Page 137 of Before Now

“Great,” she snaps. “Go right ahead and tell me why Sage calls you every year.” All the hurt Colton mentioned surfaces as Remi shakes her head, eyes pleading for a safe answer. “Howcouldshe call you, Foster?”

I look up at the rafters high above us. The moment I’ve been fearing bears down. The moment I stand to lose her.

After a drawn-out breath, I force myself to meet her gaze. “Because I called her after I talked to your stepdad.”

“I don’t understand…” Her eyes dart between mine, trying to complete a puzzle without the final broken pieces. Sharp and ready to slice. “How did you get her number? What haven’t you told me?”

I have to swallow, my throat tight and trying to keep the confession sealed away.

But she deserves better—she deserved better then, too, but I didn’t know.

This time she lets me step closer, and I thread my fingers through her hair while I stare down at her.

“I told you I was coming for you, Remi. And I did. Then I really fucked up.”

38

FOSTER

Before…

“Letme get you my card, son,” Daniel says. “In case you hear from her.” His gaze falls to the hardwood between us. “I don’t think any of us will, but my wife loved her. If I can ever get a part of Rebecca back in my life, I’ll find a way to forgive.”

I nod, still not paying much attention. The razor edge between heartache and doubt I’m teetering on requires a hell of a lot of resources.

Daniel reaches into the pocket of a black police jacket hung on a hook by the door. “Damn.” His hand returns empty. “I have some stashed in my office. I’ll be right back.”

He disappears through the arch, and I run a hand through my hair again. I’m still holding the funeral program in the other, and when I set it down, my gaze lands on what was beneath it. The corner of a blue sparkly phone case sticks out with half of a camera lens exposed.

I lift the program and uncover exactly what I expect.

Remi’s phone.

My heart shutters to a stop for a beat, but in the next one, I swipe it, letting the rest fall back into place. I check for Daniel as I pass the archway, and then I’m out the door. Fuck his card. King of Deceit, after all.

Given I took it from the police chief’s house, sticking around sounds like the worst idea. I drive a couple blocks before I park. The phone’s dead, so I plug it into my charger, a spiderweb of cracks on the screen.

As the longest wait of my life commences, mine goes off again. As unhelpful as Chase’s thoughts proved earlier, I pull it from my pocket. I need to do something.

“Hey,” I answer, eyes on Remi’s screen, waiting for it to come to life.

“Fuck, you make me feel like an ex with the way you ignore me,” he gripes. Then, without a chance for me to respond, “Where are you, brother? You ducked out last night and have been MIA since. We’re going to fucking climb.”

“No, we’re not.” I say, earning a groan.

“Come. On. I want to scale a wall, see the world from above. Or at least the rest of the rock climbing gym,” he says fast. “We need to get you out of this funk, so get your ass downtown. We’ll drink away your sorrows after—find a roof, cry it out, rise from the ashes.”

“Dude, I’m in Ohio.”

He’s silent for several seconds. “I thought you were kidding. You actually went after this chick?”

“She wouldn’t just?—”

“She fucking did, Foster. Jesus, what is it going to take for you to realize you got played? You need to watch her fuck another guy? Or will you still claim some bullshit excuse?”

“Could you not be a dick for once?” I bite back.

“Right. I’m the problem.” A car door slams. “I’m not the one constantly choosing some imaginary relationship over his family. And before you defend her yet again, it was imaginary. Whatever you have in your head is wrong, and it’s time you finally admit it. This bored cocktease used you for entertainment purposes and fucked off before your clingy ass found her.”

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