Page 38 of The Loves We Lost

Missed this.

Missed the two of us.

He places a kiss on the top of my head. “Our daughter is beautiful, Vi. At least something good came out of us.”

This serves to make me cry harder. Maybe it’s grief that we weren’t together, that he missed so much of her life.

“Hey, Vi, stop. I might be fucking pissed, but I don’t think my heart can take it if you keep crying like this.” Miles places his palms on either side of my cheeks and runs his thumbs beneath my eyes to catch my tears. “We’ll figure this out. I’m fucking furious, but I’m not going to leave you alone to face this. And no fucker is going to lay a hand on you. Might take a while to figure out what the hell is going on, but you aren’t on your own.”

A sob escapes me that’s more of a hiccup, as I catch my breath.

“Still fucking beautiful,” Miles mutters wistfully, then releases me. He disappears into the bathroom, and when he returns, he offers me some toilet paper to wipe my face.

I wipe beneath my eyes and blow my nose.

“You and Avery need to stay with me,” Miles says, “until we figure out what the fuck is going on.”

I look around the clubhouse. “I’m not sure I can deal with being cooped up like this. Especially after what happened last night.”

Miles takes the tissue from me and throws it onto the bedside table. “For now, it’s the safest place you can be.”

Unease ripples through me. “I’m not sure anywhere feels safe, right now. I wish I’d gotten Avery a passport. We could go on vacation. Not that I can afford it, but that’s what a credit cardis for, right?” I try to put a smile on my face so Miles doesn’t think I’m a total mess.

“About that. Who the fuck is Anthony?”

“What?” My eyes open wide. Nothing I just said mentioned Anthony. I’m not sure what Avery has been telling him. “Anthony is a police officer.”

“Is that all he is to you?” He touches theAon my necklace.

“The necklace is from my dad. He gave it to me the morning Avery was born. He bought my mom one the day I was born too. A letterV. It’s kind of a tradition.”

“That doesn’t answer what Anthony is to you.”

“He’s a man I went on the sum total of four dates with. Now he’s a friend.”

“Does he know he’s a friend?”

“Do you know it’s none of your business?”

We stare at each other in a standoff. I can see a twitch in the side of Miles’s jaw.

“Nothing has changed between us,” I say, because I can’t let it.

“Nothing?” Miles says, his tone exasperated. “We have a kid, Vi. Everything changes.”

“When this is under control, I’m going home.”

“Which is where exactly?”

I step away from Miles. His presence is overwhelming me, making me consider foolish things like selling my home. “I inherited my grandparents’ place in Falls Township when they died.”

“You’ve been living an hour away from me all this time?”

“I guess so. I didn’t know you moved to Asbury Park until I saw your cut at the book signing.”

Miles shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Everything changes,” he repeats. “I want to get to know my daughter. I want to take care of her, and if that means taking care of you to make ithappen, so be it.” His words are angry again. The way his mood changes is hard to track.

“I’m not an obligation to you. Avery is my daughter. She lives with me. I won’t have her splitting her time, travelling back and forth like a nomad, living out of a suitcase. She’s done just fine without you in her life so far.”