Page 50 of Kept in the Dark

It was nearly nine-thirty and as much as Hailey didn’t want to end the night, they all needed some sleep. “I hate to be the one to break this up, but we probably need to head back.”

“Awe, but Mom!” Trinity threw her head back.

“Hey, Kid, listen to your momma,” Trey said gently.

Trinity put her arm up. “Are you seriously going to take her side?”

“I might not know how to parent yet, but your mother and I are a team.”

Trinity stuck her finger in her mouth and made a gagging noise. “Fine. But I'm not happy about it.” She turned to Hailey. “Can I have the keys? I’ll wait in the car.”

Hailey started digging in her purse when Trey said, “Hold on, I have something for you as long as your mother is okay that you have it.”

Both girls raised a brow at him. He went back into the kitchen and came out carrying his wallet and retrieved a necklace out of the fold. He held it up and let it dangle in front of Trinity and Hailey.

Hailey’s eyes rounded.

He said to Trinity, “This used to be your mother’s. I, uh, never really knew what to do with it. Maybe you should have it…as long as she doesn’t want it back.”

He glanced at Hailey, but she didn’t move.

He kept it all these years?

She always wondered what he’d done with it.

Hailey looked at Trey and he sheepishly looked away as if he was caught doing something wrong. Then she slowly reached out to take it, studying it as she did. “You kept my locket?”

He shrugged. “Never felt right to throw it out or give it away.”

She looked back at him again. “Why?”

“It was yours. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

Trinity looked from Hailey to Trey, not knowing what to do. She clutched the car keys and said, “Listen, the locket is nice or whatever, but I don’t want my mom’s hand-me-downs.” She eyed Trey. “Keep it until you can buy her a ring.”

Hailey shot her daughter a look, but Trinity ignored her and let herself out the front door.

Hailey studied the necklace again. The night she’d given it to him, he had planned a picnic in a secluded spot by the lake and the sunset had been breathtaking. Trey had held her close as they spent hours talking, sharing things about themselves they hadn’t shared with anyone else. They had planned and dreamed together, all while the stars gleamed above them.

He had brushed her hair back as he thumbed her lips. Then he had kissed her. It had started innocently enough, until they had found themselves intertwined on the blanket, the moon the only source of light.

She had known that night she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She couldn't imagine living in a world where he wasn’t the one who loved her. So, she had given him the only thing she still had on: her locket.

It was her way of promising herself to him. That night they planned to run away together, but they never got the chance before chaos ensued.

He had ripped her heart out a few weeks later. Then her mother died, and her sister went to jail, and she was pregnant and alone. Her whole life had fallen apart and, stuck in her own pit of anger and bitterness, she never asked for the necklace back.

Trey drew her from her memories, though she knew he was remembering the night by the lake too. “I hated myself for letting you go. It was a piece of you I could keep since I couldn't have you. I kept telling myself that if I ever met the right woman, I’d toss the locket, but I never found anyone that came close to what you were to me.”

Hailey hadn’t realized how close she was standing to Trey. She inhaled, trying to slow her racing heart, but it only beat faster when his scent invaded her. She took a step back, wanting to distance herself. She clutched the locket and scowled. “You kept this stupid locket for thirteen years, but never came for me?

Trey furrowed his brows. “I didn’t think-”

“Yeah, I know. You let my father get in your head and instead of talking to me about it, you ended our relationship. And then had the audacity to keep my locket instead of trying to work things out?”

“I tried.” He put his hands in front of him. “I came to your house every day until you left, and you refused to see me.”

Hailey threw her hands in the air. “I never once saw you!”

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