Page 68 of Back On Ice

My foot does not let off the gas as I pass the house, and I pull to the end of the street before flipping around and parking a few houses down on the other side of the road.

And just like that, I’m fifteen again, hyperventilating because Dad is going to be so mad when he sees me, and how we changed the house. He’s going to take it out on Mom, and it’s going to be all my fault.

Dammit. No. I need to get my shit together.

I’m not fifteen anymore, and he can’t do anything to me. He can yell and sputter all he wants, but I’m a grown-ass man. Mom is away, safe from his wrath. But when she gets back… I swallow roughly. When she gets back, the stakes will change.

What the hell is he doing back in town anyway? He was gone. Not a peep from him in over a year and now he shows up back home? I thought… shit. It had crossed my mind more than once that he might be dead.

Or in jail.

I nearly bang my head on the steering wheel in frustration. It was sostupidto assume that just because I hadn’t heard from him, he was gone. Thank fuck I sent Mom on that retreat and changed the locks, otherwise she might have had to deal with him. Shit. Mom. She gets back tomorrow. If he had come a day or two later, she would have had to see him again.

I’ve never been more thankful for the security windows I had installed than when I watch Dad try to pry the windows open. What the fuck should I do? Before I can spiral further, he finally gets into the beat up truck he’s parked in the driveway and drives away.

I put my car back into drive and follow him. This is probably a terrible decision, but I need to see what he’s up to. Maybe I’ll get an idea of why he’s back in town. The sooner I know why, the sooner I can figure out how to get rid of him.

Not knowing what else to do, I hit the button on my steering wheel to call Jake.

“Miss me already, hotshot?” Jake teases as his voice fills my car. “I know you love me, but don’t be getting clingy?—”

“Dude, shut up. I…” My heart pounds in my chest. I can’t get the words out. Like if I say them out loud, it’ll be even more real than it is already.

“Woah, Carter, what’s wrong?” Jake’s tone shifts instantly, concern filling his voice.

“My… fuck. My dad’s here.” I spit the words out, bitterness stinging my throat.

“What? I thought you said he was gone. Never coming back.”

“That’s what I fucking thought!” God damnit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Right, okay, chill out. I know you weren’t expecting him to come back, but nothing is going to get fixed if you lose it.” Jake may not take much of life seriously, but he knows what my dad is capable of. I only started confiding in him after we were both in college, but it didn’t take long to catch him up.

A sigh leaves me. He’s right, I need to get it together. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m just freaking out over here. Whatever this is, it can’t be good.”

“No kidding. Are you going to talk to him?”

“I’m following him right now. We just got off the highway and we’re on the outskirts of Willow Creek.” Jake curses under his breath. “I can’t let him near my mom.Fuck, I can’t let him near Sophie. I swear, if he gets anywhere near her…”

“What are you going to do?”

“Fuck if I know. There’s no way I’m letting him get his hooks back into me. I can’t leave Mom here, he could get to her at any time.” He already proved that much by trying to get into the house.

“Do you need me to stay in town until we figure out what’s going on? I could help keep an eye on things.” Jake’s always been a great friend, offering to come and stay with me over holiday breaks to keep my dad off my back. He had wanted to go back to Canada as soon as possible and pack up his apartment before theseason started. I need to as well, but I need to get things sorted out with Sophie first.

It wouldn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes looking out for Mom. “Maybe. I’ll let you know. He just stopped at some shady-ass motel. I gotta go.”

“Drop me your location and send me a proof-of-life text when you’re done.”

His words get a strangled laugh out of me. “Yeah, yeah.”

The long, single-story building looks like it hasn’t been repaired in the last twenty years. A half-burnt out sign reads “Willow Motel”, most of the letters flicker like they might go out at any moment.

Is this where he’s staying? Years ago, Dad wouldn’t have been caught dead in a place like this. But now, his thinning gray head of hair disappears into one of the rooms, the curtains drawn tight.

How did he even know I was back in town? Is he even here for me?

I pull my car off the side of the road and let my head fall back against the seat. Shit. This is not good.

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