Page 66 of The Wicked

His phone buzzed, and I glanced at the screen. I didn’t mean to be nosy, but it was right there, and now…now that roller coaster of emotions I was on took a nosedive. Because I’d read the message before Garrett got to it.

Marlie

When are you picking me up? x

Right, well, at least now I understood his hesitation with the details. That little lick of pain from thexat the end hurt worse than anything he’d done in the bedroom, and my stupid eyes began to prickle.Dumb, dumb, dumb.We hadn’t said we were exclusive. I’d just assumed, and of course it stood to reason that he had other women waiting in the wings.Playboy, womaniser, confirmed bachelor.Thank goodness we were using condoms.

I backed away, and when he reached for my hand, I moved sideways like a rook on Johannes’s checkerboard floor.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Honestly, it’s none of my business.”

“Don’t walk away from me, Saralisa.”

That was one command I didn’t obey. “I’ll see you later.”

“She’s my niece. Marlie is my niece.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. A niece? Garrett hadn’t mentioned a niece. From what I’d heard about Trey, I couldn’t imagine him parenting a child, which meant the girl was Gracie’s. But didn’t she live in New York?

“Sit down. Please.”

This time, I did as Garrett asked, and he sighed as he leaned against the counter.

“Marlie is my niece. She’s eight years old, and she lives with us here in Roseburg because Gracie decided she didn’t want to be a mom.”

This time, it was me who reached for him. “I’m so sorry.”

Sorry that I’d backed away, sorry for what Gracie had done, sorry for a young girl who had to grow up without her mom. I knew how hard that could be.

“I can’t pretend it’s been easy, but things have gotten better over time. Letti—my stepmom—stepped in, and most people assume Marlie is hers.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Once a week, I take Marlie out to do something fun to give Letti a break and also to show Marlie that not everyone in the family has abandoned her. Letti’s mom minds her when Letti is busy, and my dad and Trey help out too.”

“Trey?”

“He’s actually pretty good with her, probably because he’s a big kid himself.”

I swallowed hard. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”

Garrett didn’t answer, just wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair. That was the moment I realised I was in big trouble, or at least, my heart was. For all his darkness and his bossiness, I could quite easily fall for Garrett Dorsey.

“I hope the two of you have a great time today. Don’t worry; I’ll be absolutely fine here with Netflix.”

“I won’t be back late.”

“Doesn’t matter if you are. You should reply to Marlie’s text, though. Tell her you’ll be there soon.”

He typed out a message, then raised his coffee mug in a mock toast. “To fucked-up families.”

I held up my own mug. “To making a little girl feel wanted.”

Because I hadn’t been. Marlie and me, we were opposites—she had a mom who didn’t want her and a family who did, while I’d lost the love of both parents and been made to feel like an intruder for the rest of my life. That Garrett was willing to give up half of his weekend to spend time with his niece made me so freaking happy.

I was loading breakfast plates into the dishwasher when he reappeared ten minutes later in cargo pants, sturdy boots, and a lightweight down jacket.

---