Chapter 7 #2
I glanced at Reid with an overwhelming urge to jab at him in some way. “It must be nice working with your girlfriend.”
Roe, who had just taken a drink of his soda, made a choking noise and quickly covered his mouth. Reid’s expression turned horrified. Wyatt snorted before bursting with laughter.
“Makayla is my sister,” Reid said, still looking disturbed.
“I apologize for assuming,” I said quickly.
Roe cleared his throat. “I can see how she came to that conclusion.”
Wyatt was still laughing. “Me, too!”
“My mom invited me over for dinner,” Reid explained. His dry and to-the-point tone told me he wasn’t thrilled to do so. “I don’t want to go. I’m letting my little sister escape from the fallout by hanging out at my place.”
Escape? Fallout? Those words made me wonder if they were in a similar situation as me. I didn’t dare ask. It wasn’t any of my business.
Mac returned with a tray with plates of food on it.
She began setting those plates in front of everyone.
When she was finished, she walked off to tend to another table.
It appeared everyone had gotten a burger and fries, including me.
It already smelled like food in the bar.
With it right in front of me, the smell was a hell of a lot stronger.
Earlier, the thought and smell of food had nauseated me. Now it made me very aware that I was hungry. The burger and fries in front of me looked delicious. The burger had two patties with greasy melted cheese on them, along with lettuce, tomato, onion, and some sort of sauce.
“Is bar food beneath you?” Reid asked before taking a bite of his burger. His was slightly different from mine. It had onion rings and a brown condiment I assumed was BBQ sauce.
“Reid,” Roe said with a tone.
“She’s the one staring at it like she’s looking for poison,” Reid grumbled.
Roe stared across the table at me, expectant. I could feel all of them staring.
Just one bite won’t hurt.
I picked up a fry. It was golden, crispy, and salted.
I had never had fries before. At least, I didn’t have any memory of ever having fries before.
I’d had potatoes before, but not cooked like this.
All hell would break loose if anything fried came anywhere near our house.
I hadn’t had a burger before, either. Although I’d had half of a patty melt once.
Prue had been eating one for lunch and given me half of it.
Mother had been away on a trip and Prue had made me promise to keep it a secret.
It had been one of the best things I’d ever eaten.
Just one bite.
I took a small bite of the fry. As I chewed, it took everything not to embarrass myself by reacting.
It was good. A haze or snap of control must have happened, because I shoved the rest of that fry in my mouth and picked up the burger.
I barely got the fry down before I bit into it.
When the melted cheese, meat, and sauce spread over my tongue, I moaned.
A little bit of the sauce had leaked out of the burger when I’d taken a bite and was rolling down from the corner of my mouth.
I quickly caught it with the tip of my finger and brought that to my lips to suck clean.
The lack of talking from the guys around me snapped me back to reality and I regained control of myself. I put my hand in front of my mouth before glancing around the table. They were watching me, unblinking.
Feeling mortified and like I’d messed up, I quickly finished chewing and wiped my mouth with a napkin Mac had delivered with our food. “Sorry.”
Roe frowned. “Why are you apologizing?”
I stared down at my delicious burger, debating what to say. “I guess I’m hungry.”
Wyatt pushed his plate toward me. “I’ll let you eat my burger, too, if you continue moaning.”
Even though I was embarrassed, I still found what he said funny.
“You’re smiling,” Roe said, making me realize.
I stared across the table at him. He was watching me while eating a fry with an I told you so glint in his stormy blue eyes.
“Is there something wrong with her smiling?” Reid asked.
Roe looked down at his plate and picked up his burger. “No.” Just before he took a bite, he nodded at my own burger. “Keep eating. When we’re done, we’ll teach you how to play pool.”
Knowing how delicious it was obliterated my ability to hold back. I took another bite. Then another. I kept lying to myself that each next bite would be my last until I nearly finished the whole thing.
