“Yeah, of course.”
He releases my hand, taking my word. I lift Monroe and he gets Lincoln, then we walk them upstairs and into their rooms, tucking them into bed.
I check on Lake, and she’s still FaceTiming with her friends, so I wave hello and close her door.
Hayes is waiting at the top of the stairs outside Sky and Patrick’s room. “I was thinking… want me to go in there with you?”
My eyes widen. “No.”
He tilts his head. “You shouldn’t be in that guest room. Look at all of us in the kitchen earlier—we’re all growing. It’s okay to sleep in their room so you can have your own bathroom.” He twists the doorknob.
“Hayes.”
What he hears in my voice, I don’t know, but he removes his hand. “No? Okay.”
I know he has a point, and I’d rather be brave with him here, so I reach around him, suck in a breath, and open the door. It’s exactly how I left it how many months ago, except maybe dustier. All I did was toss the suitcases and duffel bags the police returned to us in here after the funeral.
Hayes follows me in, and I shut the door, so the kids won’t find us in here. I know Lincoln doesn’t care, but I don’t know how the girls will feel about it.
“This is their stuff?” Hayes squats down to the backpack with a phone in the side pocket. “Did you think about looking through their phones?”
“No.” I put my arms around myself, feeling as though I’m invading someone’s personal space.
“There are probably pictures the kids would want when they’re older.” He stands, and a relieved breath floats out of me that he didn’t pick up the phone. He walks over to me and takes my hands. “I know this is hard, and I’ve never been in your position, but Leighton, after my mom got sick, all I could do was look at pictures of her. And my first thought was that we didn’t take enough. I worried that if cancer took her, the memories would fade, and I wouldn’t have enough to remember her by. I know it’s hard, but you might want to do it for the kids. You can’t just forget them.”
Unshed tears burn in my eyes, but he’s right. I know he is. I just don’t want to see her smiling face knowing what happened after that last picture was taken.
“I’m happy to go through them if you don’t want to.” His voice is gentle.
I lean my forehead on his chest, and he runs his hands up and down my arms in a comforting motion.
“No, I should do it.” I leave his warm body and go over to the backpacks, squatting and staring at the phone in the outside pocket.
It was Sky’s. I don’t understand why she didn’t have it on her when she fell. It makes no sense to me. She was such a picture-taker. Maybe having her phone would’ve made all the difference.
But I’m never going to get the answer to that question, so I have to let it go.
“I’ll have to charge it.” I get back up on my feet and white-knuckle the phone.
“I’ll be right next to you. Do you want me to go through their bags for anything else?”
“I think one step at a time is all I can handle.” I walk to the door and give one last look at the room before I open the door.
Hayes follows me to my room, and I plug her phone into the charger. My libido is gone now, and Hayes must read my mood shift because he holds me, his hands running up and down my arms until we see the screen light up.
I swing my legs over the bed and pick up her phone, feeling more urgent about it now that I see messages coming in. They’re mostly from around the time they died, but there’s a number that has called and left numerous messages. It’s saved under the name Dr. Bonnie Welsh.
Sky never mentioned Dr. Bonnie Welsh. And why would she call so many times?
Chapter
Forty-Four
Hayes
* * *
Leighton and I are getting ready for the gala that Jagger insisted we attend. Since my condo is filled with Foster’s shit until he finds a place, and Leighton’s mom is sleeping over at the house to watch the kids for the night, I rented a hotel room for Leighton and me.
