Chapter 8 Krista
KRISTA
No amount of running could help me escape the situation I was about to walk into. Such was the life of a woman who had a big family and parents who smothered their children for fun.
I was bound to fall into a heap of trouble. I’d been destined for it from the moment I turned four and discovered how much fun it was to play with a BB gun. From that first moment as the stock rested against my shoulder, I knew my life would never be dull.
Getting out in the saddle was one of my favorite things to do, and herding the cattle was a fun day while the other girls were playing with Barbies.
Yes, I liked to play with Barbies as well, but there was nothing like the exhilaration of riding on a horse as it galloped through the countryside as my hair flew from the braid I’d done in my hair just five minutes before.
Which was why I was equally nervous and determined as I walked up the steps to my parents’ house for dinner. I hated the look of disappointment I would see on their faces when I walked through the door, but I never backed down from a challenge or shied away when the going got tough.
Most of the time.
I had waited two days to see my parents.
But that was beside the point. I already knew what would happen when I walked through that door. My mother would sigh and shake her head at me. My father would tell me how disappointed he was. And my siblings…
Well, I could already guess the order in which my brothers would berate me.
Liam would go first. He had turned into the protector of the family when Michael left for the military, and he wouldn’t give up that honor easily.
Michael would no doubt stalk over to me, questioning where the man was.
And Jeff…well, he’d laugh at the whole spectacle, knowing exactly what it felt like.
“No point in waiting out in the cold,” I muttered to myself, shoving the door open.
Chaos and laughter hit my ears as soon as I walked through the back door. I quickly shed my hat, gloves, and scarf, hanging them on the hook with my coat as I stomped the snow from my boots. My teal coat looked out of place amongst the various Carhartt work coats.
Jeff skidded around the corner from the living room, winking at me before taking off. Wes chased him through the house, shouting something about giving it back.
I could only imagine what Jeff had stolen, but I already knew by the hushed whispers as I walked further into the house that Jeff had been the distraction for Wes so that the rest of the family could close ranks on me.
My father was the first to peek around the corner. His bulky frame took up much of the hallway as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring angrily at me.
But as expected, it was Liam who stalked forward, stopping just inches from me. His hard jaw flexed as he worked to control his misplaced anger. It wasn’t like I had done anything to him personally.
“Took you long enough.”
“For what? I was working,” I said, shoving my way past him to the living room where everyone was waiting. I kissed Dad on the cheek, forcing him to soften when I knew he wanted to remain angry.
Michael was next, his eyebrows slanted in a severe frown as he assessed every inch of me to make sure I was unharmed. “Where is he?”
“Who’s that?” I asked, spinning and plopping down in the recliner.
“You know who.”
I did, and they all knew it, but just for kicks, I kept up the ruse. “Are we missing someone?” I pretended to count as I looked around the room, but Michael wasn’t having it.
“Krista, where is the fucker?”
“Language!” Mom snapped, coming over to take my hand as if bad news was about to be delivered.
“He’s not a fucker,” I retorted. “He’s a person.”
“He’s the scum who forced you into marriage and then abandoned you!” Michael shouted.
Behind him, Blake snorted in amusement as she shifted Rosie into an upright position over her shoulder. “I think you have it the other way around.”
“What?” Michael snapped, his attention now on his wife.
“Have you met your sister? It’s more likely she ran him out of town.”
“Hey!” I said, hoping to sound indignant. “I mean, she’s not wrong, but still, you could pretend that I’m not at fault.”
Michael’s eyes came back to mine. “So, you’re saying you asked him to leave?”
“I’m saying it was a mutual decision.”
Mom bent down, her eyes full of worry. “But what about the marriage? Honey, you have to work at these things.”
“Mom, I’m not even sure if we’re really married.”
Dad huffed, walking over to his chair. “Typical Krissy.”
“Not typical anything. Tell me the last time I came home and announced I was married.”
“You haven’t, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t just the type of thing you’d do!” he argued.
“Right, blame her,” Michael said. “It’s always your kids’ fault.”
“Don’t put your problems on me,” Dad sneered. “It’s not my fault the two of you can’t get your lives together.”
I flinched back, but didn’t have time to respond because Michael was already in his face.
“I have a wife, a child, and a job. In what way do I not have my life together?”
“Here we go,” Blake sighed. “You know, if you two can’t get along, there’s a window over there with your name on it.”
