Page 223 of Mountain Daddy

“What?” Kendra reaches for me.

Her hands grip my shoulders, steadying us both.

“Her mom…” I sigh. “Sit with me for this part?”

Kendra nods.

Bracing against her chair, I stand, then hold my hands out.

Kendra places her palms in mine, and I help her up. Then I take her chair.

I move her coffee down to the floor of the deck and pat my leg.

Kendra hesitates.

“Sit on my lap.”

She blows out a breath, then turns her back to me and sits on my thighs.

Reaching around her, I grip her knees and tug her around until she’s sitting sideways.

Keeping one hand on her knee, I wrap my other arm around her back, bracing my palm against her hip, holding her to me.

Kendra leans her head on my shoulder. “Tell me.”

“Twenty-seven years ago, I was dating Ashley’s mom. It wasn’t serious. Or it didn’t feel serious to me. But then she told me she was pregnant. We weren’t at a point where we’d talked about having kids, but I’d always wanted them. Eventually. So…” I sigh. “I did what I thought I was supposed to do. I asked her to marry me.”

It feels so stupid now. The marriage part. Even if Ashleywasmy blood, what did it matter if I was married to her mom or not?

Kendra reaches out and grips my forearm with both her hands.

I flex my fingers on her knee. “We did a courthouse wedding four weeks later, and six months later, Ashley was born.” My mouth pulls up into a sad smile. “It was the best and worst time of my life. I had this perfect little baby. This little girl… I took a month off work when she was born. Did as much for her as I could. And when I had to go back to work… it was torture. So I came home early one day. Decided to make it a short week, needing more time with my girl. Except there was a car in my driveway. And when I went inside, my baby was crying in her crib, and her mother was fucking some other guy in our bed.”

Kendra tightens her hold on my arm. “Luther…”

I flex my arm around Kendra’s back, holding her even closer. “She didn’t even hear me. So I walked right back out of the room, packed a bag of Ashley’s things, took my daughter to a hotel, and sent divorce papers to my wife.”

It’s almost funny to think back on it.

I saw another man balls deep in my woman, and I didn’t react.

Didn’t cry or shout or throw things.

But hearing that fucking firefighter simply ask about Kendra… I was damn near ready to commit homicide.

If it had been her… If I’d caught Kendra with another man… I wouldn’t be able to breathe.

But that’s the difference.

Kendra would never betray me like that.

She’d never betray me at all.

I tip my cheek against the top of Kendra’s head. “I had money, even back then, so I told her I was keeping Ashley full time. We could keep it labeled as joint custody in the courts. I’d pay her child support. But Ashley would never live under her roof again.”

“She agreed?” Kendra sounds so full of rage it makes me smile.

I turn my neck and kiss her forehead. “She agreed. Because she knew if she fought me, I’d spend every dollar I had ruining her. And if I did that, she’d never get a dime.”