Page 7 of A Step Too Close
“Hearing my little girl scream like that… Begging me to help her… It haunts my fucking dreams,” he admits. “I’d get so goddamn drunk so it would drown out the sound of her crying and the way Charlotte begged him to let Melody live… The last thing Charlotte said before he killed her was her telling Melody that she and daddy loved her so much. She was practically lying on top of her, shielding her. Even for her age, I think Melody understood what was about to happen. When Charlotte said that, she just said that she loved us too and buried her face in Charlotte’s chest. Tyler then shot them back-to-back before putting the gun in his mouth… he never looked at me…Acknowledged me… I taunted him and said everything I could think of to try and get him to turn his anger on me instead, but he didn’t. I laid there like that for nearly two days before my brother showed up to check on us after not getting a call back.”
“You have a brother?” I ask.
“Mhmm. I haven’t talked with any of my family since the funeral, though. Not sure if they’d want to see me at this point,” he says. “Even saying that, I know it’s not true. They all take turns calling me every few days. They leave me voicemails and tell me what’s going on. Jett texts me every single day and has for the last ten years.”
“Why won’t you talk to them?” I ask. “I’m sorry for asking so many questions.
“It’s okay. It’s surprisingly easy to talk to you,” he says. “I was a drunk and I didn’t want them to see what grief had done to me, even with the success of this business.”
“Well, you are sober now, so text him back,” I say. “Clearly they love you.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” he says. “For the sake of healing.”
“Okay….” I say carefully.
“I will go see my family if you tell Wilder and your parents,” he says.
“Okay,” I shrug and pull out my phone. He seems a bit shocked when I call Wilder.
“Hey,” Wilder answers.
“Hey. Hold on, I’m going to call Mom and Dad and add them to the call,” I say. I tap around and join the calls as soon as my mom answers. “Hey, Mom. Is Dad there?”
“Yeah, baby. What’s up?” she asks.
“I have Wilder on the line. Wilder, is Macie there?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong?” my brother asks.
“So… I made a deal with Levi, so I am going to trauma dump on everyone real fast,” I say.
“You told Levi about Caleb?” Macie asks.
“I did,” I say.
“I am so proud of you, Arden,” Macie says happily.
“I would love to know why we are talking about that little fucker,” Wilder says. “What did he do?”
The emotions hit me, and I start crying as soon as I start explaining, but Levi holds my hand while I talk. I keep my eyes on him as my phone sits on his desk on speakerphone. My familyis quiet and lets me get everything out. When I am done, Wilder is the first to talk.
“I’m so sorry, Arden,” Wilder says. “I’m glad you had Macie to talk to about it. I am also proud of you for opening up with us.”
“What was the deal?” Macie asks. I look at Levi, and he speaks up so that I don’t have to.
“I opened up to Arden about me losing my wife and daughter ten years ago,” he says. “They were assaulted and murdered in front of me, I wanted her to know so that she understood why I am the way I am. I expressed that I haven’t seen my family since because I was drinking heavily until I met her, so we made a deal that she would tell you all and I would visit my family.”
“I love that,” Macie says happily. “You should take her with you.”
“Wait…” I say.
“That’s a great idea,” Levi says with a grin. “I’ll do it tonight so I can’t talk myself out of it.”
“Good timing because we won’t be home tonight either,” Mom says.
“I love this so much. If he takes you home to meet his family, does that mean you are dating?” Macie asks.
“Yes,” Wilder laughs.
