Chapter Nineteen #2
I glanced at Talia, pointing at the console. Did she want me to tell Vivienne she was here? But she shook her head. “What’s up?”
“I’m coming up tonight.”
I blinked. “Tonight?”
“There’s a six o’clock flight that gets into Missoula around midnight. I’ll just stay there and then get up early to drive over in the morning.”
“All right.” This was days earlier than we’d planned, but if she wanted to come to Montana before the weekend and see Kadence, I wouldn’t argue. Kaddie would be overjoyed. “Everything okay?”
“I hate this, Foster.” The click of a zipper, like a suitcase closing, sounded in the background. “I hate this.”
“I know you do, Vivi.”
“I’m not missing her first basketball practice.”
I chuckled. “It’s only practice. You’ll be here for the first game.”
“And I’ll be there for the first practice too.”
“Okay. She’ll be thrilled.”
“Don’t tell her I’m coming. I booked a last-minute flight, and I don’t want her hopes up, just in case it falls through.”
“Why didn’t you just call the charter company and change your flight?”
“I tried, but something about needing to submit a flight plan twenty-four hours in advance. I don’t know. I just . . . I’m not waiting. I can’t keep doing this. It’s too hard.” Her voice cracked and tears would be next.
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying.”
“Yet.”
“Yet.” A sniffle came. “I wanted to give you time with Talia. I know she doesn’t want to see me. But I miss Kadence. I miss her so much it hurts.”
I glanced over at Talia. There was understanding on her face. She didn’t speak up but she gave me a slight nod. “Talia understands. Come. Be here. We can all watch the first basketball practice.”
“Thanks.” Vivienne blew out a long breath. “How’s it going with you and Talia? Did she say she loves you yet?”
Oh fuck.
Talia’s eyes widened for just a moment, and then she looked to her window, her jaw clenched tight.
Fuck. Fuck.
“Here comes Kadence,” I lied before Vivienne could say another word.
“Ack.” A muffled thud came through the speakers. “Let me call you right back as soon as I get in the car. I almost dropped my phone trying to load my suitcase.”
“Okay.” I ended the call and the silence that followed in the truck was suffocating. Fuck.
I should have told her Talia was here. I shouldn’t have called until Kadence was here to be a buffer.
Talia wouldn’t look at me. She kept her eyes aimed out the window and her shoulders curled in, like she wanted to disappear.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Kadence to rush toward the truck. Talia had braided Kaddie’s chestnut hair this morning but after a day of school and recess, some wisps had come loose around her temples.
She was smiling as she came to the truck, looking over her shoulder to yell, “Bye!”
It should have sent my heart soaring. Except the emptiness on Talia’s face was excruciating.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as Kaddie tossed her backpack into the truck, plopping into her seat. Then I focused on my daughter. “Hi, little bug.”
“Hi, Daddy. Hi, Talia. Guess what?” Kadence spent the drive home telling us about an assembly they’d had today, where a guy named Radical Roy had come to the school to demonstrate different science experiments.
When we got home, Talia disappeared to her room with the excuse that she had her own laundry to do.
I gave her space, not wanting to push a discussion with Kadence around to hear. Dinner was tense at best. Even Kaddie noticed Talia was quiet, giving kind, but short answers whenever my daughter asked a question.
Talia didn’t meet my gaze once. When it was finally time for bed, I wasn’t surprised to come out of Kaddie’s room and find that Talia had escaped once more upstairs.
I checked the locks. Shut off the lights. Then climbed the stairs.
Her bedroom door was closed.
“Talia.” My knuckles tapped on the face. No answer. I twisted the handle and walked in anyway.
She was sitting on the bed, her knees drawn to her chest. There was a book beside her but she was staring out the window into the darkness beyond. “You talked about me.”
“She asked how we were doing. I was honest.”
Talia’s hands fisted. “That’s not her business.”
“You’re right. It’s not. But I didn’t do it to hurt you. To gossip about you. She’s just . . . my friend. I’ve shared my life with her these past seven years. And it’s a habit that I’ll have to break.”
“What else did you tell her?”
“Nothing. I swear. It was a two-minute conversation. I told her we were staying here while the work was being done at the gym. I wanted her to know that we were sleeping together in case Kadence mentioned it. She asked if we were serious. I said yes. She knows I’m in love with you.
That was the extent of the conversation. ”
Talia’s gaze shifted my direction. “That’s all?”
“That’s all.” It was just bad fucking luck that Vivienne had phrased her question that way earlier. Because I hadn’t admitted that while I’d said I love you, Talia had yet to say it back.
“I don’t know how to feel about her.” Talia’s shoulders slumped.
“That’s fair.” I closed the door behind me and walked further into the room, rounding the bed to sit beside her feet.
“I’m not mad. Not really.” She sighed. “I’m just confused. A little hurt. And jealous. I hate that you can tell when she’s about to cry, and that when she has a problem, you’re who she turns to. And I know I shouldn’t be jealous. But I am.”
God, it was good to hear. Not that I wanted her to suffer, but jealousy was something. A feeling, good or bad. It was something.
I took her hand in mine, peeling her fingertips away from her palm, then pressed it against my chest. “She never had my heart.”
“She had seven years.”
“And I’ll give you seventy.” If that meant I’d have to live until 101, I’d do everything in my power to give her that time.
“I’ll get over it,” she muttered.
Yes, she would. Eventually she’d realize that what I shared with Vivienne was nothing compared to what we had. Tonight, I’d remind her.
So I picked up where we’d left off earlier.
And stripped those leggings from her body.