Page 33 of Broken Halo

“Shit,” I mutter and take another sip before setting it down.

“Shit is right.”

“What do I do?” I ask.

“Let Eli do his thing and let me get you out of the bogus drug charge. It’s a misdemeanor and circumstantial. I’m not worried about it.”

I nod and wonder if this is me giving in—allowing him to represent me when I have no desire to even be in the same room as him. And since he practically interrogated and dredged up the past in my office, not another word has been said about it.

I set my mug down. “I need to check on Griffin. I’ve been such a mess lately, I hope he’s too young to remember any of it or else he’ll surely require therapy someday.”

“Jen texted. Right after she chewed my ass for making you cry, she told me she took him back to her condo.”

I rub my face. “I need to go get him. Jen’s trying to run a corporation, she does not have time to babysit in the middle of the day just because I can’t get a handle on life.”

“She said he’s fine,” he insists.

I turn to him. “I can’t do this, Trig. This is my son—he’s all I have. I cannot risk anything with CPS breathing down my neck because my damned in-laws feel like wreaking havoc in my life.”

He leans forward and plants his elbows on his wide-stretched knees, his expression grave. “You think I don’t take that seriously? That I’d do something to put your child in jeopardy? I wouldn’t. I don’t give a fuck who his father is.”

I close my eyes and turn away. And here we are again.

“Between Eli and me, we’ve got it under control. That’s what I came to tell you today.”

I look back to him. “So instead of doing just that, you chose to dredge up our ugly history? Thanks. That was fun.”

“Your sister implied this morning that our history might be something entirely different than what it appeared. I want to know what she meant by that and I want you to tell me.”

Damn her. I shake my head and a laugh bursts from my lips that lies somewhere on the scale between desperate and sarcastic. “Well, by all means, Trig. if you want something, just snap your fingers and make it happen. Guess what? I have bigger shit to worry about right now than what you want. Take me back to my car.”

“Not until you tell me what Jen was talking about.”

I get up and wish I’d argued earlier about him bringing me here instead of being such a blubbering mess. Walking into Faye’s kitchen, I grab my phone and pull up my Uber app. I hear him following and don’t look up until I’ve ordered a ride.

“What are you doing?” he asks but I ignore him.

I grab my backpack and move around him again. The way I fell apart at his touch earlier, I don’t trust myself. I head through Faye’s rambling ranch that might be thirty years old, but it was flipped right before Trig bought it for her. She told me all about it even though she never told me he moved back to Dallas. I remember the day I confronted her about it—the first time I came to visit her after Robert died. She didn’t look the least bit repentant and told me she knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it … just like she knew Trig wouldn’t be able to handle her friendship with me.

She called it Old Lady Prerogative. How could I argue with that?

Trig follows me out the front door. “Where are you going?”

I don’t look back as I walk down the long circle drive. “Uber. I need to get back to Griffin.”

He raises his voice. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

I don’t give a shit that Faye’s neighbors are out and about on this warm day and turn to him, sticking my finger in his chest. “I tried to talk to you and you wouldn’t answer. You deleted my messages. You even fucking blocked me.” I poke him again, willing all my frustration to pour through the tip of my finger.

He pushes my hand out of the way and takes a step so we’re almost touching. I feel the rage emanating through his dirty, rumpled dress shirt. “Dammit, Ellie. I was twenty-two. I moved across the country to try to start my life over. I’d just lost,” he pauses before taking a breath and lowering his voice, “everything. I spent months being accused of cooking and selling meth with my shithead father only for you to fly off to New York City and do nothing to help clear my name when you were the only one who could. You left me hanging and by refusing to provide my alibi spoke volumes. Sorry I wasn’t feeling chatty by the time Thanksgiving rolled around.”

“You have no clue. No. Fucking. Clue.” I take a step back and a car rounds the corner that matches the description of my ride. When it gets close enough, I see the Uber sign. Thank you, God. I wave it down and the Toyota Camry comes to a stop at the curb where I’m having it out with Trig. “I’ll call Eli myself about my in-laws. Text if you have something to say about my case. Other than that, I have enough drama in my life. I don’t need any more from you.”

I get in the car and unlock my phone to text Jen.

Me: I’m on my way to get Griffin. And by the way, I hate you.

I see the bubbles pop up but I toss my phone into my bag and ignore it when it goes crazy. I obviously don’t need any more help from her.

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