“Your father? Your real dad?”
“Yeah. He, um, saw on the news that I collapsed at the concert and was in the hospital. He said he wanted to make sure I was okay. When he heard no one knew where I was, he took a chance and checked Glory Falls.”
“Wanted to make sure you were okay?” I squeeze her thighs, wishing I had five minutes alone with his no-show ass. “After all these years he just happens to get concerned when he sees you on television?”
She nods, her eyes unfocused over my shoulder.
“Exactly what I said.”
“Hey.” I tug her chin so she looks at me. “You okay? Talk to me. What did he have to say for himself?”
A tear slides down one cheek, and she swipes at it before it makes it very far. She tucks a chunk of dark hair behind her ear, a humorless smile on her lips.
“Not enough. He didn’t say enough to make up for any of it.” She sighs, folding a little to press her forehead to my chest. “Growing up, I used to think there was an explanation. Something we never could have thought of. Like, maybe he was secretly a spy, and for our sake, he had to go into witness protection. Only no one could know, not even us.”
Her laugh is a short, dry bark in the quiet bedroom.
“But he was just weak. He fell in love with someone else and chose her over his family.” She shrugs her slim shoulders. “A liar. A cheat. That’s all.”
I brush a hand over the dark hair tumbling around her shoulders and down her back. God, I hate that guy. The pain comes off her in waves, and if I could take it all, absorb it all into myself, I would.
“I’m sorry, Pep. I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling right now. That’s a lot to deal with.”
“He said he felt trapped in Glory Falls and never wanted to be a preacher. He felt trapped in their marriage, Rhyson.”
She shakes her head, another tear sneaking past her eyelids.
“It would have killed Mama to hear him say that. I’m glad he never came back if that’s all he had to say for himself.”
She pulls back to study me, her eyes holding more than pain. Holding something I can’t quite figure out yet.
“Maybe one good thing came out of his visit.” She drops her eyes before looking back to me, even though it feels like she’s forcing herself to. “My Aunt Ruthie used to say that I was more like my father than I wanted to admit. That I was just as much his daughter as I was my mother’s.”
I nod, not wanting to admit Aunt Ruthie basically told me the same thing.
“Maybe she was right.” Kai bites her lip before going on. “Maybe the only legacy he has for me is the lesson of his mistakes.”
“Okay.” I frown a little, running a thumb over the high curve of her cheekbone. “Baby, what does that mean?”
“He said he hoarded his secrets, hid all the darkest things. The people who loved him most never really knew him. Not in the ways that matter. He said he ran when he couldn’t face the consequences of his actions.” She doesn’t lift her gaze any higher than my chest. “He’s a runner and a hider.”
She closes her eyes, dropping her head to my chest.
“And so am I,” she whispers.
Those few words cause a ripple in my peace of mind. Why is she talking to me about running and hiding and secrets? We’re done with all of that. So why, when she raises her eyes to my face, does she look so damn guilty? So afraid?
A memory of San’s face at the hospital flashes through my mind, that feeling I got that there was something he knew. Something I should know, but didn’t.
“Kai, baby, what is it?” I nudge her face toward me, dropping a kiss on her lips. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“Yes, I know that now.”
Now? I go still and then slide my hand up her slim back, feeling the tension in the muscles there.
“Rhyson, there’s something I need to tell you. I should have told you before, but couldn’t.” She runs a hand through her hair, her expression agitated. “I just couldn’t, but I should have.”
“Pep, you’re freaking me out here.” I interlock our fingers. “What’s going on?”
She draws a breath so deep, I’m not sure it will ever end before she looks at me, her eyes uncertain. How can she still be uncertain of me? After everything, still?
“Someone’s been threatening me, Rhys.”
The word “threaten” pummels me. Someone threatened her? Everything in me shouts for answers immediately, but I force myself to remain calm. To fake being reasonable.
“Who threatened you, Pep?” I ask quietly, my fingers tightening just a bit around hers. “Threaten how?”
She knows me too well to believe the calm fa?ade. She searches my eyes until she locates the rage I’m carefully concealing.
“Please don’t be angry with me,” she whispers.
“With you?” I lean back, sliding my hands to her hips, securing her in my lap. It’s bad enough I have to fake calm without having to solve riddles. “Pep, tell me everything now before I lose my shit.”