Paige fled. Val still looked like she was thinking about it before Paige returned, took her hand, and pulled her out of the room. I turned into Theo’s chest, clinging to him, the tears still flowing. I couldn’t control them. It was a purging of so much, and I never wanted to see this room again.
“Theo,” Liz said, “why don’t you take Trinity down to the living room and I’ll make some tea. Cecil, Logan, make sure they leave.”
“I’ll take her to the patio,” Theo said, and whispered to me. “That way you don’t have to see them leaving.”
“Thank you.”
The air outside was mild and balmy, the early evening sky free of clouds. A beautiful day to remind me that not everything was bad. Out here it felt so much lighter. More free.
“That was a lot,” Theo said. “You did amazing.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
“I imagine not, no.” He sat us together in a chair underneath the umbrella. “But it was still brave, and it will get better.”
I swallowed. “I was really nervous about it, but I think… I’m glad I have that appointment. To talk to someone. Probably should have done it a long time ago.”
Nothing changed in our connection. No shock or joy, just the same love and calm. “I think that’s a good idea. Everyone can use help. Especially with stuff like this.”
“Yeah.”
Liz brought a pot of tea out and a few cups. Coffee too. Where she managed to find muffins and croissants, I wasn’t sure, but they were there too.
Theo smiled at her. “Thanks, Mama Hart.”
“Of course.” She looked down at me. “I’m so sorry, Trinity.”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“No, but it’s a horrible thing to go through and carry for so long.”
It was. Having out in the open felt better than I thought it would. No longer having to tiptoe around my own experiences would take some getting used to.
Liz smiled at me a bit sadly. “I think you and your dad still have a lot to talk about, huh?”
“Yeah. I think we do.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
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LOGAN
Watching Cecil’s pack grab as much as they could and shove it into their cars was gratifying. Not as gratifying as if they’d been arrested and thrown in prison for the rest of their lives, but gratifying.
And the prison thing still wasn’t out of the question if I had anything to say about it. Cecil watched them like a hawk, giving nothing away, face a stony mask of fury.
I’d never seen him like this.
The Beta was short, a little portly, and with his glasses and constant enthusiasm looked more like a man who took people on safari than one of the world’s most renowned photographers. Certainly not someone who was on the verge of violence, like he was in this moment.
He stood on the front steps with his hands in his pockets, watching them pack in a frenzy. “I should have seen it,” he whispered. “How the fuck didn’t I see it?”
“Is that an actual question?”
“It can be.” When he met my gaze I saw the rawness there. The grief. So similar to his daughter.
“I’m not going to tell you everything,” I said. “That belongs to Rin. But I will say that Trinity cried when we brought her down to the surfing competition.” The others told me about her reaction when they presented the idea. “She assumed we wouldn’t want her to go becauseyounever asked her to go anywhere with you.”
