“You gonna let that girl take your happiness away from you a second time?”
“I did this, Dad. I didn’t tell Shelby the truth. Katherine’s sick, and I feel like shit having her stay with you and Mom. I had no idea.”
“We can handle ourselves. Katherine isn’t dangerous son, she’s just lost in that head of hers.”
I climb up on the platform and screw down the deck, cutting around the trunks. I start nailing on the railings, and dad uses cedar-wood between them.
“This is actually looking great.” I laugh.
It isn't long before the treehouse actually starts looking like one, with walls, windows, and a roof. Dad does the door and trim.
I secure a couple of wood pieces up the tree’s trunk as a ladder and attach a rope one too.
Dad and I stand and admire our handiwork.
“I wish he’d been able to do this with us,” I tell dad.
“He helped a hell of a lot from the look of things. He’ll be happy to have it, nonetheless. I remember trying to get your lazy ass to help with the treehouse in our backyard.”
“I was afraid of heights, dad,” I defend.
“Yeah, sure. I am out of here. It is nearly daybreak.”
“Thank you, Dad.” I envelop him in a hug.
He squeezes back, slapping my back. “You did good, son.”
When Dad is gone, and it’s just me and the morning air. I sit on the ground, looking up at Brody’s treehouse. I hope he’ll have many good times here with Lucas. I smile at the thought of that, and then I think of Bailey.
THREE YEARS AGO
The best part of my day is this one right here, pulling up to my house, and knowing that inside those walls is the woman I love and now, our little baby. It’s been a long night, possibly one of the longest. I open the door to the house, and it’s eerily quiet. That strikes me as odd because Katie’s usually up before the birds.
“Katie, I’m home,” I call and figure that she must be sleeping in today of all days. I’ll check on my little man, shower, then join her.
But then I see it, a large manilla envelope on the counter. I’m about to ignore it. It’s probably Katie’s, but it has my name on it.
I pull out a stack of papers, the one on top is a letter in her familiar handwriting.
Dear Ember…
It might as well have readDear John because that is precisely what it was. She is leaving me for another man. She’s going to file for full custody of Bailey.Like Hell.She’s already had a DNA test done and is awaiting the results. Attached to it are divorce papers. I sit at the counter and sign without hesitation. If she wants to go, let her go.
“Where the hell are you, and where is my son?” I ask when she picks up the phone.
“Ember, maybe now is not the best time to come over.”
“I signed the damn papers. So all I want is to see my son.” That is the least the bitch can do. I gave her three years of my life, and she tells me it is not the best time to see my son. I am the one who took care of her every whim when she was pregnant. Me. Not the guy she’s been fucking behind my back.
“You did?” I’m confused by the shock in her voice. Did she think I wouldn’t? Oh, maybe she did. Perhaps she was hoping that I’d beg her to reconsider. Fucking self-centered as always.
“Of course I did, Katherine. That’s what you want, right?”
“Yes.”
“So tell me where you are so I can see my baby.” She rattles off an address. I know the area. No surprise, it’s the wealthy part of Seattle.
I fling a mug across the kitchen the second I end the call, storming upstairs to get changed.
