“Yeah,” I saw her putting the pieces together.

“Jason was there. That’s why I showed up. I thought maybe he was coming after you or Jay, but he wasn’t.” Here comes the blow. “He was there with his daughter.”

CC looked confused.

“I didn’t know about her until we got back to the house and Mason and I went down—”

“To the baseball field with Coop, Jackson and my dad.” CC finished for me.

“Right, it turns out that his daughter is Brittany.”

I waited, giving her time to process what I’d just told her. “Brittany? As in Brittany who tried to kill me? Brittany who swears Ryder is Dominic’s child? The same Brittany that Dominic cheated on me with?”

She started shaking. I pulled her to me but she resisted and I didn’t want to push her. Then the tears started. “How could that be your sister? How come you didn’t tell me when I told you earlier that she was involved in the accident?”

“Half-sister and she isn’t even that. She doesn’t exist to me, CC. I only have one sister and I always will.” I had to be sure that she knew that I would never consider Brittany family after what she’d put us through.

She took a shuddering breath, “Is that what Jaylinn needed to tell you? Is that why she needed you to come home?”

Tears were falling; I reached up and wiped them away. I thought she would have backed away from me by now but she hadn’t. “No. There’s more.”

“Wait! Logan mentioned that Brittany moved in with her dad and his girlfriend.”

I nodded; this is that part I knew was going to crush her even more than she already was. “Jay and Coop saw Brittany and Jason last night while they were out eating. Jason was there with his girlfriend, who happens to be Lynn.”

CC’s face turned white as a ghost before she turned and threw up, just as I had. I rubbed my hand up and down her back as she sobbed, still heaving. After she’d settled a little bit, I got her a wash cloth and wiped her face for her. She was still crying and I held her until she stopped.

CC looked up at me, eyes red and puffy. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Anything,”

“I need you to leave. I need time alone.” She was crushed, just like I knew she would be.

“No, we need to talk about this. Please.”

“You said anything. Get out Hunter.” She recoiled away from me.

I sat there for a minute, unsure of what to do. I didn’t want to leave her but I knew she needed time to work through everything in her head.

I walked over to her, she tried to push me away but I wouldn’t budge, “I love you, no matter what.” I kissed her forehead and let her push me away this time.

I shut the bathroom door behind me and I heard her wail of a cry along with a lot of banging. Hailey emerged from Mason’s room. Approaching, she wrapped her arms around me, “I’ll take care of her.”

“Thanks.”

I walked out of the house and away from my life, my family.

26

I was pissed. I was hurt. I was enraged. After Hunter shut the door behind him all I saw was red. I picked up the first thing within reach, which happened to be the toothbrush holder, and threw it at the mirror, shattering it, right along with my heart.

Why? Why didn’t he tell me? Why did he wait?

I backed up to the wall, slid down to the floor and curled into a ball. That’s where Hailey found me when she walked in. She was trying to talk to me but I was hysterical, unable to hear anything but my own sobs.

“He’s supposed to love me! Why didn’t he tell me?” I wailed to Hailey.

“Kenz,” she took a seat next to me and started running her hands through my hair. “I know you’re hurting right now, but he did it for you.”

My stomach was twisted into knots, “No he didn’t, he should’ve told me.”

She moved a little closer and lifted my head onto her outstretched legs, “I know, I told him that.”

I cried and cried and cried. I heard Mom come in at one point. She tried to talk to me but I didn’t hear anything she said. I barely remember Mason coming into the bathroom to take me to my room where he tucked me into bed.

I must’ve cried myself to sleep because when the nightmare hit, Hailey grabbed me in her arms to comfort me. I noticed it was starting to get light outside. I was shaking with cold sweats. I jumped out of bed and sprinted to my parents’ room where I assumed Ryder was sleeping. I needed to make sure he was there and fine. When I ran in Mom was sitting in the rocker cradling Ryder. I started crying again. I walked over and she offered him to me, knowing I needed him. I went back to my room, and after I settled Ryder in his bassinet, I tried to lie back down and sleep but it was useless. I was still reeling from the nightmare of a life that I couldn’t rid myself of.

Hailey was lying beside me when she rolled over and whispered, “You ok?”

“Yeah, it’s just a bad dream.” I said hoarsely.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hailey spoke softly, careful not to wake Ryder.

“Not really.” I leaned up and gazed at Ryder sleeping silently next to me and the tears started again. He looked so much like Hunter. He still had his dad’s curly brown hair and his handsome little nose was shaped like Hunter’s too. Not to mention his pouty little mouth that you just wanted to kiss all the time.

Hailey started rubbing my back and a little while later exhaustion took over again and I fell asleep.

MacKenzie finally fell back asleep after she’d started crying again. I gently slipped out of bed to seek out Mason and see if he’d talked to Hunter. I reached the door and it creaked when I opened it. I peeked back at MacKenzie who was shaking her head back and forth in her sleep.

I jumped in surprise when I spotted Hunter sitting across from MacKenzie’s door, “Damn it Hunter, you scared the hell out of me.”

He gave me a pitiful smile, “How is she?”

I could smell the alcohol and stale cigarettes lingering on him, “A mess. She cried herself to sleep and hasn’t slept peacefully since.”

“Fuck!” He gripped his hair, “I f**ked up Hailey.”

I slid down the wall next to him, “That you did Bud.”

He exhaled loudly, “How do I fix it? I can’t stand sitting here listening to her cry, knowing I caused it.”

I played with a piece of string on the hem of my shorts, “You’re going to give her time. She’s scared, hurt and pissed off. You saw how she was when her dad finally told her about the FBI. She was pissed off and hurt then.” I ripped the piece of string off, “This is a lot for her to handle.”