Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE
LOLA
I know every crack in my ceiling.
This is the kind of thing you learn when you don’t sleep, when you lie on your back in the dark and your brain refuses to stop, no matter how much you try to make it.
A hairline fracture above the window appeared a couple of months ago.
The water stain near the light fixture looks like it’s growing.
On the wall next to my bed, the paint has bubbled, a small raised circle the size of a quarter that I have touched approximately a thousand times in the dark.
I told Tully.
All these years of holding it all inside, sometimes having to leave my phone anywhere that I wasn’t, just to not be tempted to call him. I see him three times, and it all just comes out.
Daniel. The money. My dad. The baby.
I close my eyes.
I told him about the baby.
Isla is the only other person who knew about the baby.
She didn’t know the rest of what was going on, but she knew Daniel was pressuring me to go, saying Tully had a bright future ahead of him that I would ruin if I stayed.
I was a wreck after leaving school and losing the baby.
She held me while I fell apart, not leaving my side for months.
And now Tully knows.
Something lighter, somewhere underneath the surface, tries to break through. But I’ve gone so long trying to protect Tully and my father that I mostly feel terror now that the truth is out there.
Tully looked like I’d hit him with a car.
At some point, I give up on sleep entirely and call my sister. She answers on the third ring, her voice groggy.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have called.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I told Tully.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Wow. Good. I’m so glad, Lo. You’ve been carrying this secret alone for so long.”
We talk about it until she’s yawning.
“Go to sleep. Thank you for picking up.”
“I’m really glad the truth is out there,” she says.
I feel a pang of guilt that I’ve never told her everything, especially about our dad, but it’s best this way.
Sleep eventually comes.
My phone wakes me up, and I answer it before I’m fully conscious.
“Sorry, I woke you up, didn’t I?” Tully says.
I sit up. My hair is going everywhere, and mascara spots my pillowcase in a way that highlights last night’s emotional state.
“No,” I lie and laugh.
“Yes, I did. You sound like you’re still horizontal.”
“I’m sitting up.”
“Maybe just now when you heard my voice,” he teases.
“If we’re going to argue, I can just go back to sleep now,” I tease back.
It feels good.
“Wait—don’t go.” I can hear the smile in his voice, and it makes my heart swell. “Let’s start over. Good morning. How are you? Did you sleep?”
“Some. You?”
“Same.”
I wrap my free arm around my knees and sit in the gray morning light of my apartment. The fiddle leaf fig I’ve been nursing back from the brink for four months catches the early sun from the windowsill, and I focus on that.
“I called my lawyer, Marcus,” Tully says.
My stomach tightens.
“Just to start asking questions,” he continues. “Nothing is going to happen without you knowing about it first.” He sounds much calmer than last night.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“I’d like you to meet Marcus. He’s the best I know. And he’s a vault. Nobody will know you’ve talked to him.”
I think about all the times Daniel has gotten the upper hand. If there were a way to make him stop…
“Daniel can’t find out,” I say. “Not unless we’ve got a way to bring him down.”
“Marcus doesn’t move until we say so. He’s not going to blow anything up. He’s just going to look into him.”
We’re quiet for a moment.
“I know I said I needed time, but…I spoke to Noah last night, and it really helped. I don’t want to waste any more time, Lola. Do you think we can do this together?”
“I’d really like that,” I say.
He sighs. “Me too. Thank you. I-I have a charity function this weekend in St. Paul. I know it’s short notice, but…it’ll be fun and…would you be able to come? We can talk to Marcus in person, and the truth is…I want you there.”
I’m not sure if Daniel will be at this event or not, but either way, it probably wouldn’t take long for Daniel to hear that I was at an event with Tully. Maybe Marcus will have suggestions on how to keep the situation from escalating.
“I’d need to make a couple of calls and see if I can move a few things around,” I say.
“Great. Let me know how that goes, and I’ll buy your ticket.”
“But what about Daniel? I was about to say, if Marcus finds something, can you make sure he knows to proceed carefully? But if I’m showing up in Minnesota with you, Daniel is going to flip.”
“I will absolutely ask Marcus to proceed carefully when digging into Daniel’s business dealings, but I think it might be good to shake Daniel up a little bit. It’s your decision, but if he tries anything, this time we’ll be watching, and we’ll catch him.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“You’re not alone in this anymore, Lola.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“I also called one of the guys who’s done security for us in the past. Wade—he’s a great guy. I trust him. He’s got his own company now, and I’d like to hire him to make sure Daniel stays away from you.”
“You want to hire someone to watch me?”
“He’s very discreet. He’d stay out of your way. You probably wouldn’t even know he was there if I didn’t tell you, but I wouldn’t do that without talking to you first.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you didn’t. Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“I do. I want to keep you safe. I’m not sure what Daniel will do if we start narrowing in on something.
If he starts to get suspicious or feels cornered, I want to have backup.
When you said he’d retaliate just from seeing you at the game with me, that scared the shit out of me.
That’s fucking twisted, Lola. I don’t want you always watching over your shoulder. ”
“Okay. I guess we could do that. I can pay for it, though…and the plane ticket. I’m doing all right for myself.”
What I keep to myself is that I can never fully get ahead, because of Daniel.
“You’re doing amazing. It had been a while since I’d cyber-stalked you, and I did again recently. Your shop is killing it. I’d even heard the name of your shop before but didn’t realize you were the owner. So proud of you, Trouble.”
My face hurts from smiling. “Thank you.”
“Let me do this. Please. It’s not enough, but I’ll feel a lot better about everything if I can help stop this. I’m…so glad we’re talking. I don’t know how long it will take, but we’re going to make sure Daniel doesn’t bother you again.”
I’m hesitant to be too hopeful.
“This must be really hard for you about Daniel. He’s been in your life for a long time.”
“All of this is hard,” he says. “But where I stand with Daniel is the least of my worries right now.” He pauses for a second. “I have to go to practice. Will you let me know if I can move forward with a ticket?”
“Yes.
“Great.” His voice softens. “I hope this weekend works out.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say softly.
After we hang up, I sit in a sleepy stupor.
Then I open my calendar and start making calls, just to see if a quick trip to Minnesota is even an option.
Briar and Juni are already on schedule, and they’re fine with me being gone, so there’s only one appointment I need to move.
My schedule is usually light on weekends.
I’d planned on painting my office, but that can wait.
I offer a discount to my client, who’s so excited to pay less, the appointment is easy to reschedule.
I don’t let myself think too hard about Daniel, because if I do, I’ll panic. But then I remember that my main reason for panicking all these years knows the truth now, and so far, he’s still speaking to me. It’s more than I could’ve hoped for.