Page 18 of Unearthed Dreams

“Okay. And you’ll call if anything changes?”

“Sure will. You have a good rest of your day now.”

“Thanks, you too.”

When I ended the call, I looked up to find Charlie’s brow furrowed with worry, her arms wrapped around herself. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Billy just got into a little trouble, is all.”

At that, Charlie smiled. “Sounds about right,” she said, but then her smile dropped and that brow furrowed again.

“What?”

“How do you know Billy? I don’t think I’ve heard.”

“Yeah, I’ve kept that gossip locked down tight.”

Charlie’s expressive eyes gave every thought and feeling away. They flashed, like she knew there was a story there, but then settled her expression into a mask of indifference.

“Oh, no problem.” She flapped a hand in the air. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have?—”

“Charlie, it’s fine. He’s my father-in-law.”

The widening of her eyes this time came with a look of horror. “Oh my god, you’re married?! But you—you almost just—” She backed away further, eyes darting around the room as if she was looking for an exit.

I approached her the way one would a startled animal—hands raised, voice quiet. “Shh, take a breath, pretty girl?—”

Her eyes, a dark shade of blue, flashed with anger. “Don’t youpretty girlme! You’re married!”

I crossed my arms over my chest while this tiny woman yelled at me. My next words came out harsh—harsher thanI’d meant them to, but she wasn’t hearing me. “My wife is dead.”

Damn, this poor girl was running the gauntlet of emotions. Next up was shock, followed quickly by pity.

“Oh, Kai. I’m so sorry.”

I offered her a sad smile, but in truth, the grief had faded. It’d been replaced by a whole helluva a lot of resentment. Maybe that made me an asshole, but after the hell she put me through near the end, fuck, a part of me hated her for it.

“I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us.”

Charlie placed a gentle hand on my bare forearm. The barely-there touch lit up my entire system, out-of-use nerve endings waking up and sending goosebumps across my skin.

“Of course. Can I ask when it happened?”

“Little over two years ago.”

Her fingers lingered, along with her touch, her eyes glossy now. “Oh, wow. I didn’t even know Billy had a daughter.”

Not many did. Kelsey had been the product of a one-night stand on one of Billy’s trips down to Grand Rapids to gamble. He didn’t even know she existed. So after Kelsey’s mom died of an overdose when she was thirteen, they placed her in foster care, and she wound up across the hall from me. It wasn’t until we were out of the system and old enough to investigate our roots ourselves that me and Kels made our way to Sable Point to meet her father.

“They weren’t close.”

“Yet here you are, taking care of him and running his bar.”

“Here I am.”

Her eyes met mine and held.

This was getting too deep, too quick. Part of me wanted tospill all my dirt to this sweet, innocent girl, but I wouldn’t corrupt her with the sins of my past.