Page 160 of Losing Faith

“But Chase the assaulter gets to play? This is bullshit,” Rome mumbles and I don’t bother wasting my breath to remind him to steer clear of Chase.

“Don’t forget the press conference this weekend,” I remind him. “I have to go.”

He bids me a disappointed goodbye and I quickly end the call as I walk over to the pool.

“Hello, my little penguin.” I smile down at my daughter and I may be biased but she’s the cutest damn kid.

“Hi, Daddy.” She swims over to the edge and I lean over to kiss her nose.

Pulling away, I glance over to the patio and my brows pull together when I don’t see Lisette.

“Did you get in the pool without telling Lissy?” I turn back to Isabelle. We spoke about this a hundred times but I keep my anger at bay.

“I did tell her. She went inside.” She swims away before I can question her.

I rise to my full height but as I’m heading for the house, my paranoia gets the better of me and I turn back to her. “Sit here until I come back out, please.”

She rolls her eyes dramatically and I give her a pointed look.

“You know you’re not supposed to be in the water without an adult out here. I’ll be out in a minute. Do you want to sit on the patio or in the grass?”

She doesn’t argue as she sits in the grass, a few feet away from the pool edge. Stepping onto the patio, I quickly see Lisette on the living room couch, fast asleep.

This girl sleeps like thedead. Shaking my head at her, I slightly shift her on the couch so she doesn’t fall, since she’s barely hanging off the edge. Just as I move her, she jolts awake.

She looks disoriented as she looks up at me.

“Hi.” I smile down at her. “You fell asleep while Belle was in the pool, but since you look so tired, I’m going to save the water safety lecture for later. Just a heads up, I’m mad, so it’s going to be a long lecture.”

I lean over to kiss her, and just as I do, I go still at the smell of liquor. I pull away as I study her features.

“Tell me you’re not drunk, Lisette.” I stand at my full height, and when the guilt covers her face, my anger grows so high, I didn’t think it was physically possible. “Are you fucking kidding me?” My eyes land on the water bottle next to her. The one she’s been drinking from all day and a part of me is mad at myself for not noticing.

“Jackson—”

“You left her in thepoolas you sat here drinking until you passed out?” I try to keep my voice hushed, but I don’t know how well I do at that. “She could’vedrowned.”

Lisette flinches at my volume before she rises from her seat. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep…”

I wait for her to add more, but she doesn’t.

“That’sallyou have to say?”

She stays quiet and it only makes me angrier.

“I was gone for almost anhour, Lisette. How long was she in the pool alone?” I shake my head, rambling on before she gets the chance to respond. “You were just asking me yesterday if you can come over on non-tutoring days, and when I invite you to hang out with us, you’re drunk? This is the first time I’ve left you alone with her and this is how it goes?”

“She’s a good swimmer, Jackson.” When she rolls her eyes, I lose my mind.

“I don’t give a shit!” I bite out. “Pools are the highest cause of child fatalities. Did you know that? Nothing else compares to the danger of a body of water. She can drown in a fucking puddle. It doesn’tmatterthat she can swim. It’s the fact that she’s unsupervised that I’m mad, Lisette.”

“It was one drink.”

I let out a scoff. “Get out.”

She flinches as if I just raised my hand to hit her. I watch her open her mouth, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Seriously, Lisette. Go home and get it together. I don’t want you around her like this, especially if you’re not going to take accountability or at the very least fucking apologize. I understand—”

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