Page 28 of After All The Wreckage
I’d never expected her to stay as long as she had. Through the funeral and her pregnancy. Through the first part of the pandemic, adding her uninsured hospital bills to the pile of debt we already had hanging on us. With no income coming in because everything was shut down and our renter moving home while the college was closed, what little money there’d been had dried up.
And just as we’d started to come out of it, just as Monte had started to adjust to living in an apartment instead of a huge house with a large yard, Demi had left once more. But not before cleaning out the cash in our parents’ joint bank account.
I’d never understand why Dad hadn’t divorced her. Never understand why he hadn’t taken her off everything. Not even love could be that twisted, could it? To have you repeatedly turning the other cheek while blow after blow after blow slowly destroyed you?
Until his heart had actually fucking given out.
A hand on my thigh had me jumping out of my dark thoughts.
I looked down to find Ivy, curly hair sticking up in all directions, pale blue eyes sad, her normally smiling lips turned down, and my heart spasmed another notch tighter. She wore her favorite otter pajamas that matched the stuffed animal in her hand. I sent a silent thanks to Audrey for knowing they would comfort her.
“Monte?” she asked.
I picked Ivy up and squeezed her tight, that sweet baby shampoo scent that followed her everywhere surrounding me. Raising her was the hardest and most rewarding thing I’d everdone. A million times harder than driving the storm tank into a tornado. But whenever she smiled at me, face full of adoration, as if I were a real-life superhero, nothing else mattered.
Today, I felt nothing like a superhero. I’d let my family down.
A rapid one-two-three knock on the apartment door had me frowning.
River and Audrey had keys. They might knock, but they’d just let themselves in, and neither of them knocked like that. As if they were impatient. Or angry.
I headed for the door with Ivy in my arms, flipped the deadbolt, and opened it.
Rory stood on the landing, the early sunrise haloing her, making her look like an angel for all of two seconds before I noticed the scowl on her beautiful face. She had two to-go cups from the Tea Spot in her hands, and the shadows under her eyes had grown, just like mine.
Her gaze bounced from me to Ivy and back before she looked over my shoulder and demanded, “You going to let me in?”
I tried not to get my hopes up. Hope that somehow I wouldn’t be alone in this. The NCMEC coordinator last night had tried to reassure me I wasn’t alone, but it had felt empty coming from a disembodied voice over the phone. I had River and Audrey, but they seemed as lost as I was on how to navigate this situation. Worse, they actively hated the cops. Just going to the station with me in D.C. had made River antsy as hell. He’d walked out about halfway through the interview, his normally calm self all but dissolving. He’d whispered that if he didn’t leave, he might punch someone.
Standing in front of me now was a fierce woman who I’d never seen back down from anything in her life, even at thirteen. I needed that. I needed someone who was going to battle for Monte just as much as I would. Someone who knew the rules ofengagement. Someone who knewhowto fight the battle because I damn sure didn’t.
I stepped back, and as she brushed past me, my body spasmed. Relief. Desire. Hope.
I shut the door and turned to see her taking in the apartment. What did she see? The last time she’d been here, it had been full of inexpensive furniture Dad kept for the college renters. Now it was packed with generations of our family’s belongings. It was cluttered, but it wasn’t dirty.
Rory looked at Ivy as she handed me one of the cups. “It’s coffee. Black. Wasn’t sure how you took it, but was pretty sure you’d need it.”
It was the second time she’d handed me a drink in less than twelve hours. “Thanks.”
She walked over to the counter separating the living area from the kitchen, put her cup down, and yanked a laptop out of a messenger bag flung over her shoulder. She was in a tight purple sweater instead of the black I’d seen her in since Friday. The cotton knit clung to her curves, putting them on display in a way that was both modest and sexy at the same time.
Ivy’s little hand slid along my cheek, and I turned to my sister. Her eyes were wide, darting back and forth between Rory and me. “Who she?”
I made my way over to the counter. “Ivy, this is Rory. Rory, Ivy.”
Rory looked up, fingers pausing on the keyboard. She stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Ivy.”
Ivy smiled, and it landed in my heart. When I looked into Rory’s face, I saw a wealth of emotions cross it as Ivy accepted her hand. They did a sweet little shake that made my sister giggle.
I put Ivy down, squatted in front of her, and said, “Go brush your teeth and get dressed. I’ll do your hair once you’re done.”
She nodded and headed down the short hallway to the bedroom she and I shared, dragging her otter behind her. When I turned back to Rory, she was watching me with eyes full of sadness. I suddenly hated that look more than I’d ever hated the pity directed our way by the other Cherry Bay citizens. I’d prefer hate over sadness. I’d even prefer fury and frustration. But what I really wanted was the adoration she’d always sent my way. And maybe pleasure and satisfaction after having had the best orgasm of her life.
That last image had me shutting down any and all thoughts of her emotions.
She shoved a piece of paper in my direction and then handed me a pen. “Contract.”
I picked up the paper. The logo read Marlowe & Co., and the hourly rate made my insides scrunch up. But I’d do anything I needed. Anything. Even if it meant we had to sell the building the bar and our home was in.
