Chapter Eight #2
“Mr. Archer had no prior knowledge of the child, Aurora Vernal, until my visit. According to the will filed with the probate attorney, the Vernals named Mr. Archer as Aurora’s legal guardian following her birth.
While Marlee does have a living relative—her younger sister, Oakley June Parker—she is only eighteen years old.
Per the attorney’s notes, Mrs. Vernal explicitly stated that she did not want Aurora placed with her sister, leaving Mr. Archer as the sole designated guardian. ”
I swallow hard, my fists clenched under the table.
What the fuck, Marlee?
“She and Mr. Archer were previously involved, I believe,” Georgia continues, her brows furrowed. “Though, I was unable to determine the extent of the relationship—”
She trails off and glances at me as if she’s hoping I’ll fill in the blank.
I don’t. Won’t.
I’m not going there.
We stare at each other, the silence thick as hell. I do all I can to let my unspoken words fill the space between us.
You’re gonna have to try harder, sweetheart. I’m not breaking first.
Georgia looks damn pissed as she huffs, “Can you help me out here?”
“No,” I mutter. “Should have done your research better, Georgia .”
“ You can call me Ms. Walker,” she says sweetly, flashing a smile that’s all teeth.
“And I’d really appreciate you filling in the blanks, Mr. Archer.
Though my search was extensive, there’s only so much I can verify without turning to the rumor mill, and that’s just not something I believe in doing. ”
Interesting—and appreciated. I can only imagine what the old biddies in Heart Springs have to say about me and Marlee May, or the way things ended. Ten plus years, and I’m positive no one’s forgotten a damn second of it.
Maybe they should have hit the whiskey harder. Worked for me.
Looking her straight in the eyes, I say the honest truth, “I have no interest in walking down memory lane.”
“But—” Her hands flap at her sides. “I can’t do my job if I don’t know all the facts, and unfortunately, a big part of this story sadly passed away, and you’re all that’s left.”
“You want the story?” She nods. My brows hit my hairline as my gut twists. “Marlee and I fucked for years, but that was a long ass time ago. The baby isn’t mine. Marlee isn’t mine. And this?” I start to stand. “This is a mistake—”
“Kade!” Frank chides. I slowly turn to look at him, and his expression has me dropping back down.
He reminds me of my dad. “This’ll only work if you want it to, son.
You gotta put the past hurt where it belongs and handle what’s in front of you for the people who can’t speak for themselves. Can you do that?”
I hear what he’s not saying. This isn’t just about me. It’s about Aurora and her parents.
It’s about Marlee.
Frank knew the Parkers. Hell, the whole damn town did. Their name carried weight, and not the good kind.
People wrote them off as trash long before Marlee was old enough to prove them wrong. Her mom OD’d when Marlee was a teenager. The boyfriend died, too—same needle, same night. That left Marlee and her baby sister, Oakley, in the care of their grandma, Kim.
She lived in a rusted-out trailer on the edge of town and had no business raising kids.
Barely raised her own before tossing Marlee’s mama out on her ass.
Cold, cruel, and sharp-tongued, she was the kind of woman who didn’t believe in softness.
She’d raised her daughter with fear and fists, and she didn’t change for the next generation.
Marlee protected Oakley the best she could, but she was still just a kid herself. I tried, too. Got my parents involved, but things were different back then. Small town, no protection, and a tiny police force.
Eventually, Marlee got free just by turning eighteen, and shortly after, Kim passed away. Best thing that could have happened for Oakley. She wound up in foster care by the time she was eight, and last I heard, she had a good life a few towns over.
The reminder is like a slap in the fucking face. My palm rakes through my hair, tugging hard enough to hurt. It doesn’t help. I still feel sick. And confused. And sad .
Maybe things between us ended badly, but the thought of Marlee’s little girl winding up in the same kind of hell she and Oakley survived?
Fuck no.
I swallow back the acid clawing up my throat and shove the painful memories where they won’t ache. Leaning forward, elbows braced on my knees, I pick a spot on the worn walnut table to stare at and don’t look away.
“Marlee and I met in kindergarten. She hated me right off the bat, and I—” I swallow hard.
“I loved her. Loved her from the second I saw her. Followed her around for years, begging her to look at me. To see me.” I scoff and a sad smile spreads across my face without warning.
“Every boy was after her attention, though, and I was just a scrawny little farm kid with a gap between my teeth and cow shit on my boots.”
