Page 42 of The Amendment

Still, I knew it had just about destroyed my wife not toget to spend most of the morning talking to the new girl in our son’s life.

I was supposed to be the dad in the scenario, to pat him on the shoulder encouragingly and tell Ainsley it would all be alright, but in truth, I was curious about her, too.

It was Dylan’s first real girlfriend, and that meant something special to us all.

“Do you really think they’re hungry?” I asked, trying to keep up with Ainsley’s quick pace. It was only about two hours since we’d had breakfast, so I had to imagine whatever we were doing had little to do with hunger.

“They might be. I just want to check in and be sure they’re doing okay.”

“You know they’re going to be fine, right? I mean, Maisy and Riley are there, too. It’s not like they’re alone.”

When I looked at her, her expression was pinched, as if she were concentrating hard on something important. It struck me then—was she worried about what Dylan and Julie might be doing, or was she worried about what Dylan might be doingtoJulie? Did she worry about him turning out like I had? Turning into me?

The thought was sobering.

But she didn’t know the truth about how it had all started.

If I’d never met Jim, if he hadn’t shown me the power that came with it all, I might never have turned into the monster I was.

It wasn’t genetic…

My son would never be what I was. I had to believe that.

I wanted to assure her of this, but I couldn’t manage to form the words. They were painful. Everyone hopes their children will turn into some better version of themselves. It’s why we search for ourselves in their tiny features when they’re newborns.

But to hope, like I had to, that they’d end up nothing like me, was unexpectedly painful. I guess I’d never thought about it until that moment.

We were nearing the edge of the water, both of us searching the shoreline for the kids. At first I didn’t see them, but eventually, I heard a nearly unfamiliar giggle.

Ainsley heard it at the same time and we turned abruptly, headed in the direction of the sound. They were gathered together, the four of them—Julie sitting close to Dylan on the ground at the base of a tree while Maisy and Riley sat down from them a bit, each of them staring out at the choppy water.

“Where did you hear that?” Dylan was asking, his face turned slightly toward Julie, tone skeptical.

We were closer now, though they still hadn’t noticed us.

“A lot of girls have been talking about it. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard, Maisy. I heard he sent one of the pictures to Nikki Schneider.”

“Pictures of what?” Dylan asked.

Julie snorted, dragging a twig through the dirt at her feet. “Well…not his face.”

Ainsley stopped short, placing a hand out to stop me as well. It felt wrong, overhearing a conversation I was sure wasn’t meant for us, but I couldn’t help being intrigued. Who were they talking about?

“Sick,” Riley said.

“I’ll bet it’s all shriveled and nasty,” Dylan chimed in.

“He’s notthatold,” Julie argued.

“He’s our parents’ age,” Dylan argued.

Ainsley and I exchanged a glance, not daring to move.

Whowere they talking about?

“Well, if they have pictures, they should turn him in,” Maisy said, keeping her arms wrapped around her legs.

“I doubt it. Nikki was bragging about it. I got the impression she sent him a few pictures herself. You really haven’t heard anything? I’ve heard Bailey Jones was one of the girls he’s been sleeping with. Aren’t you friends with her?”

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