Chapter Fifteen
Katrina
A few days had passed since I told Derek what Richard had done to Frankie, and we hadn’t seen or heard from him. The anger I saw on his face as he threw the money on the table and looked at me told me everything I needed to know.
He blamed me.
I couldn’t fault him for his assessment; I blamed me too.
I didn’t know what possessed me to tell him everything. Except that he’d opened up to me and told me about his parents and his brother. He shared something personal with me, and I felt it only right to do the same. Then he stood up and just... left without a word.
Just like he did after he kissed me.
Frankie watched him leave and the smiles and laughter she’d shared with Cami disappeared. They still hadn’t come back.
“Hey, Frankie, want to go shopping?” I asked, sitting down beside her on the front porch.
“No,” she answered, her eyes pointed down the road.
“Why don’t you call Cami and we can see about going over to the orchard? I know you’ve been wanting to go.” She didn’t answer, just stared down the road. “Frankie?”
“Where do you think he went?”
I closed my eyes, not wanting to have this conversation. “Why do you think he went anywhere?”
“Because he hasn’t been to that house.”
“What house?”
She pointed to a cute little two-story home a few houses down. “He goes there every week. But he hasn’t been there.” She had a hopeful look when she turned to me. “He must have gone out of town.”
“Frankie, it doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. Maybe he had to leave suddenly.”
My heart couldn’t take much more. Derek had been playing with my daughter’s affection since the day we met him. I had to find a way to pull her away from this obsession she had with him.
“Frankie, it’s probably his girlfriend.”
“No!” she snapped. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend. He told me.”
“He probably lied. That’s what men do.”
“He didn’t lie.”
“Frankie, you don’t know—”
She jumped off the step and turned on me. “I do know! It’s his therapist. He told me.”
She ran up the steps beside me, slamming the door. My eyes focused on the house down the road. Was he really in therapy?
My vision blurred from staring at the house. I stood up and my feet moved without permission. I had no idea what I would say when I knocked on the door, but I needed the truth. I needed to know he hadn’t lied to Frankie.
My hand knocked hesitantly on the door, and I waited. I’d almost decided to leave when the door swung open and a beautiful woman with a long dark braid answered.
“Hi,” she greeted, with a little too much pep.
“Are you a therapist?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
The woman smiled. “You must be Kat. Please come in.”
She knew who I was? Did they have some kind of weird open relationship? Were they polyamory and trying to add in a third?
“I-I can’t.” I looked down the road at the house we lived in. Frankie was inside and had no idea I’d left. “My daughter doesn’t know I’m here.”
The woman nodded and stepped out onto the porch, pulling the door closed behind her. “Would you like to sit here, or we could walk down and sit on your porch?”
“What?”
Her smile was infuriating. She had answers I wanted, and she knew it. Yet she wouldn’t just answer my question so I could leave.
“Let’s sit on your porch,” she said when I didn’t answer, and stepped down the stairs. I had no choice but to follow her. I couldn’t leave a stranger sitting on my porch with my daughter in the house. Even if she were a woman.
Women could be just as evil as men.
“My name is Haizley, by the way, and yes, I am a therapist.”
We sat down on the front steps, and I couldn’t look at her. Why couldn’t she just answer the question at her door? Then we wouldn’t be sitting here awkwardly in silence.
“Is there anything you’d like to ask me?”
I swung my head in her direction. “Why is Derek seeing you?”
Her smile turned sad. “I can’t answer that.”
I knew that, but it was worth a shot. She wouldn’t be a very good therapist if she told her clients’ secrets.
“Do you know where he is?” I asked next.
“I have an idea, but I’d like to ask you a question first.”
“Are you going to charge me? ’Cause I don’t exactly have money for therapy right now.”
“No charge. First session is always free.” She winked. “Can you tell me what happened the last time you saw Derek?”
I bit my lip. “We had dinner at the diner.” I looked over at her, quickly adding, “It wasn’t planned. My daughter, Frankie, set me up.”
I shook my head, expecting Haizley to say, well... something. But she stayed quiet, so I continued.
“Frankie meets with a friend on Saturday nights; they have dinner together and usually I sit with Cami’s older sister, and we talk and have been getting to know each other.”
“That must be nice. You’re both making new friends.”
“I guess,” I muttered.
“You sound unsure.”
“I don’t have a great track record with friends. Or men to be honest.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I looked over at her. Her face held nothing but compassion. Not at all like the last therapist Frankie and I saw. She was so judgmental and condescending. It was why we stopped going.
Talking to Haizley felt like talking to a friend. That alone was reason enough for me to be suspicious of the woman.
“You knew who I was, so I’m guessing you know how I got here?”
“My old man is in the club, so I have the basics. I know your ex-husband went to prison for hurting you and Frankie, but I don’t know the details. And I know Slyce found you in the Death Dogs’ clubhouse and brought you here.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away. “My best friend lied during the trial. Then, when Richard got released, they got married.”
