Page 71 of Trust Again

He left me there while he hurried to the front door.

With a rough gesture, I rubbed my face and dearly hoped I wouldn’t make things worse.

Through the hall came the sound of the door opening, and then the voices of women. I got up as the three of them came closer. Dad entered the room first; just behind him was a stunning woman with short, black hair.

“You must be Dawn,” she said, approaching me with a smile.

“And you must be my new mother,” I joked, and regretted it right away.

To my relief, Maureen laughed heartily. And hugged me. Only after she released me did I see her daughter.

Hold on a second.

“Everly?”

“Oh, thank God! I was just about to freak out,” she said and practically leapt across the room to me. We hugged.

“Wait—you know each other?” Dad asked. He hadn’t sounded this nervous in ages.

“Yeah, we have a class together,” I said.

“What a small world.” Maureen looked back and forth between Everly and me.

“You have my blessing,” Everly announced.

When Maureen gave Dad a shy smile and he returned it, relieved, I instantly knew I was going to like her.

Over an Asian buffet, between wontons and duck tempura, I found out everything about Maureen and Everly. Maureen was working for a nonfiction publisher and Everly wanted to follow in her footsteps; like me, she wanted to write for a living. The conversation was easy and it felt as if we’d known each other for ages. Gradually, Dad also warmed up. He obviously wasn’t used to being with more than one woman at a time, but he did really well.

“I think they’re really into each other,” Everly whispered, as Dad and Maureen went to the buffet for refills.

“I’m glad. It’s been so long since Dad had a girlfriend. I even tried to find a date for him a couple of years ago. Not a good idea.”

Everly laughed. “Yeah, same here. It’d be great if they stayed together for a while.”

I returned her smile and looked back at Dad and Maureen, who were still in the buffet line. I was about to turn my attention back to Everly when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. A head of brown hair.

Everything in me froze, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Dawn? Are you okay?”

I barely heard Everly. My eyes were fixed on Rebecca. Rebecca, who was laughing heartily.

And then I saw Nate.

It felt like a punch in the stomach—painful, violent, and nauseating. All the air was knocked out of me, and breathing was impossible. Time stood still, like it had more than a year ago when I’d caught them together. And just like then, I couldn’t look away.

As if he had felt my gaze, he turned his head in my direction. His smile froze.

Instinctively, I slipped under the table, bumping my forehead in the process. For a moment I saw stars.

Shit. Damn, fucking shit.

“What’re you doing down there?” Everly hissed.

I was paralyzed by shock. Nate had spotted me. What if he came over?

It hurt so much to see him. To be in the same room with him. I couldn’t breathe. I had to get out of here.