“I thought—I mean, it’s Thursday, and I thought… ” Fuck.
She walks up the sidewalk, shaking her head, and pushes past me to open the front door.
“I don’t know what you thought, Garrett, but I’d rather you leave.” Her voice is cold, reminding me of the very first time we spoke. How much disdain she felt for me when she thought I was a heartless prick who wanted nothing to do with my own son.
“Can we talk?” I ask weakly. Can I hold you?
“I don’t think so,” she says and walks into the house. She leaves the door open and I don’t hesitate to follow her inside.
“I didn’t invite you in,” she says and drops her bag onto the counter. Something catches my eye at the top of the garbage can, and I see my note, crumbled.
“You got my note?” I ask, and she turns to face me.
“I did.”
“You weren’t here,” I say and take another step toward her.
“No, and I wasn’t planning on coming home this early either. I’d still be out if Cassie hadn’t been called into work.” Her tone is cutting through me, and I can’t take much more of this. I can’t stand the way she’s looking at me, with disdain. Hatred?
“Sam, I—”
“Please, don’t.” She cuts me off and leans against the counter.
“Tell me what I did wrong. Because the way I see things, I didn’t do anything, yet you shut me out.” I’m here and I want answers. The only woman I’ve ever loved is standing a few feet away from me and she’s staring at me like I’m a demon.
“I can’t do this,” she says and sighs. “Please.”
I close the distance between us and I grab her hand. She immediately flinches and jerks it away. “What did I do?” I raise my voice and she brushes past me. “Sam, I didn’t kill your parents!” I yell at her and she picks up her pace, darting for the stairs. “Talk to me, please!”
She takes off up the stairs and I hear a door slam. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I take the stairs two at a time, following the sound of her soft sobs. When I reach her door, they stop. “Garrett, I need you to leave.” She sniffles, and I rest my head against her door.
“I can’t,” I say.
“Please. Leave.” Her voice shakes, and I want to bust down this door. I need to make this right. I need her.
Moments pass, and she’s quiet and still inside her room. I place my hand on the doorknob and start to turn.
Then I stop.
I can’t force my way into her room. Into her life. Into her heart. She wants nothing to do with me, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I release the doorknob and place my palm against the door. “I love you, Sam,” I whisper and slowly back away. Down the stairs. Into my car.
I love you, Sam.
Garrett
Present
Three Months Later
Villanova, Pennsylvania
Age 27
“I THINK WE’RE ABOUT READY to send this to the label,” Dax says and pushes himself back in the chair. “It sounds amazing.”
Tristan and Heath nod in agreement and they fist bump each other.
“It’s one of our best albums yet,” Dax interjects.
A lot of heart and pieces of each of our souls have been injected into this album. I’m not quite sure any of us will ever be the same again.
My cell phone dings, and I have another text message waiting for me. I swipe to see Kai’s huge smile filling my screen.
“Your nanny documents everything that boy does.” Heath grabs my phone from me so he can see him too. He scrolls through the two dozen pictures that Max sent to me since breakfast.
“You mean his manny!” Tristan laughs hysterically. He still can’t believe that I hired a guy to watch my son, and I explain that it wasn’t all my doing. Sam was the one who got the ball rolling with Max, and it worked out perfectly.
Heath tosses my phone back to me. “Another picture just came in. Dude, he’s walking.” I quickly look down to see a picture of Kai standing with his hands stretched out in the air. He had a huge, wide-mouthed smile that I can practically hear his happy screeches from.