Page 61 of Everything I Desire

I open the door and hold it open for her and Addy.

Addy goes right upstairs to get Kayla, leaving me and Maura alone in the living room.

“Your home is nice, Porter. Something we never imagined we would have, huh?” She looks around, and I know what she means. We were never allowed to dream of more than what our parents were.

“Thank you.”

Kayla comes down the stairs and we both look in her direction.

Maura follows her into the kitchen to talk and Addy and I sit on the couch, close enough to hear if anything goes wrong, but far enough to give them some privacy.

After a while, they come back into the living room. Kayla is smiling but has tears on her cheeks.

They hug goodbye and I walk Maura outside.

She stops on the front porch, and turns to face me. “Porter, I just - thank you.”

“You have a ticket for tomorrow morning, someone from the facility will meet you at your gate when you arrive to bring you to the facility. It’s a ninety day program. We’ll pick you up at seven in the morning.” I nod to her.

“You don’t have to give me a ride.” She looks down.

“I know. I’ll see you at seven.” I give her one last look and go back inside, watching her walk away from the safety of my living room. My heart breaks a little inside watching her go. I love my sister, but the heartache she has caused isn’t something I think I can forgive.

At least not yet, but maybe for Kayla I can.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Adelaide

At quarter of seven, we are all loaded in the truck, heading to the inn. I tried to tell Porter that I shouldn’t be here. But both he and Kayla insisted that I’m part of their family and should be with them for this.

The look on Porter’s face was practically begging me to come, to be there for him.

I know he is struggling to send Maura to rehab. He’s so torn between being the good man he is, helping her, and wanting her to suffer the consequences for what she’s done to Kayla.

The man I know wins out every time, and he’s paying for one of the best rehab facilities on the east coast. Keeping Maura’s love for the beach in mind when he was looking for a place.

Porter parks the truck in front of the inn, and looks toward me.

“Are you ready?” I ask him.

“I guess so. I’m doing this for her.” He nods his head to the back where Kayla has already fallen asleep again.

“I love you, you’ve got this.” I lean over the center console to kiss him.

“I love you too, baby.” He opens his door and walks around to the back of the truck to drop the tailgate.

Maura walks out of the inn with a small bag. I get out of the truck to let her have the front seat.

“Good morning, Adelaide.” She is still calm but seems a little more agitated than yesterday.

“Good morning, how are you feeling today?” I ask, genuinely caring about her answer.

“It’s not fun.” She laughs half-heartedly. “I know the Sheriff put me in a position to detox within a hospital, but the urge to get high is stronger than ever. I just kept staring at a photo of Kayla all night, knowing that I need to do this for her.”

I squeeze her hand, “I’m proud of you, Maura.”

“Thank you,” she looks around, “Did Kayla decide not to come?”

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