Why?” Enzo stepped forward, blocking Emery from the man’s view.
“My wife may think I’m a pushover, but my son is important to me. I’d like the chance to make some wrongs right.”
I glanced down at Emery, leaving the option up to him.
“She doesn’t know I’m here, and I’d like to keep it that way,” he went on. “She’ll be pissed enough once I get back home. All I need is five minutes.”
Emery
Iwanted to come back to this place on another day. A day when the man across from me wasn’t there.
Grass, thick and soft. Trees reaching for the sky. Kids playing nearby on the playground, happy and laughing.
Instead of enjoying the time out of the house, I was filled with knots, and panic was clawing its way to the surface.
With Ryker on one side of me, Enzo on the other, I may have been squished, but they were the only reason I wasn’t full-out panicking just yet. They kept me grounded.
I kept my eyes on the table, knowing that if I lifted them, I’d see the man I hated nearly as much as Steven. And that was saying a lot.
“I’m sorry for what you went through,” my father started. Although he sounded like he meant the words, I still didn’t look up at him. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d leave. “It was never my intention to cause you harm. Your mother really thought you’d be fine, but I never...”
“You thought he ran away, just like most police officers did,” Ryker finished.
“Yeah. It fit. We had just moved. New place, somewhat new friends. Running because you were scared after a home invasion at a party. The officer we talked to said it seemed like it was a normal, run-of-the-mill scene. Your mother never pressed.”
He paused for a moment, maybe to gather his thoughts or his energy.
“I never believed you would just run off. I pressed for more of an investigation, but it didn’t lead anywhere. Your mother didn’t help at all.”
“Of course, she didn’t. She only wanted a kid to fit in. And when that kid fell off the earth, she was happier.” The words were out before I could stop them.
“In a way, yes. But everything I did, even before you disappeared, was for you. I hoped that if I took the job, I’d have been home more. It was a bit too late, of course, to fix what I could no longer fix.”
“Then why now?” Enzo asked, heated. “You know there’s not a chance in hell, right?”
“I’m well aware. But I know my son will be happy with the two of you,” my father said, slightly upset. “I lost my chance. I’m okay with that. Thought it was my duty to let you know that you won’t have to worry about your mother or me again. We won’t pop up and demand things from you. Your mother has already written you off.”
Enzo sniffed, not impressed. Neither was I, for that matter.
“I wanted to give you something.” There was some movement from across the table that caused me to look up. I watched with squinted eyes as my father pulled out his wallet and then three pieces of paper before stuffing the wallet back into a pocket.
“I know this won’t solve anything, but it’ll make your mother pissed, so I’m going to do it anyway. When you went missing, Emery, I started a savings fund to put towards finding you. When that didn’t pan out, for some reason, I still added to it. I hoped that one day you would show up, alive, and ready to take on the world. Anyhow, that money is rightfully yours.”
