Page 9 of No Love Lost

He shoved his own mask into place as he put her tea down on the table beside her. Then he crossed to the chair and sat.

For a long moment, they simply stared at each other.

Finally, Addison picked up her mug and blew across the top of it. “Thank you.” When she set it back down again, she tucked her hair behind her ears. A sign of the stress she felt.

Her gaze flickered to his and to her hands, then back. “Okay. First, you need to know I won’t give her up. Ever. And I have to know, why now? After all this time when you’ve never wanted anything to do with Nina, why now? What’s changed?”

It was like a sword had shoved its way into his heart. “What changed? What changed was I came to a small town to meet up with a friend and the next thing I know, I’d met a daughter I never knew even existed. Why would you do that to me, Addy? Why would you cut me out of her life without even giving me a chance?”

Addison was glad she wasn’t holding the mug. She’d have spilled the entire thing on her lap.

Anger and confusion swirled in her still-dull brain. “What are you talking about? I sent you countless texts. And emails. I called you every week until Nina was six months old. I sent you photos and journals every year on her birthday. How dare you say I cut you out?”

Heath’s face went from frustration to confusion to anger. “You never were a liar, Addy. None of that is true. You’re the one who cut me out. You’re the one who didn’t answer any of my calls or texts or emails.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she wanted to throw something at his head. Instead, she grabbed her phone off the table and tossed it to him. “Why don’t you check? It shouldn’t take long. Have a look under your name. The password’s still the same.”

When she’d been a kid, she’d been hooked on old rock anthems from the eighties. Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ had been one of her favorites. She’d felt helpless and hopeless so much of the time. The song reminded her to keep going. To believe in the future. That no matter how bleak her life had been, she could make it better if she only believed.

She wondered if that was still true.

Heath studied her for a moment with a deep frown on his face. He looked as torn and confused as she felt. Did he really believe she would have done that to him?

After a moment, Heath typed in her password, bEliEv1n, without having to ask her what it was. She hadn’t owned a phone when they’d met. He’d bought her one of those pay-as-you-go models a few weeks before he’d disappeared on her. She’d tried to make him return it because it had been too expensive of a gift, but he hadn’t given up, and eventually, she’d accepted. They’d worked out the password together. She’d used it ever since, even when she’d finally upgraded her phone.

She watched him scroll through the phone for several minutes. Probably checking her texts and call logs. She’d never been able to delete his number or his email. That would have been too final.

After a few minutes, he looked up at her with only confusion. He stood and held up his phone. “I did change my password.”

He used facial recognition to unlock it and passed it to her.

With her heart hammering in her chest, she opened his texts and searched for her name. Addy. Because he’d never called her Addison. He was the only one who’d ever used a nickname for her, and she’d loved it. She’d loved being Addy.

When she opened the contact, she checked her phone number. It was correct. Then she scrolled through the messages.

Addy, can you at least let me know you’re safe?

Please talk to me.

I don’t know what happened between us. Can you tell me where I went wrong?

Where are you, Addy? No one knows where you are.

Addy? Talk to me. Please.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she scrolled. The texts were right there for her to see. And they all sounded like Heath. They hadn’t been manufactured in some kind of weird plan.

When she couldn’t see the phone anymore, she put it down and wiped her face with tissues from the box on the table.

Finally, she raised her face to see Heath scrubbing at his own eyes. When he looked at her, her heart skipped a beat.

For a long moment, neither spoke. Finally, she gathered her nerve. “You really didn’t get any of my messages? None of the packages? You really didn’t know?”

He shook his head and came to sit on the ottoman in front of the couch. “I really didn’t know. And you really tried to tell me.”

It wasn’t an outright question, but she answered it anyway. “I did. What happened?”

He frowned again, then picked up his phone. “Let’s try it now and see what happens.”

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