“Fern.” I follow her. “Where are you going?”
She spins around in the car park, her eyes pooling with unshed tears under the streetlight. “I don’t know. I don’t have my car. A friend just dropped me off.” She pulls her phone from her bag and taps on the screen. Clutching it in her hand, she waits, looking between me and her phone.
“I can take you home if you need a lift.”
Her phone pings. She chokes back a strangled sob as a tear drips from her lashes. “You’re right, it is him.” She shows me the text from Lilly, confirming what I said after she sent his dating app profile picture.
I click the key fob in my pocket and unlock my car. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
Balling her fists she says, with newfound strength. “I should go in there and confront him.”
Gently guiding her elbow, I lead her to my car. “I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
She slumps into the passenger seat of the Shogun with a huff, swiping at her cheeks as if annoyed that she even cried over him. “I’ll text Lilly. I'm gonna need extra pizza after this.”
I settle into the driver’s side and start the engine. “He’ll get what’s coming to him. I’ll find something on him and get a warrant for his arrest.”
“I feel so stupid.” She wipes at her cheeks again. “He was always asking me about my family. I thought he was just taking an interest in me.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. Anyone would think the same.” I pull out of the car park, glancing over at her, clutching her bag on her lap. My hand itches to hold her and comfort her as a friend, but we were never that affectionate when we were together. Sex was either making up after an argument or a chore trying for a baby.
“The one night I got off as well.” She crosses her arms over her chest in a huff.
“Got off?” I clear my throat, wondering what she means.
“Got a night off mum duties. Lilly’s at mine babysitting.”
My jaw tightens at thoughts of Lilly alone. “Does he know where you live?”
Her hands fly to her mouth with a gasp. “Yes, he came to my house the other night.”
“Fuck.” I nod to her bag. “Text him that something came up. Tell him you’re sorry about your ex, but your son is sick.”
She furrows her brow. “You want me to act like nothing is wrong?”
“Yes.” I take the road towards Fern’s small cottage. A box compared to the home we shared together. “Play it cool. The less he knows you’re on to him, the less likely he is to retaliate.”
“Why can’t I find a decent man? Everyone I date ends up being a creep or a loser,” she says as she types out a text message.
My lips lift in the corner. I can’t help feel a little smug that since she left me, her love life’s been a disaster. But I wouldn’twish this on my worst enemy, well maybe I would. Especially this motherfucking doctor and a few others I can think of, but not Fern. She doesn’t deserve this.
As much as it hurt when she left, it was the best thing for the both of us. We were forcing something that wasn’t meant to be. Just because we have history doesn’t mean we have a future. We were too young to get married, still discovering who we were. She wanted a family. I wanted to be on tour with my brothers. The only place I felt at home since my pa passed away.
I pull up outside Fern’s cottage. “Make sure you lock all the doors and windows and if anything sounds suspicious, you call me or 999.”
Light pours from her window as the curtain opens. Lilly’s silhouette appears through the glass, bathed in a golden glow, then the kid appears next to her. Both of them are smiling from ear to ear like she would whenever I came home from the barracks or from tour.
My heart aches for a family of my own. A wife and kid to come home to after a long day at work. But I don’t want just anyone. I want the one woman I can never have.
“Thanks for bringing me home. Do you want to come in? Lilly was ordering pizza.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your family.” I stare out the window with sad eyes, knowing I’ll have to go back to my home alone. I could go to Kane’s, but he’s got Violet and Dom has Poppy staying with him now. Dan’s in the city. I should probably get a dog for company, but with the long hours at the station, it’s unfair.
Fern places her hand on mine as it grips the steering wheel as if she senses the emptiness in my chest. “We might not be together, but you will always be family.” She huffs. “Mama still thinks we’re married.”
A small laugh leaves my lips. I’m about to lie and tell her I have shit to do, but Lilly walks down the path and opens the white wooden gate, hanging on by one rusty hinge.
Lilly wraps a cardigan around her body in the chilly night air and bends to look through the window with concern etched on her face.
