chapter thirty
RILEY
“Stupid piece of shit!” I shout, tossing my scraper across my workbench.
“Language!” Roni shouts back from the store.
I grumble, annoyed at my lapses of concentration, which are causing me to repair my repairs.
Ever since Riles was too tired to call last night after she got home at ridiculous o’clock, my mind has continued to wander to dark places: someone hassling her on the subway, Georgia treating her like a slave…
her not eating because she’s been too busy or exhausted to do so.
Krystal calling me first thing this morning with the news she’s stopping by to collect the divorce papers isn’t helping my foul mood either.
I press my palms down on my workbench and hang my head.
“It’s not the chair’s fault, you know,” Roni says, pushing off from the doorframe before taking the few steps down into the workshop. “What’s wrong? Why are you being a pain in my backside today?”
“I’m not.”
“You are! I’ve already had to apologize to a customer for an F-bomb I didn’t say.”
I wince. “Sorry.”
“Hmm. So, what’s eating at you, little bro?”
“Riles. Krystal. The usual.”
“Riles? Has something happened?”
“No. It’s nothing like that. I’m just worried about her.”
She picks up a hatchet and presses the tip of her finger to it, so I raise my eyebrow, suggesting she put it down. Roni and tools aren’t a good match.
Rolling her eyes at me, she begrudgingly sets it back on the bench. “Why are you worried about her?”
“Because she works long hours, and Manhattan isn’t safe.”
“You’re not her father,” she says condescendingly.
“No shit. That doesn’t mean I can’t show concern for her safety.”
“I never said that.” She picks up Dad’s hammer and presses it to her chest. “And Krystal? Why’s she pissing you off?”
“She’s not. But she is coming by today to collect the divorce papers.”
“Ah, I see.”
Running my hand through my hair, I turn my back to her and stare out into the yard, the shorter days and longer nights turning the leaves on the trees from green to yellow. I’ve always loved Fall in my hometown, and not before long, I’ll need to set aside some time to rake them all up.
“Krystal coming here to collect the papers was going to happen at some point, Riley. And who knows, you might find it cathartic.”
“I just want that part of my life finalized. I’ve moved on. Krystal has moved on. The divorce still lingers.”
“Well,” she says, stepping up beside me and handing me the hammer, knowing I treasure it as much as she does, “after today, it won’t.
So stop swearing and massacring that poor chair.
As for Riles, take a deep breath and have a little faith.
From what you’ve told me, she’s intelligent and certainly capable of looking after herself. ”
“She is those things, and more.”
“Then stop worrying.”
“Easier said than done. How can I protect her if I’m here and she’s there?”
Roni punches my arm.
“Hey!” I rub the spot. “What was that for?”
“Stop with the macho protection crap.”
“Macho? Wanting her safe isn’t macho.”
“It is if you think you’re the only one who can keep her safe.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “When are you going back to teaching?”
“When you no longer need me here.”
I frown. “Veronica.”
“What?”
“Don’t stay away from teaching for me.”
“I’m not.” She winks. “And anyway, working with teenagers is just as awful as working with you.”
“Working with me is awful?” I gently shove her toward the store. “In that case, get back to it, slackass.”
The bell above the front door chimes, so Roni scoots off, leaving me to now worry over whether she’s sticking around for my benefit rather than hers.
When Adrian was killed in action, she couldn’t bring herself to step foot in the classroom.
She said her head was no longer in it, and her students deserved better.
At the time, it was the right decision, but she’s a gifted educator, and if teaching is really what she loves—and if she’s ready to return to it—she shouldn’t be wasting her talent here, with me.
Grumbling, I focus on the chair, making a mental note to revisit the conversation when Krystal’s voice roots my feet to the ground.
“Still playing with wood, I see.”
I look up toward the door, to heels as high as a small dog, a black suit intended to intimidate those who oppose her, and blonde hair twisted in a ball thing at the base of her neck.
“I’m not playing,” I snap. “I’m working.”
She dismissively laughs and carefully descends the steps. “I’m kidding, Riley. Can’t you take a joke?”
I collect a sheet of sandpaper and point it at her heels. “You know those aren’t appropriate in here. It’s dangerous.”
She swishes her hand at me. “I’ll be fine.”
“Just watch your step. There are cutoffs everywhere.”
“You’re acting as if this is the first time I’ve stepped foot into your workshop.”
“I just don’t want you breaking your damn ankle.”
“Naww, he still cares.” She cocks her head to the side and pouts.
Despite her flaws and mistakes, Krystal knows how to melt ice around a frosty conversation.
“Of course, I do,” I say, finally cracking a smile. “I’ll always care. You know that.”
“As will I.”
The old, bitter Riley would’ve said something hurtful like, “Bullshit! You care for no one but yourself,” but I’m not him anymore.
I’m a new and improved, happy Riley, a Riles-has-made-me-a-better-man Riley, so I bite my once hostile tongue and point to the bench near the window, to exactly what she’s here for.
