Chapter 32
Josh
My head throbs from last night's afterparty. Nevertheless, I dragged myself out of bed early. I promised Sophia a hike today and intend to keep that promise. We've been marching up the mountain together for half an hour now.
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" I take in the scent of the forest, listen to the birds chirping, and smile at Maya.
For a moment, her body tenses. "Yes," she simply says without looking at me.
Something is off.
Yesterday, everything was fine, but even when we had breakfast together this morning, she was silent. She stopped any attempt to be alone with her. I watch her nibble on her lower lip.
"Look, Dad!" Sophia runs to the edge of the path and squats down. "There are berries!"
Once again, my daughter manages to prevent Maya's sense of impending doom from spreading further. "Let me see," I say and join her. "These are blueberries."
Sophia wrinkles her nose. "They look weird, though."
I chuckle. "That's because you only know the ones you can buy at the supermarket. These are wild blueberries."
Sophia’s not sure if she wants to believe me, so she looks around for Maya, but she hasn't even stopped. As if she hasn't noticed that she's alone, she continues walking along the path lined with deep green firs.
This can't go on like this. Whatever her problem is, it needs to end now. She’s spoiling our trip. "I'll be right back," I tell Sophia. "Try some of the berries. You'll be surprised how delicious they are."
I watch my daughter carefully pluck one of the dark blue little fruits from the bush. For now, she'll be occupied, so I go after Maya.
"Wait a minute," I call out to her from a distance, but she acts as if she can't hear me. I pick up the pace even though my doctor said I should still take it easy. Once I reach her, I grab her wrist. "Can you tell me what's going on with you?"
She spins around, her angry gaze meeting mine. "Nothing."
Of course. Everything is perfectly fine. I tilt my head. "Come on."
"The fact that you can't figure it out yourself..." Her face tenses as she crosses her arms.
"You're mad because I've been withdrawn over the past few days." It has to be that; there's no other possibility. She probably thought she wasn't important to me. She's probably angry that I didn't have time for her.
Because she doesn't know what I've been through.
"Pfff," she scoffs instead of answering.
I step directly in front of her, our upper bodies touching. She trembles. "I'm sorry." Yes, it's a feeble apology, but what else am I supposed to say? The truth? That's impossible.
"You're such an idiot." Faster than I can comprehend, she turns away from me.
I manage to grab her wrist just in time. "That ends now. I promise."
"You can spare me your promises. You never keep them." She spits out the words like spoiled food. There's nothing but hatred on her face.
What does she mean?
With raised eyebrows, she stares at me. "You promised Sophia yesterday that you would read her a bedtime story," she blurts out.
Damn.
"But then you decided to party instead." Her lower lip quivers, and she blinks forcefully.
"That's not true." Well, the facts are correct, but they only tell half the truth. "When I went backstage after the concert, the entire stage crew awaited me. They were thrilled that our tour was finally gaining momentum and wanted to celebrate with me."
