Page 22 of Everything After

“How is she… Kara?” I asked, palming the back of my neck and quickly changing the subject.

“Still Kara. Flaky and impulsive but these days she’s mortified by what happened to her. From what she’s told me, that bastard was her rebound while she was grieving for Gary. She said he used her vulnerability and loss to his advantage. Then again, none of us know what it’s like to be controlled by someone, let alone a violent drug dealer,” she said empathically.

“True, but I believed her enough to hide her and Poppy to keep her alive,” I insisted.

My cell phone buzzed on her countertop, so I checked the screen.

Lily: I’m sorry. I hate that we fought. I’d been so excited and looking forward to seeing you. Please come home.

I thought Ihadbeen talking. It just wasn’t what she’d wanted me to say. Shaking my head, I laid it face down again.

“What’s wrong?” Sienna asked, instantly feeding into my mood like she’d always been able to do.

“Nothing’s wrong. Is Poppy home?” I asked, diverting the conversation again.

“She’s at a drama class this evening. Come on, Alfie, I know you better than that. It might have been a long while, but I can still remember what you look like when something’s pissed you off. You left here like your ass was on fire to pick Lily up and three hours later you’re back. Did you and your wife have a fight?”

“No,” I lied. Why the fuck had I gone to Sienna’s of all places? “Since I learned Kara and Poppy were back, I haven’t been able to get them out of my mind. Did they just turn up at your door?”

“Yeah, she said she’d missed me.” Sienna shrugged. “She was like a sister to me… still is. Want coffee and a muffin?” she asked, scooping them from the baking tray onto the cooling one.

I nodded and she poured a fresh cup, put two blueberry muffins onto a small plate and placed them in front of me. “You can’t take responsibility for her forever, sweetheart. You have your own life to lead,” I said as I peeled the paper from the muffin and stuffed it whole in my mouth.

“I know, and I’m not. She’s saving for a deposit to buy a place of their own. The rental they had belonged to an old guy who died, and it was put up for sale. She had nowhere to go, so…”

I nodded again, swallowed and took a sip of the coffee.

“Let me help her,” I muttered. “I’ll set them up somewhere close to here.”

“No, she needs to learn to stand on her own two feet,” she mumbled. “If everyone keeps bailing her out, she’ll never learn. It’s as much for Poppy’s sake as hers that she does,” Sienna insisted.

My phone vibrated again for the second time that evening. I checked the screen again.

Lily: Alfie, where are you? Don’t you want to talk at least?

The way my chest tightened in frustration again the moment I saw her name on my screen, I knew that I didn’t want that at all.

Sienna quickly caught me up on Kara’s life since I’d seen her. Time flew and before I knew it, another hour had passed when a third text came in from Lily.

Lily: Did you use our fight as an excuse to run back to her? Answer me!

Fuck.“I’d better get back,” I mumbled, sending for an Uber to take me back to the quayside. Fortunately, there was a ride less than three minutes away. I slid from the kitchen counter stool. “You’ve got my number. Let me know when Kara’s home and I’ll try to come over to see her.”

“Don’t go giving her a house or anything stupid like that. Like I said, she needs to learn to stand on her own two feet.”

“I won’t, but unless you want to take responsibility for her and her daughter indefinitely, you’ll need a solution. I want to help with that,” I said as we wandered to her front door, and Istepped back out to the street. I walked backward down her path until I reached the sidewalk.

As I turned, a car’s headlamps drew nearer, warning me that my Uber had arrived. The guy looked a little shifty when he glanced up at me, and it was the first time all evening I wished I had taken Oscar.

“Catch you later, Sienna,” I called out before I decided to take my chances and climbed inside. Less than a minute later I received yet another text from Lily.

Lily: Answer me!

Shit. I sighed as my thumbs worked over the small keyboard.

Me: We’ll talk when I get home.

CHAPTER 12