Page 108 of My Mistake To Make

‘Baby,’ I sigh, and she inhales a shaky breath.

‘I need that box, Doug. I can’t have her…’ I see the way her chin and bottom lip tremble, and I know she’s going to cry, so I pull her to me. I have to take her mind off this damn box.

‘Go, take a bath, honey. I’ll clean up.’ She gazes up at me for a moment, and she looks worried. ‘What is it?’

‘That box, the letters…’

‘I know, Cara. I know how important it is. Go, take a bath, and we’ll fix this, okay.’

She pauses for just a moment, then heads upstairs, and I get to work.

By the time I’ve got everything put away and thrown a frozen pizza and some potato skins in the oven, Cara is back downstairs in some little black shortie pajamas that make her ass look like a snack.

‘Get us some drinks and sit down,’ I say firmly, tearing my eyes away from her, as this isn’t the time.

I watch as she takes out a bottle of beer for me and pops the top before pouring herself the last glass from an open bottle of red wine and taking a massive gulp.

I wish we could snuggle on the sofa and watch a movie, but there is no sofa,the intrudertook care of that, and the new one is on order but is six weeks away, so she sits at the dining table and waits for me to join her.

I pull out my phone and change the song before opening up my messages. I know there hasn’t been a reply because, despite the lack of notifications, I’ve been regularly checking for the past hour. I read my message again.

Me:Jess, I know it was you, and I know what you took. I just need it back. Cara just wants that back. Then we can talk, you and me.

But there’s nothing. Not even the two blue ticks that tell me she’s ignoring me.

The timer lets me know to get the food out of the oven, so I put my phone down and get to it. Cara’s quiet. I hate it, but I know she’s going to be in a funk tonight, so I’ll just be the doting… whatever I am.

‘Bon appetit, baby,’ I say, putting down the gourmet meal I prepared and being rewarded with a small smile.

‘Thank you, Doug. I know I’m being the grumpy one tonight.’ I grin and pick up a slice of pizza. ‘It’s just, that box can’t be replaced, and the thought of someone going through it…’

‘Hey,’ I interrupt to prevent her from getting upset. ‘We don’t need to talk about it right now.’

She nods and picks at her food, and I think of all the ways I can distract her tonight.

The room is stilldark when I hear the dull vibration of a cell phone, and my eyes flicker open. A byproduct of having a kid, the smallest noise will wake me up, even when she’s not in the same damn town, let alone, house.

I check behind me. Cara is still sleeping, so I reach for my cell phone on the nightstand.

Jessie:I’ll be back in town tomorrow night. We need to talk. It’s important.

Doug:The box, Jess…

Jessie:This is about the box, Doug.

All day my mindwas whirring about how this was going to go. I didn’t tell Cara about Jessie texting me. I didn’t want to get her hopes up because I knew how Jessie could be. I half expected to pull up and see her burning the box. Bowie is still at the beach with Zoe. She’ll be back tomorrow, so it’s time to figure this shit out.

I walk up the pathway leading to Jessie’s front door, reminding myself to keep my shit in check.

I don’t even knock on the door before it opens, and she steps aside to let me in.

As the door closes behind us, I turn to her, but she passes me and sits in the same seat that she did the other night before it all blew up.

‘I broke into her house,’ she says without me having to ask, and I shake my head. I’m about to question her when she continues. ‘You need to sit down, Doug, because I’m about to tell you what I found there, and it’s big.’

I sit slowly, noticing what I assume is the box on the table, and feel something close to nerves in the pit of my stomach. I know Jessie plays games, but there’s something about this whole situation that isn’t sitting right. The way Cara was so worried about someone taking the box, about them looking inside, the way Jessie is looking at me, the words she just used… what she found in the box is big—big enough that I need to sit down to hear it.

‘She’s not the person you’re clearly falling in love with.’ She rolls her eyes, and I stay quiet. ‘You think she’s this sweet, innocent little cutie who inherited that house, but that’s not what happened.’

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