make her cry. She disconnected before he could say anything else and he stared at the phone for half a second before grabbing his laptop.
28
Seeing Roy had shaken Charli more than she wanted to admit. After leaving the hospital that day, she’d sat in her car and cried for half an hour before managing to get back to her parents’ house. She’d stood under the shower until there wasn’t any hot water left and went to bed without dinner. His words had hurt. More than anything else he’d done to her, reminding her she wasn’t fit to be a mother, that she didn’t even have maternal instincts, was probably the most hurtful thing anyone had ever said to her.
“Charlotte, have you been eating?”
Charli was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a cup of coffee and looked up at her mother blankly. “I’m sorry, what?”
“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been off the last couple of days.”
“Nothing. Just tired.” She got up and rinsed her cup. She hadn’t told her parents that she’d seen Roy. “Did you know Roy was back in town?”
Her mother pursed her lips. “Yes, of course. Works at the garage on Maple now. He was in prison. Did you know that?”
“Not until I saw him at the hospital the other day.”
“You saw him?” Denita’s eyes narrowed. “Charlotte, please tell me you’re not going to give up your relationship with Mike for this thug from your past.”
“His name is Miikka, and no, of course I’m not giving him up for Roy. I just wondered if you’d seen him, if you told him anything about me.”
“I’ve seen him at church a few times, but we’ve never spoken, and certainly not about you. Why? What did he say?”
“He asked me where the baby was and it seems odd that he came back here after getting out of prison but didn’t ask you where I was.”
“He’s never approached me, and if he spoke to your father, he never said anything to me about it.”
“Okay.”
“Be careful of him, Charlotte. He’s not the teenager you remember.”
“Believe me, I want nothing to do with him.”
That was the truth and as she got dressed to go back to the hospital, she wondered how Roy had known she would be at the hospital that day. Had he been following her or had he simply assumed she would be there because that’s where her father was? It was a little disconcerting to think he was getting information about her from somewhere, but people at the church had most likely been gossiping, one of many things she hated about this small town.
She was anxious to leave and get back to Anchorage where the past haunted her a lot less and she wasn’t likely to run into Roy at any given time, but going home meant coming to terms with walking away from Miikka. After their awkward phone conversation the other night, she was trying to imagine her life without him once she went home, and that opened up a whole different kind of hurt.
“I’m going to stop by the church to see if there are any bills to pay or phone calls that need to be returned, so I’ll see you at the hospital in a couple of hours.” Denita waved on her way out and Charli walked out to her rental car.
She hadn’t slept for shit the last couple of nights and without Miikka, her loneliness was overwhelming. Her father was trying to build some sort of relationship with her, but it was hard to forget what her parents had done. She was keeping quiet about it because of his health issues, but even if she could forgive them, she would never forget what they’d done. Which left her as lonely as ever. And heartbroken too, because Miikka deserved someone who would give him a house full of the children he wanted.
She stopped at the gift shop to buy a book of crossword puzzles for her dad since he was feeling better and getting a little bored. He’d loved doing them when she was growing up so she hoped he still did, even if he got tired a lot more easily these days. The doctor said he was doing well and the stents they’d put in would help him live a long, healthy life as long as he watched his diet and took better care of himself.
“Morning, Dad.” She walked into the room and gaped at the sight before her.
Miikka was sitting in the chair beside her father’s