“I might have had a little help sneaking up.”
I scoff. “Traitors!” I whisper-yell, tossing a pillow at the door.
His mouth twitches as Harleigh’s hand reaches inside and turns the lock on the door. Then pulls it shut.
I kick my legs, freeing them from the sheet, and hitch one over the edge of the bed.
“Whoa there, Stormy. I just want to talk.”
“You don’t break into someone’s house while they’re sleeping to talk.”
“You blocked me,” he says.
“Yeah, I did. That should have been your first clue that I wasn’t interested in talking.”
He sobers, gaze dropping to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
The words hit me harder than I expected. My chest tightens, old hurt flaring bright and hot.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it this time, Waylon.”
“I know.” He shifts, careful not to touch me. Like he’s afraid I might bolt. “I screwed up.”
“You stood me up,” I say, my voice shaking despite my best efforts. “You let me sit there like an idiot, waiting for you.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“I don’t care what you meant,” I snap. “I care what you did.”
“I got some bad news that day. Really bad fucking news, and it rocked me. So hard that I forgot about everything. I know that isn’t a good excuse, but it’s the truth.”
I sit there, warring with myself. If I ask, I’ll be giving him an opportunity to change my mind. And legitimate reason or not, I’m not sure that’s something I want.
Not sure I want to put my heart at risk again.
“Go on,” I finally say. Good sense obviously gone.
“Pop hired a private investigator to find Ruby’s mother. He and Caison wanted her to sign papers to make my custody of Ruby legal. Plus, there were things I needed for school and insurance reasons. Her birth certificate, Social Security number, stuff like that.”
That makes sense.
“Did he find her?”
“He did.”
I sit there, bracing myself. Afraid he’s going to tell me she was the blonde outside the pizza parlor.
“Or he found her remains.”
“What?!”
“She passed away a few weeks before. The county was holding her ashes while they searched for next of kin.”
“Oh my God,” I murmur.
“Yeah, it was a shock. I mean, I had known she was in a bad way and living a dangerous lifestyle, but I didn’t expect that.”
“Of course not.”
