“Sure, blame the baby, Avery,” I teased.
“No, seriously. It was her.”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter. “If you say so.”
Avery gaped at me for a brief moment before she started laughing, too. I loved hearing her laugh. And it seemed like Sienna did, too. Her little eyes opened again while she tried to wiggle her tiny body.
“I don’t think she’s happy about you blaming your flatulence on her,” I teased.
Avery opened her mouth to argue right as Sienna let another one rip. Avery looked down at Sienna and chuckled. “You are not helping, little lady.”
We spent the next ten minutes cooing and laughing as our tiny baby continued to randomly fart like a grown man. When Karen came over, we knew it was time for shift change, so we chose that as a good time to leave.
Avery didn’t say a word until we reached the parking lot. “Do you think my car will be okay here overnight? I don’t want to drive home if I don’t have to.”
“I’ll have one of the brothers come by and get it.”
“Thank you. I’m just so tired,” she admitted.
Once we were in the car, I asked, “Do you want to talk about it before we go home?”
“No, I don’t want to, but I probably should.”
“If it helps, I know everything except what was in the letter.”
“How?” she asked in surprise.
“I called Phoenix to get the Sheriff’s number when we couldn’t find you. He filled me in on Chuck’s visit,” I explained.
Avery nodded and reached into her purse. Without a word, she handed me the envelope. “Read it.”
“Are you sure? It’s okay if you don’t want me to read it.”
“I’m sure. Go ahead,” she encouraged and tipped her head toward the paper in my hand.
I carefully read the last words her husband had for her, and I noticed the drop of blood in the bottom corner of the letter. Suddenly, I knew why he was parked on the side of the highway that night.
“Was Mark one of the officers that responded to the accident?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to remember. “I honestly don’t know. There was one and then, all of a sudden, there were at least twelve. I was in shock, Avery, and I don’t remember a lot of that night.”
“He had to have been to have this letter. He told me he wasn’t there, that one of the other officers called and told him it was Ian so he wouldn’t have to see his friend like that. But he had this letter, so he had to be there.”
“You’re right,” I agreed.
“It’s his fault, you know. All of it is his fault.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Mark hadn’t been insane, Ian wouldn’t have left to protect me and the kids, he wouldn’t have been parked on the side of the highway, and you wouldn’t have crashed into him,” she paused and hiccupped on a sob. “And we wouldn’t have Sienna. I feel so fucking guilty. How can I be happy about my child that exists because my husband died? I don’t know how to handle those feelings, Kellan. I feel like a horrible person because I love you and I love her. What am I supposed to do?”
I pulled her against my chest and buried my face in her hair. “We’ll get through this,” I vowed. Come hell or highwater, we would get through it.
44
Avery
When we got back to the house, everyone was in the living room waiting for us. “Mommy! I learned a new magic trick. Can I show you?” Riley asked excitedly.
