Page 246 of Second Sets Omnibus

“On his hands and knees, begging me to forgive him for being the biggest dummy in history.” She sniffles a little, folding her hands on her lap. “He just needed to sow his wild oats one last time before settling down. The week he came back, well… Leon came nine months later. It wasn’t as blissful as a marriage like Hallmark would lead you to believe, but we managed. We loved hard. Played hard. Life is full of ups and downs, betrayals, and misfortune. But as long as you keep getting back on your feet and showing that woman how much you care. Then you’re on the right path, Asher Montgomery.”

I swallow my tears. “Thank you,” I murmur as the quiet envelops us again. The only sounds are nature, and the girls getting louder and louder with their conversation through the open window.

My heart beats double time when River’s voice floats through the air again, confiding in Ode about her concerns about the future, but the one line filled with so much despair has my breaths coming in short pants and sweat breaking across my skin.

“They could leave us again. They are in a band. What happens when they go on tours? They’ll leave for months at a time. What about Ly? How the hell is this all going to work out into a happy ending, Ode?”

“So, now you know what you have to do,” Korrine says cryptically, staring at the leaves ruffling in the wind. “Make it happen, or all your pain and suffering will be for nothing. You’ll lose her again, before you have a chance to keep her.” With that,she gets up from her rocking chair on unsteady legs and enters the house, leaving me to stew in my thoughts.

Yeah. I know exactly what I need to do so River never has to worry about if we’re leaving or staying.

I’ll make the ultimate sacrifice for her and Lyric. And hopefully, the others will, too.

I’m never drinking fuckingtequila in the middle of the day. Ever again. Even if Ode convinces me, it’s a good idea. It’s not. Or maybe it was.

Talking to Ode is like walking through the front door of my house. She’s warm and inviting and always knows the right thing to say. I’m still surprised she gave me the green light to follow my weary heart into the ultimate make-or-break situation.

I’m so tired of fighting with myself. With the thoughts rumbling in the back of my mind, screaming at me to fall into their familiar arms. They’re my home, too. For some strange, out-of-this-world reason, my heart aches for them.

I take a deep breath, grounding myself in the present. Forgiveness is my new state of mind. The mantra I’m going to live and die by when I sit the boys down tonight and tell them all is forgiven in my eyes. Peace washes through me, relaxing every muscle in my body. Just at the simple thought of no longer holding the hostility inside my warring mind.

My burning anger sizzles into ashes. And it’s gone…

Korrine and Ode lean against the white railing of the wrap-around porch. Asher, bless his heart, stands beneath them on the ground with his back to me. The women nod a few times as he shoves his hands into his pockets. His shoulders deflate.

I yearn to see the expression on his face.Look at me, damnit.What is going through your head? I’m so desperate to hear what they’re discussing.

“Auntie Ode doesn’t like Daddy,” Lyric says with a little yawn in the back seat, staring in their direction.

Yeah, because your daddy did some fucked up things in the past. But the past is the past. My forgiveness shouts, reminding me.

“She has her grown-up reasons for it,” I say, leaning my head against the cool glass window, letting it soak into my drunk-ass brain.

There’s no way I’m getting into this discussion with a four-year-old who repeats everything word for word. If she found out what her daddy did all those years ago, she’d hate him forever. Or be so hurt she wouldn’t know how to act. Ly takes everything to heart, and I can’t break hers because of him.

To Lyric, her fathers are the saints on her walls. The music in her speakers. And the blood running through her veins. If I wanted to spoil their image, I would have done it years ago.

Sure, Asher manipulated the situation and fucked us all over, but he’s grown up. He’s making up for what he did. Owning up to his faults. He’s trying to make this right every day. I see it. The guys see it.

“Sorry,” Asher says, climbing into the driver’s seat out of breath, wearily staring at the two women standing on the porch. “I was discussing a few things with Korrine.”

Nothing says suspicious like avoiding eye contact. Even when he starts the car and slowly backs out of their little driveway, he avoids me at all costs.

Ode grins on the steps, shaking her head almost in disbelief. Something odd sparkles in her eyes. Even from here, I can see it. I know when my best friend has something up her sleeve. What the hell is going through her head? She grins more, waving as we ease away down the long lane leading toward the main road.

“What was that about?” Please! Give me something. I need to know what you all discussed, or it will drive me nuts.

Asher shrugs at my question, still not bothering to look in my direction. I narrow my eyes on his guilty behavior. He’s suspect as fuck, and I can’t put my finger on what he’s up to. Maybe it’s the tequila taking over my brain, but I kinda want to torture the information out of him.

“It was nothing,” he says, giving me a tight smile. “I was just…getting some advice. That’s all.”

Yeah, because that’s not suspicious one-bit, Evil Ash. You can keep your secrets. Best believe, I’ll find out soon enough. Ode tells me everything. At least, I think she does. My eyes narrow when I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text, earning only a devil emoji in return.

Traitor.

And I tell her so.

“Right. Advice…” I trail off as we head down the main road toward Central City again. “What exactly did they say to you?”