to have faith, that nothing lasts forever and that one day it will get better.
Once we have finished dinner, we all sit on the front porch together, watching the sun go down. “You have a small slice of heaven here, Dad.” He has a huge open field of beautiful green grass.
“I would like to see your place,” Dad says.
I look at Kyle and he nods. “Come on, it’s right down the road.” I motion for Dad to follow us. Kyle keeps a tight grip on my hand as he leads me down the small steps. Kyle has this fear that, at any second, I’m going to fall and the baby will fall out of me. The second part is absolutely ridiculous.
Kyle allows Dad to help me inside the truck, but he never leaves my side. Kyle doesn’t trust my dad, but I think it’s because he’s very unforgiving when it comes to me because he is so protective.
Dad sits in the back, looking out the window. His place is the first house on the turnoff, but it’s not right by the road. “Who all lives in these houses?” Dad asks.
“They all belong to members of the club. We all wanted to be close to each other. So I bought a ton of land, and all the guys started building.” I love that. I love that everyone in the club is so close to each other. These guys are badass and they have a dark side, but I’ve never seen that side of them.
Kyle puts in the code to the gate and it opens, leading down the huge driveway to our house. I look at Kyle, his arms flexing as he drives. My heart is happy. He makes me happy. Every day, life just gets better being around him.
“Wow,” Dad whispers behind me. I love that Cassandra is going to be able to grow up in a great environment. Kyle parks and we walk inside the house. I take Dad upstairs to her nursery. The walls are white, and the room is decorated with light pink flowers. Kyle spent hours putting everything together. He went over every detail in the room, making sure it was ready for her.
Dad walks around the room studying everything. I sit down in the rocking chair and hold one of her stuffed animals in my lap. Dad leans against the crib, thinking. “Did you inherit the money?” he asks out of the blue.
“What?” I never expected him to ask that—plus how did he know Joshua was dead? I guess he could have connected the dots.
He looks to the door to make sure no one is there, and he takes a step closer to me and leans in. “Did you get the money?” he asks again, his voice more urgent.
I blink in shock, “Why are you asking that?”
“Your mother is broke, honey,” he whispers. “She needs money, and I think once she has that, she will be better again.”
It hits me like a ton of bricks. He has betrayed me in the worst way. This was all a ruse for him to get money from me. In the beginning he may have been trying to do the right thing, but now he is here for the wrong reason. He is standing here in my daughter’s bedroom, and I will not let it be defiled by this shit.
I’m hurt; all I ever wanted was for my dad to want me and to be a part of my life, but he just wants her. “Is this the only reason you came here in the first place?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. His face falls, and I know that he lied to all of us. They fooled us and it cuts deep. “Get out,” I say softly.
His eyes widen in shock. “Baby girl, you can’t do that. Please try to understand.”
“Get out,” I demand more loudly. He reaches out and tries to touch my hand, but Kyle stops him.
“You heard her,” Kyle growls, twisting my dad’s arm behind his back. I hear them fighting all the way out of the house. I stare at the now-empty room, crushed but also feeling foolish because I allowed them to hurt me. My own parents never wanted me except as a pawn to use in their games. Money. That’s all they ever saw in me. Now I think my father did have a part in giving me away so they could live a better life.
The door slams loudly. I flinch