“You should all stop fighting. You’re family!” Lizzy shouted over the chaos. “Can’t you all get along?”
Jeff ran down the hall, shouting Why can’t we be friends, before disappearing into the kitchen.
“Well, this is fun as always, but we should eat before the food gets cold,” I said, getting up from my seat.
“When are you gonna learn you can’t ditch your responsibilities?” Dad said, his eyes focused on me again.
“Oh, goody. I thought we were done with the berating portion of the evening.”
“You can’t even pay for the heat in your house,” he said accusingly.
My eyes shifted to Lizzy, who shrank back in her seat. I should have known she’d tell Dad, though I knew it came from a good place. It always did with her.
“I’m doing just fine.”
“You need a man around the house to take care of you.”
“Ha!” I laughed at that. “Since when have I ever needed a man?”
“Never, but that’s the point,” he snarled. “Look at your life. Look where you are right now.”
“Yes, working for the family business,” I mused, tapping my finger on my chin. “What a devious line of work. I should really reconsider.”
I turned to walk away, but Dad stormed up to me, grabbing me by the arm. “If you didn’t have money, you shouldn’t have run off to Vegas!”
“I did it to get away from you!” I shouted before I could stop myself.
His grip tightened on my arm for just a second before Michael stepped in, tearing his hand off my arm. Dad wasn’t trying to get rough with me. I knew that. But he had a temper. They all did, aside from Jeff. He was the only one in the family who was more like Mom than Dad.
“Back off,” Michael snarled at him.
“Go ahead,” he scoffed. “Paint me as the bad guy like you always do.”
“Keep your hands to yourself and I won’t have to.”
This was going nowhere fast. Yes, they all loved me. Yes, they all thought they could get through to me. And yes, they all thought they were protecting me.
“Hey!”
When that didn’t cut through the growing arguing, I put my fingers to my mouth and let out one hell of a whistle. Finally, the bickering stopped and everyone turned to stare at me.
“While I enjoy being the topic of conversation around here, I don’t need anyone to interfere in my life. I’ve got everything under control.”
“You married a man in Vegas!” Dad shouted.
“Well, you got me there. I guess my life is over,” I laughed.
“Not everything is a joke,” Dad snapped. “Why can’t you just stop fucking around and get your life together?”
I held my breath as the hate-filled words left his lips. Dad had never spoken to me like that before, though he’d come close.
“Guys?” Lizzy squeaked out, her voice filled with fear.
We all swung our gazes to look at her, and then I saw the puddle on the ground at her feet.
“Um…I think my water broke.”
“Look out!” Jeff shouted, pushing past me as he ran at full steam right through the crowd of people with Wes hot on his heels. He slipped in the water at Lizzy’s feet, falling on his back. Wincing, he lifted his hand, shaking the water off.
“Who peed?”
I sat beside my sister, holding her hand as the doctor shoved the needle into her spine. She was as calm as could be, but I was most definitely freaking out. A needle that size did not belong anywhere near something as important as nerves that could mean you could walk or you couldn’t.
“How are you?” I asked, squeezing her hand again.
“Fine.”
“Fine? How can anyone be fine when they’re about to have a baby?”
She was taking this remarkably well, considering she was about to have a baby and then go home alone to take care of it. Maybe that part hadn’t hit her yet, and I wasn’t going to be the one to point it out.
“Here we go,” Mom said, walking into the room with a bottle of water. “I got you the good stuff.”
“All done,” the doctor said. “Let’s get you in bed. It won’t be long before this baby arrives,” he smiled kindly at her.
“Women have been doing this for centuries, honey. You’ll do fine.”
Lizzy took a deep breath, smiling slightly as Mom handed her the water. Her eyes flicked to mine, and something like panic crept into their depths. Lizzy and I had always known when the other needed to talk, and having Mom around was not making it easy for that to happen.
“Um…Mom, maybe you could find Caroline and see if she can tell us who’s going to be delivering the baby.”
“Ooh, good idea. She’ll get me all the details.”
Mom scurried out of the room, and once the nurse and doctor left, I turned back to Lizzy.
“Spill it.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she squeezed my hand. “I’m all alone.”
“You’re not,” I reassured her. “We’re all here.”
“I know, but…” Her breath hitched, her chest heaving as she struggled to take a full breath. “When I go home, there won’t be anyone waiting for me.”
“Lizzy,” I treaded carefully. “We could call him.”