Page 12 of The Life We Left Behind

Marie’s face broke with sympathy, and she tipped her head to the side as she thought. “I don’t think we ever really know our parents as people. It’s one of the hardest jobs in the world, which you no doubt already know. But Barrett was a proud man, and I could see him thinking that he didn’t want to burden anyone else if he was sick, the foolish old goat.”

I laughed then because it reminded me so much of the playful jibes they always had for each other every time I’d been in here with my dad as a kid. There had been a time when I’d thoughtthe two of them could even possibly start something together, but my dad never really got over the loss of my mother enough to consider another relationship.

“Do you think he was happy?”

“I think he had everything in his life that he wanted, honey. Maybe he could have had more, but I don’t think he really had the space for it. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t happy. He had you, and then he had Cade. You guys might not have been able to spend as much time with him as you would have wanted, but you were never far from his thoughts.”

I nodded sadly. I had pushed Willowbrook so far out of my life that I’d even pushed a part of my father away with it. I’d always regret that.

“Delaney…Cade’s father…” She didn’t say anything else, but I could see the question in her eyes. It was the same one everyone would have.

I hadn’t considered what to say. Trace probably wouldn’t step up and take responsibility, and I didn’t even know if I’d want him to. He had his own life now, and we weren’t a part of it. We didn’t really need him. But I didn’t want Cade to come here and have people gossiping where he would hear.

“He’s not in our life,” I ended up saying. It was the truth, after all. Even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

Marie nodded slowly. I could already see her filling in the gaps of what I was saying. She’d seen Cade’s picture, so she’d know the truth. Anyone who could do basic math and saw his face would immediately know Cade was Trace’s son. He looked so much like him it was impossible to miss.

“That family,” she hissed, turning her head to the side as if she didn’t want me to see the look on her face. Then Marie shook it off as she took a sip of her coffee. “I’ll start to let people know about your father, sweetheart. Hopefully, that should take someof the burden off you, but if there’s anything else I can do, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks, Marie.”

I quickly finished my croissant and drank the last cold mouthful of coffee before standing up. “I’m going to head up to the house to see what needs doing.”

She walked me to the door before we shared one final embrace. “Don’t you dare leave without saying goodbye to me this time,” Marie whispered. “And make sure you come back soon with that boy of yours. I’ll have some of your favorite cookies waiting, and we can catch up before the funeral.”

“As soon as everything is arranged, you’ll be the first to know,” I reassured her.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Delaney.”

And I knew she wouldn’t. Most of the town would be there. My father had lived in Willowbrook his entire life, and our family roots ran deep here. It would be a sad day in town the day we laid Barrett James to rest.

CHAPTER FIVE

TRACE

Icould already feel a headache gripping the edges of my mind as I shuffled through the papers in front of me. It wasn’t enough. This project was going to be make or break, and there was too much on the line for it to fail. But there weren’t enough investors, and we didn’t even have a big enough plot of land for the project to go forward.

I was confident that I could pull in the investors we needed if I could get the project started. But that still left us with the problem of the land. Every acre surrounding this parcel was land which had belonged to town families for generations. Getting them to part with it would be nearly impossible.

The click of the front door closing drew me out of my thoughts as I looked suspiciously at my home office door. I already knew who it would be, and I didn’t have the energy to deal with this today. Not at seven in the morning and especially not before I’d had enough caffeine to get rid of this headache.

As I pushed up from my desk with weary resignation, I could hear the sounds of someone rifling through the cupboards in the kitchen, followed by the sound of a glass smashing on the tiled floor.

I was so done with this crap.

The kitchen was exactly how I knew it would be—broken glass littering the counters and the ground together with half of the contents of the pantry as Chelsea tore through it, looking for God only knew what.

“Chelsea!” I snapped.

She whirled around, stumbling to the side and catching herself on the pantry doorframe as she did. Great. Of course, she was drunk again. When was she not these days?

“What are you doing here?” I kept my distance on the other side of the kitchen, my gaze subconsciously moving to the camera I’d had installed for just these occasions. It wouldn’t be the first time that she’d try to turn around and call me out as the aggressor if things went south, even if she was the one breaking into my house.

“Trace,” she slurred, a sloppy smile spreading across her lips, which she no doubt thought was seductive. “I missed you, baby. I was in the neighborhood, and I thought?—”

“That you’d break into your ex-husband’s house and trash the place for the third time this month? This has to stop, Chelsea. How are you even getting a copy of my key? I know sure as shit that I didn’t give you one.”

She squinted in annoyance just like she always did, and that cold look of anger flashed across her face. If there was one thing Chelsea hated, it was not getting her way, and things hadn’t been going her way since I’d served her with divorce papers nearly a year ago.

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