“They’re over there. Signed, sorta sealed, and now delivered. ”
Precariously treading around the workshop, she picks up the envelope containing our divorce papers and shakes them into her hand. “Any problems? Questions?”
“No.”
“Good.” She slips them back into the envelope. “I guess it’s settled then.”
“I guess it is.”
Krystal goes to speak but stops, instead swirling her finger through a layer of sawdust coating the bench.
“Was there anything else?” I ask, hand-sanding the chair.
“No. I just…” She sighs. “For what it’s worth, I never, ever, meant to hurt you. And I know did. Horribly so. I just…. I couldn’t be the person who lost our daughter anymore. I had to become someone else. I had—”
I set down the sandpaper. “I know.”
“And I hope that, one day, you can truly forgive me.”
“I have.”
“You have?” she asks, incredulous.
“Yes.”
She touches the envelope to her lips, her eyelids narrowing suspiciously before they spring apart. “You’ve met someone, haven’t you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I know it’s not, but—”
“My love life is no longer your concern.”
“Love?” She smirks, but I catch the moment it falters. A split second of regret.
“You know what I mean,” I say, ignoring her lapse in facade. Whether she’s repentant or not over our marriage ending doesn’t matter to me anymore. It’s done and dusted. And we can never go back to what it was.
“How was your cruise?”
“Great. You should consider going on one.”
“Nah.” She brushes her hands together, cleaning the dust from her fingers. “Not my thing.”
“I didn’t think it was going to be my thing either, but it was.”
She points the envelope at me, her eyes shimmering almost as much as the glittery stuff on her eyelids. “You did meet someone. On the cruise!”
“Krys,” I warn, just as the bell above the door chimes again.
The jingle-jangle equally annoys and pleases me, because I’m glad the store is thriving, but I also don’t have time to stand around and talk to my ex-wife about my future.
“Fine. I won’t pry.” She moves around the bench until she’s standing before me, fixing my collar. “I just want you to be happy, Riley. That’s all. I wasn’t capable of giving that to you in the end. If someone else can, well….”
I remove her hands and hold them between us. “I am happy. I wasn’t for a long time, but I am now. Life changes. We both know that. And I’ve changed with it.”
She nods and drops her gaze to the ink on my arm. “I’m so sorry for losing her.”
“Hey!” I squeeze her hands tighter. “You didn’t lose her. It wasn’t your fault.”
She slips her fingers from mine and wipes a tear from her eye. “Deep down, I know that. Trust me, Dr. Hastings has drilled that into me more than enough times, but… it’s hard not to blame myself. I was her mother. It was my job to protect—”
“It was our job. And we did everything we possibly could. It just… wasn’t meant to be.”
She scoffs and wipes her eye again. “You would’ve been a great father, Riley. Better than mine. If Immy had lived, she’d be the luckiest girl alive.”
My heart constricts at my daughter’s nickname and the love and softness in Krystal’s voice, so I pull her to me and cradle her head against my shoulder until the door chimes once again and reminds me I have work to do.
“Are you happy?” I ask, leaning back to hold her at arm’s length.
“As happy as I’m capable of.”
I nod. “That’s a start, at least.”
“Riley!” Roni calls out.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I call back.
“I’ll let you get back to play—” Krystal gives me a sneaky grin as she smooths down her suit. “To work.”
I smirk at her correction. “Thanks.”
“I’ll be in touch once these are filed.”
“No sweat.”
“Take care of yourself, Riley,” she says, ascending the stairs and edging past Roni, who’s now standing in the doorway. “You too, Veronica.”
My sister simply lifts her chin, barely acknowledging her.
And even though Roni’s disdain pains me, for her sake and for Krystal’s, I can’t exactly blame her for feeling the way she does.
She’s a fiercely loyal sister, and Krystal was cruel to her and Poppy, so it’s not my place to force Roni to forgive her as I have.
“You too, Krys,” I say as she exits the shop. Cracking my neck, I release the tension and focus on Roni. “What’s up?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
She smiles. “I have to hand it to you, bro. You’ve come a long way since… well, since everything happened. It’s nice to see you less savage where she’s concerned.”
“You can thank Riles for that.”
“Speaking of Riles, I think she was just here.”
I blink at her. “What?”
“Yeah. I can’t be sure, but there was a woman who just came in. She looked awfully similar to the woman in your photo.”
Excitement sizzles every nerve ending in my body, my gaze shooting past her shoulder toward the store. “Where is she?”
“She left. Practically fled before I could ask her name or if I could help her.”
I rub my beard, slide my cell out of my pocket, and dial Riles’s number. It rings a few times and then disconnects.
“She’s not answering her—” My blood runs cold. If Riles was here and just saw what she saw, she’d think…. “Fuck!”
“What? Riley, what’s wrong?”
I leap up the steps, Roni quickly moving out of my way.
“Where are you going?”
“After her.”