Page 74 of Wicked & Wildflower

“Yeah?” he continues. “God, you should’ve seen how devastated your parents were at Christmas when you didn’t bring her home, when none of you came home. Your mother was heartbroken.”

“Don’t fucking talk to me about my mother.”

He scoffs in my ear. “Oh, I’m aware. Your parents are off limits, because you refuse to believe you’re anything but a fucking victim. I get it.”

“Fuck you, Jason.”

“My parents were upset too. They deserve to know their granddaughter just like I do.” He laughs roughly. “I honestly don’t even get it. There is nothing for you in California. You’re isolating her. She deserves to grow up with her family.”

A family she doesn’t fucking know!

His parents, while around slightly more often than he was himself—which was exactly zero percent of the time—were far less involved than even my parents were.

I might be mostly alone here in California, but I was completely alone in Kansas.

For the first time in my child’s life, sheisn’tisolated, even if the people loving her aren’t family.

“What do you honestly have going for you there that you didn’t have here? You had a good job, a house. You have nothing in California.”

“My sister is here,” I say.

“Your sister isn’t Lou’s parent. You need to think about what’s best for her, not what’s best for you.”

That one sentence is all it takes for the tears to bubble over and stream down my cheeks. It’s the insinuation that I don’t think about what’s best for my daughter every second of the day, that I haven’t put her before myself every minute since she was born.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jason.” My voice shakes with each word. “Darby is theonlyperson I’ve ever had, the only constant in my life. She’s the only one who has ever loved me. She has been my co-parent and my life partner. She gave up everything for me and our child, far more than you ever have.” I angrily wipe my cheeks, upset at myself for letting him hear the effect his words have on me. “So, I go where she goes. She’s my person. She’s Lou’s person too.”

“Darby has her own life partner now,” he says quietly. “Her own life.”

A breathless sob escapes me at that.

“Darby doesn’t have a life partner. She has a whole damn village.” I jump at the voice coming from behind me. It’s hard and brash, but it sounds like salvation as it runs along my skin. “It’s Dahlia’s village too.”

The clip of footsteps echoes on the hardwood floors as he enters the kitchen. The warmth of his body wraps me in safety when I feel him stand behind me. Turning, I look up at Everett’s soft brown eyes, etched with concern.

“Hi,” I whisper. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “Are you alright?”

Leaning into his touch, I nod.

“Who is that?” Jason asks, voice sharp and cold.

“Her boyfriend,” Everett responds just as brash.

Jason lets out a sharp, unconvincing laugh.“This doesn’t concern you.”

With his eyes still on me, Everett responds, “Everything with Dahlia concerns me.”

“For now,” Jason scoffs. “Unlike you, I’m going to be tied to her for the rest of my life. If I want to have a conversation with the mother ofmychild alone, I’m entitled to that.”

“Not if she feels unsafe.”

I’m falling so hard for this man.

Way too hard.

The phone goes silent, as if he’s taken aback by Everett’s response. “I’m not going to hurt you?” Jason says like it's the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.

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