Page 194 of Ice Darling
“Everything, ma’am?”
“Did I stutter, darling? Yes, everything. She can’t decide on one, so she’ll have them all.”
“Mom, you can’t do that. Gordie’s closet can’t fit all these shoes,”Cordelia says in the background.
Hearing her voice makes my entire body relax. She’s okay. She’s safe.
And hopefully, she hasn’t met Ray yet.
“Fine. We’ll do half the wall,” Sasha argues.
“Three shoes, Mom. Don’t overdo it,”Cordelia berates her.
I try to interrupt. “Sasha?—”
“You’re no fun,” the older woman grumbles low enough that her daughter can’t hear. In a sweeter tone that I’m assuming is being directed at the clerk, Sasha coos, “We’ll take only three pairs. Hmf. Sorry about that. What were you saying?”
“Why do you have Gordie?”
“Your mother asked us to take Gordie shopping for the party in… Oh. We only have a short while, and we still haven’t gotten to the hair salon. We need to get a move on. What exactly did you need?”
“By any chance, did you invite Gwendolyn’s husband here to Lucky Falls?”
There’s a sharp beat of silence, and when Sasha responds, her voice is dark, “Why would I do that?”
My jaw tightens. Great. This guy is in my turf uninvited, coming aftermywoman. He’s just begging for a beatdown.
“Is hehere? Right now?” Sasha demands.
“One of my teammates saw him in town.” I glance at Campbell.
“That sorry scum! I told him to never show his face around us again.”
“I’ll handle him, and I’ll make sure he gets nowhere near Cordelia.”
“Please do, Viking. I…well…it’s a family secret, but I suppose you and Gordie are family now.” Lowering her voice so I can barely understand her, Sasha admits, “Ray made a big show at the funeral, crying and wailing over my daughter. But it turns out, he was cheating on herwhileshe was pregnant.”
I snarl. That alone makes me hate him even more. “When did you find out he was cheating?”
“It was after Cordelia suddenly packed up and left without explanation. I went to Ray, wanting to check on him and ask if he knew why Delia suddenly quit and disappeared. I found his mistress making a mess of his things.” Sasha scoffs. “I confronted him about it and asked if Gwen knew. He didn’t answer me upfront. Instead, he made very strange remarks about Cordelia. He was practically blaming her for Gwen having complications during birth. I told him to never contact either one of us again.”
Sasha’s explanation confirms my hunch. Delia left her high position at the company and hid in our small town far away from her old life. I strongly believe Ray’s somehow linked to Cordelia’s guilty feelings about her sister.
And I bet she doesn’t know that he cheated on Gwendolyn either.
The distaste I feel for the man multiplies to the point that I tremble with rage.
If I didn’t know Ray was in town, I would have flown over to deal with him, and I would have asked Gordie to forgive me for breaking my promise after the fact.
But Ray was stupid enough to come to me.
And I’m going to let him pay for it.
I hang up from the call with Sasha just as Chance’s footsteps thud toward me. “April says she’s not at the garage.”
“I know.” I slip my phone into my pocket. “She’s with her mom and Gordie. Far away from Ray. She doesn’t know he’s here.” I grab my Hello Kitty gym bag and stalk past Campbell and Gunner. “And I’m going to make sure it stays that way.”
“Where are you going? Are you going after him now?” Chance yells, jogging after me.
