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"Saw what?" I snap when his words drop off.
"I wanted it to be a surprise. Adalynn insisted it was a surprise."
"You know what?" I growl. "Go get the damn battery and put it in there. Make sure you tell the whole town what a horrible mother I am."
I swallow down my disgrace, but even now I can't manage to hold my head up.
There's a certain kind of pain that comes along with realizing the battles you've fought have been the wrong ones. That you've wasted so much time on pride that maybe if you'd just swallowed it a long time ago, things might already be better.
"Claire," Walker says, walking toward me. "That was never anyone's intention. We're just—"
"Trying to help," I interrupt. "I get it. You get the battery. I'll grab the money to pay for it."
I step back inside, needing a little time to get myself put back together, but I know what will happen. Every time I shatter, I lose another piece of myself. One can break only so many times before the pieces no longer fit together. I feel like I'm so close to that point already.
It's fifteen minutes of deep breaths in my bathroom before I step back outside. I expected everyone to be gone, but Cash and Adalynn have joined the party.
"Claire, I—"
"Who bought the battery?" I ask before she can once again apologize.
No one speaks up, but I know it had to be her.
I wave the cash I grabbed from my purse on my way back here in front of me.
Walker holds his hands up when I try to hand him the money.
"Take it," I insist.
"I didn't buy it."
I turn to Adalynn, holding out the money to her. "If you could stay out of my life that would be great."
She looks like she's on the verge of tears when Cash reaches out and takes the cash for her.
She swallows as she nods. Cash and Chandler follow her through the side gate of my little yard.
"Make sure you call Maggie to cover my shift," I tell Walker when he starts to walk away.
He turns back to face me, and I swear I see a side of him I've never seen before, but I'm too disappointed in nearly every aspect of my life to question it.
"You don't plan on coming to work?"
I glare at the man. First, he comes here and causes this mess, and then he expects me to quit my job too. I could never face him after tonight.
"I still have a job?"
He huffs, shaking his head.
"I'm not firing you."
"I almost had you arrested."
“But you didn't," he argues. "I'll see you in half an hour."
He doesn't give me a chance to argue before he disappears around the side of the house.
Chapter 9
