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Whenever anyone paid Gigi a compliment or asked after her and the kids, Helen would rage for weeks after. I got to the point that I no longer cared and would shut her out whenever I could. As for her daughter, she was just a kid, and it was no fault of hers that the adults in her life had fucked up, so I never took anything out on her, though when her jealousy of my daughter got out of hand, I would step in.
I have no love for the girl, but I always knew that her actions were usually her mother’s doing, and since I had played a part in destroying her family, I felt obligated to do the best I could for her. I didn’t realize, though, until my daughter busted into my house and beat my ass with a bat that things had gone too far.
Once again, I had been selfish. I was so wrapped up in Gigi and getting us back to the way things were that I had dropped the ball when it came to my kids. In all fairness, by the time she was thirteen or thereabouts, Alyssa had become a very self-sufficient little miss who no longer needed her Daddy. Something that broke my heart, but I had to accept it as par for the course.
I had no idea that she was still harboring so much anger. In my mind, I knew that things were coming to a head soon, and Gigi and I would tell the kids the truth once Alyssa was finally married; then Denny had gone and screwed up.
We were thinking of how to handle this new development and maybe putting off the big reveal until later, when Garrett showed up on the scene. Now, I don’t know what the hell to think about anything. Anyway, Gigi says we should still go ahead and tell them this evening after the boat ride, so we’ll see what happens there.
As for Helen and the video we just watched before Gigi went to take a bath and I called down for room service, I guess she was finally losing her mind. I’m still amazed that she hasn’t called me every hour on the hour, though, but I guess I’ll hear all about it when I get back. I’ll only be there long enough to pick up some things since I’ve been moving my stuff to my old family home for the last few months without her noticing. There were just some things I needed from the garage, but everything else of importance was long gone.
GARRETT
“What are you up to, Alyssa?” She’s such a live wire that I don’t know what to expect from one second to the next. It was an hour before her family was due to arrive; we’d just finished breakfast and came back to our room to get dressed for the day when she jumped me.
I was walking past the bed where she was sitting, staring into space, when she made a running jump, and I barely caught her before she fell on her ass. Now, she was looking at me like a live specimen in a petri dish. I wasn’t sure if to grin or run for cover.
I wonder if she knows she talks to herself? Which is what she was doing before she attacked. “Let’s have a quickie before they get here.”
“No!” I tapped her hip and moved to put her down.
“What?” Oh hell!
“Only because you’re still too sore.” I rushed to add because she looked like she was ready to throw down.
“I am not!”
“The answer is still no. Maybe later, when you’ve had more time to heal.” I wasn’t sure what the squinty-eyed look she gave me meant, but it couldn’t be anything good.
I was saved by my phone going off, and she released me after mumbling something under her breath, but I wasn’t sure I was in the clear. One of the people I had at the resort was on the line with an update I was not expecting.
I hung up the phone, not sure I should share the latest news, but since I was about to start my marriage off on the wrong foot and she’d probably kill me if she found out I knew and didn’t tell her, there was only one thing to do.
“Baby, come here.” She gave me one of her looks and then ignored me.
“No. If you’re not going to give me what I want, get bent.” This fucking girl. I rushed her and took her down to the mattress.
She was laughing too hard to breathe, so I had to help her. “Breathe in. Hold it. Now out.” She still had the giggles, but it wasn’t too bad.
“Hey, you said no; why are you hard?” No filter.
“That’s natural. It doesn’t mean I’m going to pounce on you, knowing that you’ll hurt.”
I brushed the hair back from her face, and my heart jumped in my chest. I think it’s going to take a long time before I stop getting this knee-jerk reaction to having her in my life. It doesn’t seem possible that someone you barely knew could mean this much.
“What did you want to tell me?”
“Your parents shared a room last night.” She didn’t say anything for the longest while, and then she pushed me off of her and jumped to her feet.
“Dammit, I didn’t get any pictures.”
What the hell? “What? Why would you want pictures of your parents sleeping together?”
“Eww, gross, what is wrong with you? I meant I wanted pictures of them to send to Helen. Drats!” She smacked her leg and went back to getting dressed. Is she ever going to react the way I expect her to? Ever?
“I thought you would be upset.”
“Why do you think I canceled Helen’s ticket? I’ve been trying to get those two back together since I was eight. Do the boys know?”
