“That was a fluke.”
“No. You’re just really bad.”
Why does that feel like one one of the best compliments I’ve ever received?
I pat Sonny on the back, looking forward to many evenings spent out in the backyard whooping his ass. That’s what every good soccer player needs—a good whooping.
“Can we have this lasagna yet?” Ellie grumbles, joining the rest of us.
My heart will never get tired from feeling this kind of love. I turn to Piper, and we exchange a smile. It’s a huge pinch-me moment for the both of us as we realize that this is now going to be therest of our lives. Me. Her. The kids, and the new little creation growing inside of her.
EPILOGUE
PIPER
“Let me come with you,”Caleb insists as he walks me to the police station. “It’s a big thing to confront your father.”
“I know, which is why I need to do it alone.” I squeeze his enormous hand and let go, flashing him a smile as I head into reception. “I want to see him.”
“I know you do. But just be careful.”
“Always am.”
We both know that previously, I’ve been the opposite of careful. Between straining my toe in a stream and almost getting myself killed by one of my father’s many enemies, it’s safe to say that I’m a liability.
But for my children and for Caleb, I’m desperate to put all that behind me, hence why I’m checking into the station to visit my detained father. I need to move on from the past. Seeing that his actions have finally caught up with him will allow me to start over on a fresh slate, and begin to move on.
I wait in the reception area and jump out of my skin every time one of the heavy metal cell doors slams. The sound carries into my bones, shocking the very membrane of them, same as it did when I was in the motel hearing that gunshot.
I expect the horror from that to stay with me for a while. But it’s my father offering to sell me that eats me alive the most. In my head, he was always meant to see the light. But you’re already six feet underground when you’re saying shit like that.
“If you would like to follow me, Ms. Hart.”
I peel myself off the plastic chair. It takes two attempts. All of the sweat had me glued to it, and the officer who guides me through the cell hallway can clearly see that I’m nervous, because she turns over her shoulder and tells me, “Don’t force yourself to do this if you don’t want to.”
I need to.
My father needs to know that there’s a limit to how much I can take from him.
We make it through the hallway and into the visitor’s area, where my father is slumped in his seat, tucked into a desk, waiting for me. Or maybe he wasn’t waiting for me, because he perks up in his seat and looks confused.
“Piper.” He exhales a long sigh and blows bad breath my way, suggesting he’s not picked up a toothbrush since being at the motel. “I thought you were my lawyer?”
“Lawyer?” I stifle a snort. “You know you have to pay for those, right?”
“Yes,” he replies. “But I was hoping through legal aid to get one free.”
I frown, clearly forgetting how out of touch he is. That’s my father alright. More attuned to his bees than to his own daughter. More concerned with scoring a jackpot in the casino than he was about his daughter’s horrific grades in school.
I clasp my hands together on the desk and let the silence fall over us for a moment. He always kept me waiting, so it feels right to return the favor.
“How are your legs holding up?” I ask.
I invite myself to look under the table. Both of his thighs are wrapped up in two ridiculous bandages that other detained people here definitely have something to say about.
“The doctor says they don’t need amputating, at least for the time being.” He takes a sip of water from the plastic cup in front of him. I stare at his fingernails, nauseated by the amount of grime stuck underneath them. Those things are like talons. A pair of nail clippers wasn’t obviously ever in the budget.
“I could get used to this place,” he says, blowing another sigh my way. “I don’t know how long these entitled bastards are planning on keeping me here for, but it’s a step up from the motel.”
