too late. My reputation is shit. If the truth comes out, people will know I killed All Saints High’s chance at taking the championship, and Gus and Via will spin it against me. Besides…” She takes another deep breath. I know why. I know because I fold their clothes and tuck their secrets into their closets every day.
“I need to put some distance between the Scullys and me.”
“Is that right?”
“I’m so sorry, Daddy. I know you didn’t want this to happen. And I know I let you down a gazillion times. By letting the Hulk win. By being jealous. By being mean. By not being the best version of myself I could have been. By falling in love with a person I had no right to fall in love with.”
“Shh,” he murmurs into her hair, cradling her. They are moving back and forth to a soundless lullaby, cocooned inside a world I’m no longer a part of.
“You are the perfect version of yourself, kiddo. The real deal. We’re the same, you and me.” He kisses her nose, then the tears from her eyes. “When I was your age, I was frustrated and confused. I always had the best intentions, but my actions came out all wrong. As for falling in love with the wrong person…” He chuckles, shaking his head.
A ghost of a smile finds my lips.
Don’t say it, Jaime.
“I’m a lot of things, but a hypocrite is not one of them. I fell in love with my high school teacher. And guess what? We still made it work. Don’t let people tell you who to fall in love with, and don’t think just because the past few years have been shit, the rest of your life will follow suit. Look at your old man. I got my happy ending. You will, too.”
She mulls his words over, munching on her lip.
“I need to get away.”
“From your problems? Not a good idea.”
“No, from the people I’ve hurt. There’s a lot of healing to be done. I need to start fresh where I’ll have a chance to reinvent myself. To be who I know I can be, Daddy.”
He says nothing and everything at the same time. His eyes tell her it is hers. The fresh start. He would never deny her anything. Not even if it means leaving us.
I want to hit him. Scream at him. Hug him for keeping our daughter’s mental state above water all this time when I couldn’t. Another bone-crushing hug passes between them. Daria is having the most defining moment of her adolescence without me.
That’s my punishment for my mistakes. That’s the price I have to pay.
“Do you think Mel would let me leave next semester?” She tears away from their hug, blinking up at him.
Mel. Oh, how I hate my name on her lips. It’s Mom, I want to scream most days.
Jaime grabs her cheeks and draws her in to kiss her forehead. “I think she loves you too much to deny you anything, including breaking her heart.”
My fingers tremble around the steering wheel as I zip toward Gabe Prichard’s house.
Fifteen years ago, after things calmed down and Jaime and I came back to Todos Santos, I decided to volunteer at All Saints High. Form a connection with the other teachers and clean up my reputation for my kids’ sake. I figured if I wanted to stay in this town, I needed to prove that I’m not some deranged cradle snatcher.
Connections. It only took one phone call for me to find out where the bastard lives.
I’m not in the right headspace for confrontation, but I have no doubt I’ll be pulling it off because it’s not about me. It’s about my daughter. Neither Jaime nor the kids know where I went. I ordered a pizza and stormed out the door without explanation, leaving a trail of freshly done laundry in my wake. Daria was upstairs, oblivious to her mother’s meltdown a few feet away. I’m glad she didn’t witness me at my worst when I found out what he did to her. The last thing I want is for her to feel ashamed or humiliated about what he did to her.
I cut the engine in front of a Tudor-styled house on the outskirts of Todos Santos and pop my knuckles, inhaling a ragged breath.
Do not kill the bastard. Your kids still need you, and you’ll be of very little help to them if you’re in jail.
Easier said than done. When I slam the driver’s door and