Page 41 of All Our Secrets

Wow. I had no idea William was such a good actor. He hadn’t looked this convincing either time he “mistook” my bedroom for the bathroom. “I wasn’t even near you. I watched you fall, though.”

Well… Again, I wasn’t sure what I saw, but he wasn’t twisting this around on me.

Wait. That’s it!He was trying to pin this on me because he knew I’d talk to Mom again. But he hadn’t needed to go so far. Didn’t he realize that? My mom always chose her men over me.

“I can’t believe you, Peyton,” Mom yelled. “Why do you do this to me? You can’t stand for me to be happy.”

“I didn’t touch him,” I shouted. “Ask him why he was up here to begin with because I’m curious too.”

“You called me to your room, but I have no idea why,” William lied.

Ice filled my veins. My body went numb and cold. It didn’t matter what I said; my mother would believe him over me.

Mom’s entire face contorted with fury. “You—it never fails. William doesn’t have insurance. You bet your sweet butt you’ll be paying for his medical bills.”

“I’m not doing anything, and I want you both gone.”

“After what you’ve done? You’ll be helping us. I told you; we have no place to stay.”

“What? You never told me that. And regardless, that’s not my problem.”

“I’m your mother. You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.”

I’d heard that a dozen times before, but like the first time, the effect was the one she wanted. My throat burned as she continued.

“Take us to the hospital. This is your fault.”

Acid rose to my throat. I knew I would be puking before the night was over. My mom wouldn’t… She couldn’t have. There was no way she would have planned this all along, right? I hated that I was suspicious of her too.

Chapter Eighteen:

thank you

Silas

The thing about living in a small town was everyone knew someone. Word had spread quickly that some mother was blasting her daughter at Fenkin’s emergency room for everyone to see and hear.

I broke my coffee mug that morning when Steven called. His wife was a nurse, and that’s how I found out about what happened to Peyton—myPeyton—last night while I went to bed wondering if she’d had a good day.

Goddammit.I should have stayed at her house despite her wanting me gone.

Steven’s wife heard Peyton’s mother, if you’d call her that, talking about pressing charges against Peyton for pushing her boyfriend over the banister. For one thing, that didn’t sound like Peyton. And I had a hunch that this incident had everything to do with the ghost in her home. Not to mention, her mother’s boyfriend likely deserved whatever Theodore had done to him. And I would do so much fucking worse when I got my hands on him. My anger rippled over me as I imagined what this man had done to cause Theodore to react. Had her mom’s boyfriend laid hands on her? Yelled at her? Fucking looked at her wrong? Sounded to me like he deserved a good ass beating, and I was on my way to do that.

Thinking of the police coming to the hospital, interrogating her, had me seeing red. And picturing Peyton upset, with tears running down her cheeks while she tried to deal with her mother, tore my stomach to shreds.

I called Gerald as I got in my truck.

“King,” he answered immediately.

The vein in my forehead throbbed. “Why haven’t you done anything about Peyton’s mom and her boyfriend?”

“I tried. You know Peyton. She won’t let me. I didn’t even know what happened until Peyton woke us up last night to keep T.J. while she took them to the ER.”

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel as I sped up. Fuck. Of course she wouldn’t want to bring the baby along with her to the hospital. That in itself likely destroyed Peyton. She and the little man had been inseparable since she’d given birth.

“What do you mean she won’t let you do anything?” I gritted out.

“Her mother and her boyfriend are still at her house.”

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