Page 16 of When Hearts Ignite

Father looked up, his hands traveling from the lady’s arms to her face. His body was still trembling even as he shook his head. He glanced up toward the sky, even though there was nothing up there tonight. There were no stars, no moon, only rain and lightning.

A flash of bright light was followed by the loud clap of thunder, and I huddled closer to the window, even though I really wanted to duck and curl into a ball, but I didn’t, because I wanted to know why Father was out there with this strange lady and little girl.

And why he looked so sad.

In the few seconds when the night sky lit up by the flash of lightning, I saw Father’s face. He wasn’t shivering because he was wet and cold.

He was crying. Crying so hard, I could barely tell his tears apart from the rain.

My eyes burned and a thick lump formed in my throat. I tried swallowing, but it wouldn’t go away.

I’d never seen Father cry before. He was always so calm, so serious, and even when I cried, he’d tell me to wipe the tears away and be strong, because Kingsley men didn’t have weaknesses. Because emotions were for weaklings. My lips wobbled as I saw Father choking back his tears, his sobs loud, like someone was tearing him up from the inside.

Swiping my arm on my wet cheeks, I curled my hands into fists, wanting to run out there to push the lady away from Father. Because she made him cry, and Father never cried before. I scampered off the chair, my hands wiping my eyes furiously because my tears wouldn’t stop falling, and—

“I can’t leave them. This is my life. I wish I could. You have no idea how much I wish I could.”

Dad’s deep voice, the same voice telling me to stand back up when I scraped my knees after falling off my bike before, stopped me in my tracks.

A loud rumble was in my ears and a voice inside me told me to run away, to not listen any further, because I’d regret it later.

But my body wasn’t responding. Instead, my feet carried me to the corner behind the chair and in front of the windows. The wind was very loud, like it was crying along with Father, like somehow, the entire world was very sad, just like how I was feeling.

“Is the money really that important to you? You married her for money, but you aren’t happy. I can see that. We can make you happy. Don’t do this to us, please.”

Father shook his head, stepping away from the crying lady, who was shivering, her arms curling around the little girl whose face was buried in her mommy’s waist.

“It’s over. If I weren’t a Kingsley and I didn’t need to keep the family name afloat, I would leave with you without a second thought. But I can’t. We can’t survive on love alone. I made my choice when I married her.”

I hiccupped, my mouth opening in a gasp. He’d leave us? Jess, Emily, and me? Didn’t he love us? What about us?

My heart twisted and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I wished I never came downstairs to look for Father. Was it because we weren’t good enough or smart enough?

Father kneeled down and opened his arms and the little girl flung herself into him. He hugged her back tightly and peppered kisses into her hair. The girl was crying and for a moment she turned her head my way and stared at me through her teary eyes. I shrunk back into the shadows, not wanting to get caught, and yet, unable to look away.

We were both sad but clearly for different reasons.

Father rubbed his hand on her back, and she buried her head in his shirt. A sharp pain hit my chest. He never hugged and kissed us like this.

She stole my hug.

I slammed my palm on the glass, a burning sensation inside my tummy, wanting to tear the little girl off him. That’s my father, not yours. Get away from him. But they couldn’t see me.

“Sweetheart, be good for your mommy. Take care of your sister for me. Don’t cry. I love you so much.” Father was sobbing again.

Headlights swiveled and cut through the darkness of the night. I heard a car door opening and a screech from Mother.

“How dare you, Robert? Bringing this woman here?” More screams and shuffling and another agonizing cry wrenched up from her. “You skank!”

I squeezed my eyes closed, tears dripping down my cheeks like a waterfall. There was no point in wiping them away anymore. My nose was runny, and I shook my head, my body finally obeying me, and I fled, running as fast as I could to my room upstairs.

I balled my test paper with my hands, and hurled it to the floor then stomped on it. Then, I climbed on top of my bed and hugged Fluffy, my special teddy bear, to my chest. The windows shook and rattled and lightning flooded the room with light, followed by the loud thunder.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to calm down. I wasn’t afraid anymore. It was only scary sounds and bright lights. It didn’t hurt, not like my heart was hurting right now.

“How dare you, Robert!” Mother’s screams traveled through the closed door of my bedroom. “You promised me. You said you would stop. I gave you everything. How could you repay me like this? How could you love someone else when I love you?”

Mother then yelled a lot of words I didn’t understand, something about TransAmerica, Father’s company.

---