CHAPTERONE
New Orleans, Louisiana
Liam
“Daddy, will you come to Montana?” Lulu asks as she perches on my lap. We’re sitting in the private lounge of the New Orleans airport, and I look down and smile at her.
Her blue eyes, which look so much like my ex-wife’s, stare back at me. My daughter is full of innocence, but she’s wiser than she should have to be at three years old. Her parents divorcing took away her belief that life is full of happily ever afters, and I feel the guilt of that every time I look at her.
“I will, baby. You’re going to fly there today with Uncle Hunter and Aunt Winter. But I’ll be there before you know it.”
“Good.” She bounces up and down on my lap, her stuffed unicorn nestled with her. Her blond ponytail bounces with her movements. Her hair’s gotten so long. “Daddy, I want yum-yums!”
“You just had some goldfish crackers,” I remind her. “Can you read your book?”
She picks up her animal picture book and half-heartedly flips through the pages. Sometimes I feel like she’s three going on thirteen, I swear.
“The plane ride will go by quickly. And when you get to Montana, you can see a lot of animals for real.”
“Like the zoo?”
“Better than the zoo,” I tell her. “Wild Ranch has animals on the property. Like horses.”
“Neigh-neigh.” She giggles.
Behind her, the sun is setting outside the lounge’s floor-to-ceiling windows.
Feels like my past is laid out in front of me. I block out the dark memories and focus on where I’m headed. To Montana for the summer. My little brother’s getting married, and I’m about to take a solo cross-country road trip. Once I arrive at Wild Ranch, Lulu and I will hang out and chill for the off-season. She’s my favorite girl in the world, and there’s nothing I want to do more than spend every day with her.
Big sky, here we come.
“Daddy, I need to go potty.”
“Okay.” I stand up and head for the restrooms that are within sight. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Haley
She’s not coming.
I bite down to try to quell the devastation hitting me and toss some bills on the table. I leave the table and smooth down the front of my blue and white button shirt and black mini skirt. Then, with my head held high, I grab my rolling suitcase and march out of the airport coffee shop.
I keep my shoulders back as I roll my suitcase down the corridor, but inside, I’m trying not to lose it.
I’d never had the urge to meet my birth mother before. I love my parents, and if it weren’t for their nasty divorce, I might never have been curious enough to seek out Mindy. But after Mom caught Dad having sex with his—wait for the cliché—receptionist—our happy little family kind of fell apart. I felt a bit lost, and I decided to undertake the process of locating Mindy Latano. And today is my thirtieth birthday, which seemed like the perfect day to take the chance and set up a meeting with her.
I could use a friend as I hustle through the airport, my tears no longer hidden behind my eyes but now starting to prevent me from seeing clearly in front of me. The fact that I wear glasses is just making the whole situation worse because the tears are now staining my glasses.
My younger sister, Debbie, has always stuck to me like white on rice, and traits I used to find endearing when she was a kid I now find grating, to put it mildly. She’s helpless to do anything on her own, and she comes to me to clean up her messes. Which are frequent. On the flip side, she’s rarely there when I need her. Like right now.
My parents have already both called to wish me a happy birthday. Dad sang to me like he always does. I was still in good spirits then because I hadn’t been stood up yet.
But now…
I’m an expert at locking down my emotions, but even I can’t stop the tide.
Tears make a person illogical, and I’m desperate for privacy, so when I pass the lounge for VIP customers and someone steps out, leaving the door open for a half second, I slip inside.
