Page 99 of Beneath the Surface

I glance at baby Chase, making sure he’s still asleep, before moving my attention back.

“I’m not blaming you,” he continues. “But I wasn’t healthy after you were gone. Honestly, wasn’t healthy before. I had to work onmebefore I was able to be there for her. And you know how Goldi gets.”

I roll my eyes, becauseyeah, even though I haven’t seen her in years, there are pieces of personality that are fundamental. And Alina May Carson has stubborn in spades.

“Selfish?” I ask, unable to keep the barb in.

His jaw muscles tic, his grip tightening on the wheel. “She’s been through a lot.”

I lift my shoulders. If he’s looking for sympathy, he won’t find it in me. “Haven’t we all?”

The fact of the matter is that Lee was my best friend for years, my firstrealfriend. And from the moment she stomped into my front yard and introduced herself, we were inseparable. Which is why it hurt so bad to find her with Chase. The two most important people in my life, loving each other so hard that they didn’t leave any love for me.

It’s what made it so easy to slip away.

I blow out a shaky breath, my fingers tapping against my tattoo of Wiggles. “Is she gonna be there?” I wave my arm toward the front window of the car. “At your place, I mean?”

His brows furrow. “I mean… yeah, Lil. She lives there. I’m not gonna ask her to leave.”

I force a smile onto my face. “No, of course not. It’s fine.” Anxiety snaps like rubber bands against my stomach. “We’re gonna have to get it over with, eventually, right? Sooner is better than later, I guess.”

He grins. “Exactly.”

We pull into a driveway. “This your place?”

He smiles. “Only for a couple more months while I build our house.”

I nod, not surprised at all that he’s working construction. Our adopted father, Sam, owns Sugarlake Construction Company. He always wanted Chase to follow in his footsteps. “You work for Sam?”

“He wishes.” The side of his mouth tilts. “No, I run the company now. He’s retired.”

Nerves simmer low in my belly at the thought of seeing Sam and Anna. There’s so much I missed out on. So many people who I know I hurt when I left.

I see the front door open from the corner of my eye and I glance over, my heart beating so hard it jumps to my throat. A bright-eyed, blonde-haired woman stands in the doorway, a gigantic smile splitting her face in half. Chase’s entire demeanor softens as he takes her in, and I can’t help the pangs of envy that bang against my insides.

He turns to me. “You ready?”

I swallow, my hands shaky from the nerves. “As I’ll ever be.”

Taking a deep breath, I unbuckle my seat belt and get ready to face my past.

46

Mason

I’ve only had a few life-changing moments, ones that become integral in forming who you are as a person, andthisis one of those moments.

Olivia stares at me, her eyes rimmed red with what I’m assuming are tears of guilt, telling me the child she carried for five months, the child I envisioned holding in my arms, the child Igrieved... that child wasn’t mine.

“I’m sorry, say that again?” I ask, cocking my head to the side, a fire growing steadily in the pit of my stomach.

She swallows, the pale skin of her neck blossoming a deep shade of red. “She wasn’tyours, Alex.”

“Don’t call me that.” The nickname is too tender, whispers of it slipping off another woman’s tongue too fresh. My mind is racing, reframing everything I thought I knew from my past, a tendril of intuition prodding at my back. “Whose was it?”

Her eyes drop, the cerulean blue growing glassy as she stutters out a shaky breath. She purses her lips. “I think you know.”

My chest caves in.

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