Humiliation climbed into my cheeks. My poor daughters had to live with Garrett as their father for the rest of their lives. My stomach roiled at the thought of all the disappointment they would endure. All the dreams of a father’s love that would never be answered in him. All the ways they would question whether it was their fault all along—whether they were worthy.
I knew too well.
I gave them a wavering smile. “I’ll text him, okay?”
“You always say that.” Izzy spat.
“Will we ever talk to him again?” Nora’s gaze clung to me.
“I—I don’t know. I hope so. I think he’s just a little busy.”
They fell silent, understanding what I didn’t say:He’s too busy for us.
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I shook my head, aggravated by the screeching sound of my own platitudes. They undermined the seriousness of his neglect. In all honesty, I didn’t want us to look bad in front of Bea, and I didn’t wantGarrettto look bad. Why did I protect the man who tore my family to pieces? It didn’t make sense.
“Come on, Nora. Let’s play with Frienda and Kaylee.”
“Okay,” Nora moaned, slowly pulling herself off my lap.
They moved down the porch and plopped onto the front stairs, picking up where they left off with their dolls. Bea and I sat in silence as hopelessness reared its ugly head, wrapping its fingers around my throat. Why did he hurt our daughters like this? I could understand not wanting me, but them?
I reached across my lap, finding a nail bed on my left hand. I dug in, absentmindedly picking as I fought back the wave of anxiety cresting in my heart.
“Hollie?” Bea’s voice was quiet.
I jolted at her voice and quickly tucked my hand under my thigh.
I kept my eyes averted. “Yes?”
“The girls haven’t seen Garrett since…April?”
I took a shuddering breath, unable to keep the tears out of my eyes. “January, actually. The last time he called was April.”
She took a sharp breath of surprise.
“Where is he?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
The breeze picked up, brushing a curl across my forehead. It was warm, too warm—churning my embarrassment. Silently, I sat there, waiting for the questions to come. Waiting for her to drill me about what happened to us. But she didn’t.
When I finally looked up, her tear-rimmed eyes gently studied me. “I knew something happened.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had a feeling something was going on.”
“But why did you suspect that?”
“Because you’rehere, Hollie.”
I let that sink in. My life with Garrett had simmered my relationships with family members down into vapors of mere formality—acquaintances and nothing more. Of course she suspected that something was wrong in the Aldridge paradise.
I pulled my eyes away from her, staring at my girls again—their colors turning into swimming blobs of pink, purple, and brown.
Bea’s hand rested on my forearm. “Talk to me, Hollie.”
“I—” I stopped, shaking my head. “It’s a long, humiliating story.”
