Page 35 of Loving You

“What’s wrong, honey?”

Mom’s immediate, kind response set me at ease, and I reminded myself to be calm. I hadn’t slept well or nearly enough, and I was worried. Worse, I felt helpless and ignorant, two things I hated more than most. None of that was her fault.

Instead of towering over all of them like an asshole, I sat in the chair next to Lea and reached for her little fist. With some effort, she grasped my index finger in her baby grip and something about that grounded me.

The memory of my discussion with April and discovering what her dirtbag dad had done to my mom after Dad passed dropped into my mind. Looking at her now, surrounded by baby toys and crawling around on her knees for the sake of her granddaughter, relief sliced through me. She was so lively and whole.

Of course, she’d never stop missing my dad, but she had come back from the cruelty that was losing her beloved.

For some reason, the reminder that we’d come through all that to the other side where my sister and brothers were happy and loved and my mom reveled in her role of Grandma, gave me hope that I could figure out whatever was going on with April.

Not that I could take all the credit for the Walker family’s successes, but I’d dedicated my life to helping however I could. Knowing we’d turned out okay gave me a boost.

And with that came the need for more information about last night. “April’s staying at my house.”

My mom’s mouth dropped open, but Kate’s expression stayed neutral. Either she’d already known, or she’d suspected. Or maybe she simply had one hell of a poker face.

“You’re dating?”

I didn’t miss the hopeful twinge to my mom’s question and a smothered, buried part of me hated that I had to let her down. “No. She’s staying in the guest room. Never mind about why, I want to know why she came home slurring and stumbling last night. I have a feeling not everyone got plastered.”

A pained expression took over Kate’s face. “We honestly tried to slow her down.”

Mom shook her head in a slow, regretful gesture. “Honey, she was… I don’t know what was going on, but she was on a mission.”

My mom’s words did nothing to quiet the alarms sounding in my head. If everyone had seen her drinking too much and had tried to slow her down, what the hell had happened?

Kate spoke before I had time to press. “She seemed fine when we got to dinner. We were laughing and joking, and everyone was excited. And then, at some point, she ordered shots. We all did one since we’d had some food, but she had two more before we got to the bar.”

My molars ground against each other. “She didn’t say anything?”

They both shook their heads and Kate spoke again. “I think we all thought she just wanted to get a little wild, let off some steam. But then she was… I don’t know. I’m glad she’s staying with you instead of alone at her place after that.”

I froze for a moment, stunned to realize Kate didn’t know she’d been living at the B&B. Clearly, Rachel and Sammy had kept her confidence on that front, but it made one thing abundantly clear.

April and I needed to talk.

I wouldn’t force her to tell me what was going on, but Iwouldpress. I’d hoped maybe after talking about the feud and my opening up about those days after my dad passed, she’d feel safe enough to be open with me, too. It’d felt like maybe we’d taken a big step forward.

Now, I’d give us a little push.

11

APRIL

I wasn’t hiding by working from home—er,Eric’s house—again today.

Okay, maybe I was.

But sue me. After the weekend I’d had, there was no way I was ready to leave this damn house. Cliff had done exactly what he’d hoped to do on Friday night: scare me right into hiding.

I’d been so relaxed during that dinner at the start of Ellie’s bachelorette party, enjoying the company of my friends and forgetting all about the drama they knew nothing about.

And then I’d looked up from my perfectly cooked salmon to find Cliff striding to the hostess stand.

For a second, I was worried he was asking where to find me, but he’d simply accepted the brown take-out bag the hostess handed him and turned to leave.

It’d been a nice moment of reprieve to think it was all just a coincidence, but just before he pushed out the frosted glass doors, he looked directly at me.

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