I learned very quickly that playing pool wasn’t the best idea.
It hurt to lean, bend, and stretch my arms to hold the cue stick in position.
Clearly I hadn’t thought things through when I’d agreed to come.
Still, I could deal with the pain while Roe showed me how to hold the stick to strike the cue ball and during my first strike on my own.
Roe and I were on the same team against Wyatt and Reid. I enjoyed watching them interact. They bantered back and forth with such ease. I learned that they had been friends since they had been in diapers. Wyatt was the same age as Roe and me. Reid was a year older.
When it was my turn again, I went to get into position to line up my stick and winced.
“You all right?” Roe asked.
I straightened and checked the button at my collar to make sure it was still fastened. It was almost undone. I quickly fixed it. “Yes. I hurt my collarbone yesterday.”
“After we saw you?” Wyatt asked as he spun his cue stick between his hands. “How’d that happen?”
“She dropped a box on it,” Roe said, reminding me that he had overheard Brandon and me.
I looked down at the pool table. “Yeah.”
“How do you drop a box on your collarbone?” Reid asked.
“It was up in my closet. I was trying to get it down and it fell.” Lying was souring the moment for me.
It made me feel shitty and pulled my mind back to things I was hoping that spending time with Roe would help distract me from.
Mentally, I shook my head, trying not to be dragged down.
“I’m all right,” I lied again and got back into position to strike the ball.
I pushed through for the rest of the game. Every time I went to strike, I could feel them watching me, especially Roe. When the game was over, I told them I needed to go. I had homework and if I stayed out any later, Mother might notice.
Roe walked me to my car. “You had fun.” He sounded a little proud of himself.
“You sound so sure,” I said as I came to stand by my car door.
“You did,” he insisted.
I had. “Wyatt is an unapologetic flirt, and Reid was not happy you invited me.”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Yeah.”
“Why did you invite me?” That question had been on my mind since I’d decided to follow him here.
He didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he stared at me as if taking in all of my face. “I forget about what I should and shouldn’t do when I’m around you.”
“Why is that?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I don’t know.”
I didn’t believe him. “Liar.”
He shrugged. “Go home, Lottie.”
I guessed I wasn’t going to get an answer. I lifted my hand to say goodbye and then climbed into my G-Wagon.
When I got home, Prue was waiting for me in the foyer. She didn’t say anything, but tilted her head toward the stairs before heading to them. I followed her up and all the way to my room.
“What is it?” I asked as I closed my door while she flipped on my bedside light.
“I wanted to see you before I left,” she said. “Did you open that envelope from your father’s lawyer?”
I glanced at my art desk, where I had hidden my father’s letter. “Yes and no.”
“You didn’t read the letter from your father yet?” she asked in disbelief.
I frowned. “How’d you know—?”
“That doesn’t matter,” she cut me off. “You need to read it, Lottie.”
I sighed and nodded.
“I also wanted to warn you,” she said as she came closer. “He isn’t flying out until a week after your mother does.”
“I know that already.” Clay didn’t want to attend Fashion Week.
“I overheard him and your mother talking. He promised to check in on you to make sure you are behaving until he leaves.”
My stomach dropped.
She put her hand on my shoulder. “I will ask the other staff to let me know when he is here. Don’t come home if he is.”
Where else was I supposed to go? I didn’t voice that question and just nodded.
“Please read the letter,” she pleaded before she left.
I showered to wash the day off me and dressed into comfy clothes. As I did my nighttime moisturizing routine, I did my best not to look in the mirror. My shirt was a tank and where I’d gotten hurt had really darkened. I didn’t want to see how ugly and horrific it was. I didn’t want the reminder.
Before climbing into my bed, I grabbed my laptop to work on homework. I got through most of it before my thoughts kept drifting to the letter. Prue’s insistence increased my curiosity enough to ignore all the other feelings that made me reluctant to read it.
