Page 37 of I Should Hate You-but I Don't

She looked at him. "I don't know."

"She used to talk to Kingsley when he visited her."

Movement on his right stopped him from saying more. Rebecca handed them their food and left again.

"I'm probably wrong." River frowned. "Sometimes, I'll lay in bed and think about everything Kenna and I have gone through, and I wish I had known that she was hurting and scared. I leaned on her as my older sister, but she was a child like me. She was just as scared as I was about the changes in our lives after Dad died."

He swallowed the guilt of taking part in the secret that kept her from knowing her dad was alive. Tom Pruitt had been alive for the last nine years, and she'd missed out on that time of knowing he was on death row. She could've visited him. She could've said goodbye.

But would knowing the truth save her from further pain when her dad was given a lethal injection to end his life?

"I think Kingsley is going to have to figure out if Kenna's running from her problems or him before he stands a damn chance of catching up to her," he muttered.

Needing her to eat, he motioned at the plate and took a bite out of his burger, even though he was too exhausted to have an appetite.

Several minutes later, she said, "The best thing in my life was having you there the day the social worker took Kenna away. If you hadn't been there or if you would've ignored the pleas of a child, I don't know what would've happened to me."

He shoved his plate away. "I need to get out of here."

"You're not going to eat?" She frowned. "I thought we were having dinner together."

"Too much shit going on." He slid out of the booth. "I'll talk to you later."

He walked out of the bar without looking back. The only relief he'd find tonight was to shut himself in the office of the clubhouse with a whole bottle of rum and a liter of Coke.

Chapter Sixteen

River

––––––––

From in front of the house, River watched Lori walk out of the front door of the bar and hurry to her car. The engine started. The headlights came on.

River smiled at the speedy way Lori headed toward the clubhouse. Lori's husband rode for Gem Haven, and every night that Lori worked, she met Trent for a drink after work, and he escorted her to one of the cabins where they lived behind the clubhouse when they finished. Their marriage was solid as a rock.

She put her hands in the pouch of her hoody. It was after midnight. The night air in the mountains blanketed everything, making the grass dewy. Even the threat of wetness seeping through the blanket she sat on couldn't get her to move off the spot in the yard.

She'd come out earlier because three elk loitered in front of the garage. They'd stayed over an hour before wandering off. It was the first sign of wildlife since the nearby fire. She hoped the weather and the arrival of the animals meant the fire was out.

She inhaled the clear air. Listening to the music wafting from the bar had relaxed her.

She scrolled the internet on her phone, checking all the social media sites she'd registered to but had never posted in the hope that her sister would search for her. Kenna wouldn't have her phone number or address, but her name hadn't changed.

Sighing, she pushed to her bare feet and picked up the blanket, folding it into a small square.

Halfway to the house, a shiver rolled through her, and she stopped, sensing something wrong. She squinted into the shadows and spotted someone leaning against the house.

"Zane?" She walked closer until she could make out his features. "What are you doing?"

"Watching you."

She hugged the blanket to her chest. "Why didn't you come to me?"

She stopped in front of him. The slight smell of booze came from him, and she wondered if he came from the clubhouse.

He remained standing there, ignoring her question. She shifted the blanket, becoming irritated when they could've had time together instead of him watching her from a distance.

Sometimes, not knowing what he was thinking was the worst part of living here.

---