Page 57 of Vegas Baby

Raina said nothing but reeled in the line.

Howler meant what he said, the man was dead to him and always would be. The ever-present fury when anyone spoke of him tore into his gut and he wrapped his fist around the pole. “He killed my mother Raina.”

She halted in mid cast, slipping off the rock shelf, her hand flying into the air. He clasped her fingers, heart in his throat. She gripped his back while he tried to pull her up. The rocks were slippery with moss under his feet and her momentum sent them into the ice-cold mountain water. The chill stole his breath, seeping into his clothing, and dragging him down through the undercurrent. He still held her hand when he broke the surface, her eyes were wide, frantic. He dug his heels into the gravely bottom, halting their momentum and stood, bringing her upright in the waist deep water. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes.” Raina snatched her hand back, voice as chilly as the water.

Whipping back the hair plastered against her cheek, she waded to the shore. His heart was still hammering a mad beat. Two months ago, he wanted nothing to do with her and now he was horrified at the prospect of losing her.

Not that he’d ever wished her harm, he’d wanted to be free of his marriage to her. Yet they were married, and he’d committed to be her husband until death, unless she lost the child, then their marriage would be over. They had a deal. Looking back, it was a cold deal to make. Thankfully, the child was okay, and he’d never have to make that decision.

“Oh, my goodness, are you two alright?” Grams asked, rushing to their side.

“I’m fine, wet and embarrassed, but fine,” Raina said, her lower lip quivering. She peeled off the straps of her waders and water sloshed out of the rubber, making a puddle at her feet.

Howler hadn’t fared much better. His socks were squishing between his toes, a very unsettling feeling. Following her lead, he removed his waders.

Grams shed her sweater and threw it over Raina’s shoulders, eyes worried. “You’d better get back to the house. The water is freezing. I wouldn’t want you to catch your death of pneumonia.”

“We’ll head down and get changed,” Raina said, not looking at him.

He held his tongue and led the way down the path until it widened, and he could walk beside her. She was pissed and he couldn’t blame her. He should have told her the entire truth but it wasn’t an easy thing for him to explain. After all these years, it still hurt like hell and the urge to run from his past was strong.

“Why did you lie to me?” she asked, chin angled, accusing eyes boring into him.

Because the truth was like the soaking wet shirt clinging to his chest, cold and uncomfortable.

“David was a delinquent. He’d run away for a week or so, come back as if he hadn’t disappeared. He’d bring some other runaway and then he’d disappear again, leaving the person he’d rescued. They’d stay for a while, many of them getting back on track. Everybody except for him.”

She settled a hand on his arm, trying to stop his momentum down the hill. He ignored her silent request to slow down and kept moving. Standing still would be the end of his forced calm, making the story harder to tell than it already was.

“You’re telling me that he hated living with his parents, yet he brought other people home to live with his parents?” she asked.

“Yes. Grams had a small farm in Spokane at the time. He and my mom dated in high school. That’s when she got pregnant. She was clean then.”

They neared the house, the garden alive with the sound of bees. He stripped off the cloying material of his shirt, fighting a sudden bout of claustrophobia. The crisp mountain air brought a different kind of chill, uncomfortable and cold, like the entire history of his family. “David is a fuckup and has been his entire life. Pop had fallen and broke his arm. He’d been given opioids for the pain but he rarely took them. Come to find out, David had been getting the prescriptions filled.” Lying to his parents and lying to everyone he came into contact with. Howler would love to blame it on his addiction but even without the drugs, his father was spoiled and selfish, a man-child who never grew up.

“Grams and Pop didn’t know about his addiction and once he could no longer get the pills, he turned to heroin. It was from one of the lost souls, as Grams liked to call them that they found out the true extent of how far he’d gone down the rabbit hole.” Even after all the years, he couldn’t let go of the anger. It was in his blood, an open wound that would never heal.

Raina sniffled and using the back of her hand, she wiped at her eyes. He was doing this to her and he ached to stop, but the words tumbled from his mouth, each one more painful than the last.

“Grams freaked out, sold their home, and moved here. They put David in rehab, but he left after a week. He never told her about me. She didn’t know of my existence until he was arrested for killing my mom.” Which showed how important Howler was to the man.

Raina sucked in a noticeable breath, footsteps faltering. He stopped walking and licked his lips, trying to gain control over the quiver that permeated his voice. She stared at him, eyes unnaturally bright He almost wished she’d speak, to tell him to quit telling her the story and pretend it never happened, except he couldn’t. He had to tell her, to cleanse his soul of the burden of secrets he’d been keeping for so long. Staring down at his feet, he rested his hands on his hips.

“Yep. He went back to Spokane, married my mom, and moved in with her. He was a high school dropout, but he was a decent mechanic. He was hired and fired from multiple dealerships, until nobody in town would hire him. When he couldn’t get employment, he started buying and selling drugs.”

She slipped her arms around his stomach, the warmth of her skin pushing through the cold of her wet shirt. Clasping her hands against his abs, she rested her head on his back. He closed his eyes, shutting out the sun peeking from behind the clouds, while absorbing the comfort she offered.

“I’m so sorry. Was he an addict as well?” she asked.

Opening his eyes, he inhaled through his nose, laying his hands over her clasped ones. “Yes. My mom kicked him out several times but he kept coming back. Eventually, she filed for divorce but that didn’t stop him. He was obsessed with her and couldn’t leave her alone and then…”

The words caught in his throat. Horrifying memories crashed into his mind, each more intense than the last. For a panicked instant, he lost touch with the present. The only thing that grounded him was Raina’s touch, her body anchoring him in the now.

“My mom smoked a bit of weed on occasion. One night, he gave her a joint laced with heroin.” The words were like a sucker punch each and every time. He cleared his throat, biting back the urge to shout out the truth. “He fucking gave her a joint laced with heroin and made her into an addict like he was. What kind of person does that to somebody they claim to love?”

Raina pressed herself harder to his back, her soft sobs torture to his ears.

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