Page 70 of The Monster I Loved
Seething, I jumped into the car and took the familiar drive off Main Street and down Broadway. The rage inside me grew. Only once before had I ever felt this way. It was the night I killed Clive. Summer was smiling in my face just last night, ready to deliver the ultimate payback. Park Avenue was a few lights ahead. Skeletons, pumpkins, and witches covered the houses to my left.I sped past them, knowing that in one house on Park Avenue, the biggest witch in Tarrytown lived. To think of all the times she and I talked about having children when we were younger. Yes, we weren’t on the best of terms but?—
My hands tightened on the wheel. I rolled into Summer’s driveway. It all felt so familiar. Here I was again after hearing news that shattered my core, a part of me hoping it wasn’t true. I exited the car, marched up the three steps, and pounded on the door.
“Summer.”
It flew open soon after. Her eyes widened. Of fucking course, I could always depend on Summer to look innocent. She’d curated this look.
“You call me a fucking murderer but killed our child?”
17
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Summer
Thanks to Daisy’srambling call, peppered with her apologies, I actually knew what Thaddeus was ranting about. That’s what made me do something I never imagined. “Why don’t you come in so we can talk?”
He stormed in. The last time he was here...I shook my head and studied his face. Was he here to kill me? His face reminded me of that night.
“What’s your plan?” I kept my voice even and loosened my trembling fists. Both of us getting worked up was no use.
Thaddeus unbuttoned his jacket and squinted at me. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you learned something you didn’t like. You’re furious and came all the way over here. Is it to get revenge like last time? Am I going to die?”
His mouth opened slightly, eyes opened wide. I watched his hand shake. “You’re really asking me that?”
“Why not? You’ve done it before, and I know you don’t believe in forgiveness?—”
Before I finished speaking, Thad slumped his body into a nearby chair and lowered his head into his hands. “So, this was your revenge. An innocent baby?”
I couldn’t do this any longer. Fury pulsed through me at the thought of him believing I was capable of taking out my dislike of him on our unborn child. “Was it Brit who told you?—”
“Why does it matter who told me? It seems you never planned to say anything...” Thaddeus cut in, then froze. “Unless you wanted to hold this information and drop it on me when you knew it would inflict the most pain.”
That was what we’d really come to. I sat across from him and spoke, eager to clear up at least one misunderstanding. “I’m pregnant. Brit saw me at the doctor, but whatever she thinks I did there is wrong.”
“You’re pregnant?” His shoulders slumped as if a weight had been lifted off him, and his eyes filled with...hope?
“Yes. A baby is coming into this messy existence between us. It’s yours. I didn’t?—”
Silence thickened in the air around us. We just stared at each other for a while, and you could hear a pin drop in the room.
Finally, Thad sighed. “I drove here angry because I thought you’d taken away my chance of being a father, and now I’m terrified.”
“How do you think I feel?” I admitted. Thad listened as I went on. “I’m pregnant by a man who I vowed to hate forever. A man who...who just happens to be engaged?—”
“That’s not going to happen. I already ended that. I’ll make an announcement ASAP.”
My heart quickened. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
We looked at one another, unable to tear our eyes away from the other. So many unspoken, unsaid things passing between us.
Awkwardly, I picked lint from my sweater. I needed something to do with my hands.
Thad stared at the wall.