“I can see why you feel betrayed,” she said, as if she understood. “I assume something happened at the diner that has you questioning your new friendship?”
“Maggie wasn’t there. Cami said Nox was sick, so Maggie dropped her off. But I suspected Frankie had them all help her, and that’s how I ended up having dinner with Derek.”
“Have you talked to Maggie?”
“I did. She wasn’t involved; Nox was. Frankie and Cami had talked Nox into pretending to be sick so Maggie had to stay home.”
“That must ease a little of what you were feeling.”
I shrugged. “It does. After everything I’ve been through, trust is hard.”
“I imagine it would be. What happened with Derek?”
I blew out a breath, and my shoulders slumped. “I’m not even sure,” I lied.
I knew exactly what had happened. I told him the truth about how I failed my daughter, and he got angry and left.
And now he wanted nothing to do with us, and I didn’t know why it hurt so freaking much.
I wanted him to stay away from Frankie and from me.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling the same way Frankie did and wondering where he’d gone to.
“Did you argue?” she asked.
“No, we were talking, and he told me about his parents, and his brother.”
“He did?” she asked.
She seemed surprised, and I nodded.
“He opened up and shared something personal, so when he asked about Richard, I told him what happened.”
“Would you be willing to share with me what you told Derek?” She paused and added, “Only if you’re comfortable.”
I took a deep breath and thought about the last therapist, and what she’d said. How it had been my responsibility to protect my daughter. How I should have known what was happening. I could only imagine what she said to Frankie.
I told Haizley everything I had shared with Derek. When she closed her eyes and sighed, I knew she felt the same way the other therapist did. I knew it was my fault, but I didn’t need people to keep telling me that.
“Excuse me just a moment,” she said as she stood up and walked a few feet away.
She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “Jack? I know where Derek is.” She was quiet as she listened to Jack speaking. “Yes, I’m sure of it. Take Gunner with you.” Haizley shook her head. “Jack, tell him I said he better fucking go with you or he better not come home.”
My eyes widened at Haizley’s words. I’d met Gunner at the clubhouse when Slyce brought us there, and he was a big, scary guy.
“If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll do as I say.” Haizley smiled, and I knew she’d won. “Thank you.”
She shoved her phone back into her pocket and smiled at me. It wasn’t the same smile. It wasn’t sad exactly, more frustration.
“You know where he went?”
“I do,” she answered as she sat back down.
“You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
“I’m not. I’m sorry, Kat,” she said, and I believed her.
“Will he be back?” I asked.
That night at the diner, I thought... Honestly, I didn’t know what I thought. Maybe we were getting to a place where we could be friends. But the way he looked at me. The anger in his eyes and the way he left without a word.
“I hope so,” she said with a sigh. “Jack and Gunner are going to go find him.”
“He blames me.”
“Blames you for what?”
“For what happened to Frankie.” I swiped a tear away. “It’s okay; I blame myself too,” I confessed.
“Oh, Kat, that wasn’t your fault.”
“I should have protected her. It was my responsibility to keep her safe.”
“I’m sure you did the best you could.”
“My best would have ensured it never happened. I never should have trusted him.”
“He was your husband, Kat. He should have been trustworthy; that isn’t on you.”
I looked over at her, tears slipping down my cheeks. “That’s not what the therapist said.”
Haizley’s eyes widened, and she asked, “What? Your therapist told you it was your fault?”
I nodded, unable to say it again.
“I need her name.”
“Why?”
“Because she needs to be reported. This was not your fault. The only person at fault was your ex-husband.”
“But I trusted him; that was my mistake.”
“Oh, Kat, no. His misuse of your trust is never your fault,” she insisted. “Have you been living with the idea that you could have prevented this?”
I didn’t answer. She was wrong; I could have prevented it. I should have prevented it.
“How old was Frankie?” Haizley asked. I hesitated to answer, but she pressed further. “How old was she, Kat?”
“Five.”
“Old enough to tell you what was happening. But she didn’t.” Haizley shrugged. “I guess she wanted it to happen.”
Before the words were fully out of her mouth, I jumped off the steps and slapped her across the face.
“Don’t you ever blame Frankie!” I snapped.
Haizley just stared at me. Then she smiled. “You’re right. Frankie wasn’t to blame. Even though she could have told you what was happening, she didn’t. Probably because he threatened her, or you.”
Haizley stood up and faced me, unafraid that I might hit her again. Her cheek was bright red, but I couldn’t find any sympathy. How dare she blame my daughter, a child!
“How were you supposed to know what was happening, Kat? Why would you have any reason to believe you couldn’t trust the man you loved? The man you had pledged your life to. Richard certainly wouldn’t tell you. And Frankie couldn’t tell you.”
Haizley pulled me against her chest.
“Blaming yourself is the same as blaming Frankie. The only person who holds the blame is Richard.”
I struggled to accept Haizley’s affection, her warmth as she held me in her arms while I cried. But I clung to her anyway.