She didn’t want a damn thing to do with me. She always wanted bigger. I should have known, even back then.
Marlee treated that cow shit on my boots better than she treated the boy wearing them. She flirted with and dated everyone else, barely sparing me a glance unless it was to throw an insult my way.
“Freshman year, I’d finally shot up, went through a round of braces, started putting on muscle from working the farm and hauling hay, but I wasn’t a jock. No time for football or baseball like everyone else. Still, that year—”
I huff out a breath, remembering it clearer than I’d like.
“Every jock in school was falling all over themselves, begging her to be their date for homecoming. And then, one afternoon, there she was. All pompoms, swishing hips, batting lashes— prancing straight up to me. Demanded I be her date like it was the most obvious thing in the world.”
A humorless smile pulls at the corner of my mouth. “To this day, I don’t know why she picked me. Thought maybe it was a joke at first. But I said yes—showed up in a too-tight tux, my voice cracking from puberty, and a red corsage that didn’t match her dress.”
She was so fucking mad, too. Didn’t let me hear the end of it for months.
“Didn’t matter. I was gone for her after that. We were gone for each other. Fast and hard. That’s how first love works, right? All in, no seatbelt, no second thoughts.”
I scrub a hand over my jaw. “We had a plan. She worked her ass off to get into college, and I joined the military. She’d do school. I’d do the Army. Four years in, then we’d be together forever. I had six months left on my contract. I was ready for—”
A pause. I can feel the rest pressing against my chest, too heavy to speak out loud.
I was ready for everything. Had the ring. The house. The goddamn plan.
Telling them that makes me feel desperate, and foolish, but I force it out. They need to understand how perplexing this whole damn situation is. How out of her mind Marlee must have been to appoint me as her kid’s guardian.
If they understand the circumstances, maybe they’ll find a better solution.
“I was ready for the future,” I say, my eyes fixed on a knot in the wood grain of the table.
“But she had other plans in mind. Broke it off in a letter. Said she couldn’t grow old and die in a shitty town like Heart Springs.
Said it was too small; she wanted the city.
And since the country was all I wanted—she didn’t want me. ”
My fingers twitch, curling into a loose fist.
“Never spoke to her again after that. I extended my contract and stayed in nearly ten more years before I was discharged with injuries. I always figured she left for good. Moved in with her sister in Rydell or maybe Sioux Falls since it’s a bigger city.
” I shrug, sighing. “Just knew she wasn’t in Heart Springs when I came back. ”
When I finally lift my gaze to Georgia, I brace for the blow. Judgment, maybe. Sympathy, if she’s feeling generous.
But I’m not prepared for the anger.
Her eyes are bright, blazing with something fierce and unspoken. Jaw tight. Shoulders tense. She looks like she wants to hit something. Or someone.
Like she’s angry for Marlee. Angry at me.
I’m raw after opening up. Irritated I had to do it in the first place. My jaw unhinges, muscles locking up as I get ready to shove to my feet.
Fuck this. I didn’t do a damn thing wrong.
“Such a shame,” Frank mutters, sending a chill through the ire in my bones.
I pause, fingers tight around the arms of the chair, and find his sad gaze locked on me.
“Marlee was a confused, scared, and broken girl, Kade. Went through a hell of a childhood, we all know that, and it doesn’t excuse the hurt she caused, but you were both young. ”
“All due respect,” I choke out. “If I was old enough to go to war, she sure as shit was old enough to not be an asshole.”
A laugh explodes from my left, shocking me. My eyes snap to Georgia’s just as she slaps a delicate hand to her mouth and winces.
I’m so surprised by her outburst, I smile, despite the heaviness in my gut.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, straightening her already perfect files. “Please, continue.”
Her lips are curled in a soft smile she tries to hide, chin tucked to her chest—but for some reason, I’m riveted to that tiny curve. It takes me a long moment to drag my gaze from her profile back to Frank.
Behind his glasses, his eyes are flicking between us, keen and assessing. After spending nearly thirty years as a judge, I assume he sees too damn much too easily, and the realization has the smirk dropping from my face.
“Be that as it may,” he continues. “I’m sure it was hard as hell coming back here, especially after your dad passed. I know how close you two were.”
I drop back fully into my chair, knees suddenly weak. All humor evaporates in a split second.
“We’re not here to talk about my dad.” My words are harsher than I intend, but I don’t give a fuck.