Page 69 of Sticking Out

I eye her playfully. “Be nice. Besides, are you forgetting you named our chihuahua, Bear?”

She grins. “I miss that dog.”

“Me too.”

“When are you getting another?”

“What are you talking about? I have hundreds of dogs.” She rolls her eyes at me and before she can press, Jack, the daredevil that he is, climbs from the pool and holds his arms out. “Catch me, Aunt Dani. Catch me.”

I swim to him and hold my arms out. He jumps into them and we all laugh. We spend the next hour or so swimming, and after we get out and have drinks and watermelon, Jared shows up to collect his family. I give them all hugs and kisses at the door and promise to stop by this weekend with Uncle Conner, who, apparently, they miss greatly. They’re not the only ones.

It’s nearing dinner and I check my phone for messages. Disappointment wells in my stomach when I find none. Before I begin dinner, I decide to rinse the chlorine from my body, and head up to the main bedroom. I peel off my bathing suit cover up and walk to my side of the bed, and open the nightstand, needing the lip balm I use before bed. As I apply it, I fix the bedding, noting the tag I’d spotted the other day is no longer there.

I snap the cap back on the lip balm, and head to the shower. The warm water is glorious against my chilled skin, and as I wash myself, I miss Conner’s body next to mine. God, all the shower sex we’ve been having has made a mess of me. I never want to shower alone anymore.

Grinning at that thought, and working to convince myself Conner is simply busy and nothing else is going on, I head back to the bedroom, and open my side of the closet. I scan it, searching for something comfy. My gaze goes to Conner’s side and I close my door and open his to find his big comfy sweatpants and sweatshirts. It’s cold in the house with the air on, so I tug on a pair of his sweats and pull a hoodie off the hook. When I do, it jars the hangers and rustles his clothes.

That’s why my gaze slides to the pocket of his suit jacket. I notice the pink paper, the same kind of pink paper I wrote a note on many years ago—and left on Conner’s bed. What the heck? I glance over my shoulder, not wanting to invade his privacy, but with curiosity getting the better of me, I tug on it, exposing the paper a tiny little bit.

My words of love practically jump from the aged paper, and I stumble backward. Conner has my letter. Holy God, after all this time, Conner still has my letter! But what the heck is it doing in a suit jacket? I don’t know, but what I do know is that it’s in his possession, which means he read it all those years ago, and Alec had never taken it from his brother’s room.

It also means Conner never wanted me back then.

I stare at the paper like it’s diseased, my legs a little shaky beneath me. I can’t decide if I’m happy I’d found it or not. Maybe I was better off never knowing. Minutes tick by and I eventually find the strength to shove the letter deeper into the pocket, and shut the door on old painful memories.

I gulp air for a minute and then, needing a distraction, I head downstairs and search for my phone, wanting to check on the animals. Seeing them always makes me happy and now, I’m not sure I want to leave the house. I think I just want to wait for Conner to return. For some reason, I desperately need to see him.

I spot his laptop on the coffee table, and not wanting to climb back up those stairs with rubbery legs, I drop down onto the sofa. In the past, Conner never minded when I used his laptop, so I grab it and boot it up. But the second I do, messages between him and Summer pop up, one after the other, after the other.

With my heart jumping into my throat, and lodging there until breathing is difficult, I’m about to close the device. This is not my business, right? You’re trying to have a baby with him, Dani. I pinch my eyes shut and when I open them again, I scan the messages. I take deep gulping breaths when I read that Conner has been by her place, more than once, and judging from the last message, he’s there today.

What the hell?

I slowly close the laptop, the room nearly fading to black before my eyes. I blink several times, yet nothing can keep the tears from falling as my mind races. Alec never took the letter I wrote Conner. Conner had it all this time. He never wanted me back then. Why then does he now? What changed? He, for some reason, felt responsible for me after Alec’s death. Is that the only reason he’s with me now? Like his brother, did he never really want me? Is he only interested now because he wants revenge on his brother? Has he been seeing Summer in secret?

Wait, what was that Summer said when I first saw her at the pool? Always wanting what the other has. Does that mean she knew what Alec had been up to over the years, and thinks Conner is up to the same antics? But how could that be possible? She didn’t know Alec very well. Right?

I snatch my purse and keys off the counter, and even though I probably shouldn’t be driving, I stumble outdoors, jump into my car and back out of his driveway. I’m not sure what I think I might see, but everything inside me has compelled me to drive to her address. I’d been to her place when she was dating Conner, and even if she hadn’t given him her address, I’d still know how to get there.

Twenty minutes later, I pull up on the street…behind Conner’s car. My heart is thudding so hard, I’m sure I’ll be hitting up the emergency department after this to mend a broken rib…and maybe even a broken heart. My phone pings and I quickly snatch it up, to see a message from Rylee, thanking me for a wonderful day. I debate on messaging her back, to let her know that mine went completely downhill afterward, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe this is all nothing.

Were you born yesterday, Dani?

No, but I really don’t want to think the worst of Conner. He’s always been there for me, and I love him. Maybe I should go. Maybe I should let him explain whatever this is when he’s ready, because in my heart I know he’s not a man to cheat.

I’m about to start my car, only to stop when the front door to the building opens and out walks Conner, his arm around Summer, as he clutches the hand of a small boy who is the spitting image of the man I love.

26

Conner

As I stand in Summer’s kitchen, the DNA results in an envelope in my hand, she holds out a sheet of paper. “These are the results I received after Tyler was born.”

I glance at the sheet and scan it. “How did you get Alec’s DNA?”

“Hair follicles…” She looks away. “On the bed, and from my brush.”

Fuck.

---