“Okay.” I jerked my head, ready to dish it out. “What areyoudoing here?”
She looked at me like I was a stupid little idiot. Like she needed to let me down easy. “I live here.”
I made some kind of noise. A choking sound? Did I gag? Did a sob escape? It felt like my soul left my body. Like I was watching this scene unfold from a distance.
This cannot be real.
At the end of our marriage, I was so hurt. So lonely. So angry at him. Nothing he did was right. Nothing he offered was good enough. Had I pushed him so hard he was just dying to get rid of me? Couldn’t wait for me to be gone?
It’s my own fault.
She continued. “I told him I’d help him watch his baby while he worked in case you two decided to split custody. But, I think he’s just ready for a fresh start, ya know? Ready to leave the past in the past.”
Her grubby hands on my child? I would die first.
Her audacity was unmatched.
I took a backward step, reaching behind me for the railing. She said something as I left, but for the life of me, I couldn’t register what it was. I think I tripped over the last stair because my ankle started hurting.
A light rain had begun. I didn’t even feel it.
When I went to the department, Jack closed the door on us. There was nofamily.There was nowant.There was notogether.
And I did it to myself.
I thought a baby would change things. But our miracle came too late, and I was alone now.
Completely alone.
THIRTY-SIX
Jack
Iwas up, pacing around the room, my chest so tight I thought I might crack a few ribs. My muscles twitched, itching to turn the couch upside down in a fit of rage. I was going to kill Bree. Why would she do that to me?
I ran my hands over my head. “I can’t believe this.”
“If you didn’t know about me being pregnant, how did she?” Miranda’s eyes were trained on me. The lights were dim, the brown of her irises dark—lending to the pained expression across her features.
“Because she’s a bi—” I stopped, grappling for words that would help us both understand what was going on. “She was an emotional train wreck, and I absolutely would not put it past her to go through my mail.”
“And read it?”
“Obviously!”
Miranda scoffed. “But why would she do that?”
“Bree was crazy!”
Her head lolled to the side in annoyance.
“I’m serious. She probably felt threatened by you, which is why she lied.”
“Lied about what?”
“Uh, several things.” I ticked them off on my fingers. “We didn’t talk about the letter. She didn’t live with me. And she wasn’t even my girlfriend!”
Miranda’s face was deadpan. “So, just a hooker then?”