I got up and went over to my art desk. I had it hidden in a sketchbook because I needed my textbook for school. Once I retrieved it, I returned to sit on my bed. I ran my fingers over my name. My father had nice handwriting.
With a heavy exhale, I flipped the letter over and ripped it open.
My little Lottie,
If you’re reading this, I’m no longer with you and I passed before you reached adulthood.
It’s strange to write this, because you’re with me in my office right now, coloring in front of the fireplace.
You sure do love to draw. I may be biased, but I think you’re talented.
I’m running out of wall space to hang any more of your beautiful art.
I wonder if you still draw or have picked up another hobby that helps that creative mind of yours flourish.
It tears me apart knowing that I won’t be there to see what a beautiful young woman you’ll become.
I want you to know that you were the greatest thing to come into my life and I love you more than anything. Please remember that as you continue to read this letter.
I’m sorry I’m not there. I’m sorry for all the milestones that I missed.
Most of all, I’m sorry I’m not there to protect you from your mother.
I’m sorry to speak ill of her, but I’m sure you will understand what I mean.
I’ve caught how she speaks to you when she thinks no one is around and I’ve tried to put a stop to it.
I’m worried that without me here, things will escalate.
If I could, I’d take you and run away right now.
But if I did that, I would lose you. She’d take you from me and I’d have no way to get you back.
I’m not your biological father, Lottie.
When your mother and I were dating, she was having an affair with another man, named Abraham Kane.
I wasn’t sure at the time. I suspected and caught her in a few lies.
I’d been planning to end the relationship.
Then she’d told me she was pregnant with you.
It changed everything. I had been so happy that I ignored the red flags and my suspicions of her.
We got married right away and then you came into the world.
You were the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen.
It seemed like we were a happy family for the first year of your life.
At least, I was happy with you. Your mother had no problem handing you over to the nanny to raise and parading around our community like she was royalty—she certainly spent money like she was.
I do work a lot, but every spare minute I’ve always dedicated to you.
When you were almost two, I got hurt bicycling and had some medical testing done.
I found out that I was sterile and had been my whole life.
I tried to let it go that you weren’t mine.
Tried to tell myself that I love you and it didn’t matter, but I couldn’t and eventually hired an investigator.
He came back with so much proof that I didn’t know who I had married.
I wanted to confront her, but I was afraid of the fallout.
I didn’t want to lose you. So I kept my mouth shut.
The unfortunate thing about problems is that even if you ignore them, they don’t go away.
My resentment toward your mother grew. I kept quiet about what I knew about you, but I couldn’t keep quiet about the despicable things she continued to do all while living the life of luxury I’ve provided her.
I couldn’t help but call her out on all her bullshit.
I still can’t. It’s been going on for years and she hates me for it.
She wishes me dead. I can see it in her eyes.
When we first got married, she thought she could play the long game.
Now that life isn’t so easy, she’s run out of patience.
I’m worried what she might do to me. I don’t have any proof.
Maybe I really am paranoid, and this letter will be all for naught.
Maybe I’ll find a way to divorce her and still be able to keep you in my life.
I have all this money and it’s useless. My lawyer says I won’t be able to get full custody of you unless I have proof that she’s physically hurting you.
So far, I haven’t see any indication that she has put her hands on you, and I pray every day that you don’t ever have to experience that.
I have evidence of her infidelity from even after our marriage began. Your mother signed a prenup and there’s an infidelity clause. I’d love nothing more than to leave her with nothing, but I know she will use you to get to me.
If I was a selfish man who didn’t love his daughter with another man’s eyes, I’d make the decision that got me out. Yet here I stay, planning behind the scenes to make sure my baby girl will be taken care of. I’m leaving it all to you. JJ will explain.
I don’t know how much time we will have. I pray that I’ll have many years with you and you will never receive this letter. If that’s not the case, know that I stayed for you, my little Lottie, and I don’t regret it.
Love,
Daddy