Page 42 of Return of the Bad Girl (Rock Canyon, Idaho 4)

Teresa gasped behind her, as Edward shouted, “Get out of my house, you little whore!”

During her time as a bartender and owner, Caroline had learned to master her temper, to speak calmly and rationally when dealing with unreasonable and sometimes drunk people.

But all it took was being back in her father’s presence to cause her temper to burn out of control.

“I am not a whore.”

“Please, do you think I haven’t heard about your escapades? I chose to ignore them as long as you continued to excel in your studies and didn’t cause undue embarrassment, but I knew everything you did.”

“Really,” Caroline said, her voice shaking. “So you know about how Kyle Jenner drugged and raped me at his family’s house party when I was fifteen? About how he threatened to hurt Ellie and Val if I said anything?” Sucking in air, a heavy weight lifted as she spoke, “Tell me, Daddy, if you know everything about me, then how could you hire the one man who destroyed my chance at a normal life?”

Unsurprisingly, her father’s face flushed purple with temper, and he shouted, “You’re lying! Kyle is a strong, upstanding—”

“Upstanding? You mean wealthy and connected!” Caroline hollered back, her vision blurring despite her attempt to blink back angry tears. “I know Val told you about her friend in college. Kyle’s other victim. You know that Kyle’s father would do anything to protect his reputation and his son. If you think Senator Jenner is blind to his son’s faults, look again. I guarantee that you’ll find a few skeletons in his closet.” Dashing at her eyes, she added, “Why would I lie about this now? It’s been fifteen years since that night, so why would I bring it up now if it never happened?”

Caroline didn’t give him a chance to answer before she continued. “The only reason I’ve kept quiet was because he said he’d hurt Val and Ellie exactly how he hurt me, only he wouldn’t drug them. That is the man you hired and treat better than your own children. You let a monster into this house.”

As he spoke, the blood drained from his face. “If you think I would have allowed anyone to hurt you or your sisters this way, you are gravely mistaken. I would have handled things. I would have . . .” He seemed to be collecting himself. “I would have protected you.”

He believed her. It was almost unbelievable, considering the several hundred scenarios of this moment that she’d played in her mind over the years; in only a few had he actually believed her. She didn’t know what to do with this. For years she’d held onto this secret, assuming that her father wouldn’t believe her unless Kyle followed through with his threat—a risk she was never willing to take.

In fact, he was looking at her with more emotion than she’d ever seen from him, even at her mother’s funeral. Anger was there but so was regret. Did he regret not knowing? That she’d never told him?

Suddenly, it was too much. Without waiting for him to say more, to voice his thoughts, Caroline spun around and pushed past Teresa, muttering an apology as she rushed out of the house. She heard mewls of protest as the kittens bumped against her hip, and she slowed down, brushing her hair out of her already bleary vision. She couldn’t see well enough to get her key in the lock, and cursing, she kicked the side of her car.

“Caroline? Are you okay?”

Caroline turned to find that the DJ, Callie Jacobsen, had pulled up alongside her. Callie was watching her with concern from the window of her SUV, her golden riot of curls pulled back from her face. Caroline opened her mouth to answer but stopped when a monster dog in the back of Callie’s car jumped into the passenger seat.

“Killer! Ratchet, dang it! Get down!”

If Caroline hadn’t been on the verge of breaking down, she might have laughed. “Killer Ratchet? What kind of name is that?”

Callie grinned sheepishly. “His real name is Ratchet, but everyone in town thinks it’s Killer. It’s started off as a joke, but you’d be surprised at how many people back away from a dog named Killer, as opposed to Ratchet.”

A surprised smile came over Caroline. “Is that to weed out the undesirables?”

“Something like that,” Callie said, scratching the giant dog behind his ears. “I’m not much of a people person.”

“Funny. Me either,” Caroline said.

“So, did you need some help? I thought maybe your car door was stuck or something.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just shaken up.”

“Well, okay then, if you’re sure.”

Callie’s SUV started to pull forward just as Caroline called out, “Hey, Callie?”

“Yeah?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m kind of a social pariah around here, but right now, I could really use some company. Do you maybe want to come over and hang out?”

Callie hesitated, and Caroline almost opened her mouth to let her off the hook, but then Callie nodded. “Sure, that would be great. I’ll follow you. Is it okay if Ratchet comes?”

A mewling reminded her that the kittens were hungry, and she said, “As long as he doesn’t try to eat cats or me, we’re good.”

“I THINK IT’S a great space, man, and for the size, it’s the best deal.”

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