“I didn’t?—”
“Don’t,” he snaps again. “Don’t even try to explain it.”
Willow steps forward, her voice breaking. “Dad, it’s not?—”
“Itisexactly what it looks like,” he says, not taking his eyes off me. “And I told you—” his voice drops, low and dangerous now “—I told you to stay away from her.”
The promise. It hits like another punch. I straighten slowly, forcing myself to meet his gaze.
“I know,” I say.
“Clearly you don’t.”
“I do.”
“Then what the hell was that?” he demands.
I don’t answer. Because there isn’t one. Not one he’ll accept. Not one that makes this okay. The silence stretches.
And behind me—I can feel Willow caught in the middle. And everything is shattered.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
WILLOW
I don’t feelthe first second of it. Not the punch. Not the shock.
“Emma!”
My voice breaks as I drop to my knees in front of her, my arms wrapping around her so tight I’m afraid I might hurt her.
She’s real. She’shere. Her arms fling around me just as hard, her face burying into my shoulder. “Willow—oh my God—I thought?—”
“I know,” I choke, pulling her closer, my hands trembling as they press into her back, her hair, her face—like I need to make sure she’s actually here. “I know, I know?—”
She’s crying. I’m crying.
And for a second—Nothing else exists.
“They said to stay together,” Emma rambles into my shoulder, her voice shaky. “Dad wouldn’t let go of my hand and we just kept moving and?—”
“You’re okay,” I whisper, pulling back just enough to cup her face, toseeher. “You’re okay. That’s all that matters.”
“I was so scared,” she says, her voice cracking.
“I know,” I say again, softer this time. “Me too.”
A hand grips my arm. Firm. I freeze.
Dad.
“Willow.”
His voice cuts through everything.
I turn slowly. And there he is. Standing right in front of me. Alive. My breath leaves me all at once.
