Page 116 of Cadence
“I think you’re speaking to the wrong girl there, son.”
I jolt upright, stumbling, as Kit Deveraux stands a few feet away, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable.
My pulse trips up in my chest, and for a moment, I feel fourteen again, caught doing something I can't explain. Only now, the shame isn’t fleeting, it’s crushing, all-consuming.
I am unworthy of standing by his daughter’s graveside.
“Sir? I… I didn’t know anyone else was… I shouldn’t be here.”
I take a step back, ready to leave, but Kit moves into my path, stopping me.
“You’re exactly where you should be,” he says, looking past me to the stone.
Guilt twists my gut, stacking on top of everything I’ve already been dragging around for years. Kit walks around me and lays a hand on the stone before adjusting the neat line of coins on top.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
He glances back, brow creased. “For what?”
I swallow hard. The words that have rotted in my chest for two years spill out, uncontrolled.
“If it weren’t for me…Penny would still be alive.”
I’m met with silence, the kind that flattens you, makes your ribs ache.
Kit’s eyes narrow as he slowly turns, stepping closer. Not aggressive or dramatic, just his steady presence that roots me to the spot. “What do you mean?”
“She left the studio late that night because of me,” I rasp. “Our session had run over. I'd made her stay longer. If we'd finished on time… If I’d just—”
“None of this was your fault," he cuts in as one hand grips my shoulder
“But the accident… the truck…”
“She was in a car accident, yes. But that’s not what killed her.” There’s an ache there as he pauses, taking a moment to look past me at her gravestone. “She had Long QT Syndrome. It’s a genetic heart condition. Usually undiagnosed, silent, until it isn’t.”
The breath leaves me like a punch to the gut, blood rushing in my ears. Two years. Two damn years of carrying shackles made of guilt, letting poison trickle into my life. And now, with one sentence, he’s unlocked them, but I don’t know how to stand without their weight anymore.
My knees threaten to buckle as I say nothing. I want to believe him, God, I do, but the idea of letting go feels impossible.
“The reports didn’t mention it,” he adds after a beat. “That was my decision. I didn’t want it affecting Paige.”
My head snaps up. “Is she…?”
“She’s fine,” he says softly. “We all got tested after Penny. Paige’s results came back clear.”
I exhale hard, like I’ve been holding my breath for years.
“You’ve carried this around since that day?” he asks, already knowing the answer. His expression softens as his eyes fill with sadness. “You didn’t take her from us, Maddox. Life did.”
Something breaks inside me. “I could’ve—”
“No.” His voice sharpens, like he needs me to listen closely. “You couldn’t. You were a scared kid, blindsided by something you didn’t ask for from someone you thought was a friend. That’s all it was.”
I blink at him. “Penny told you?”
He shakes his head. “Paige.”
My throat aches, working around a knot of grief I’ve been choking on for years.
