AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And the second I heard them, I remembered my mum crying over a pot of mashed potatoes shortly after we left my dad. We’d eaten potatoes cooked a dozen different ways in those first couple of months. Because they were cheap, and they were all she could afford.
I don’t know how to do this,she’d said.
She’d done it, of course. Because my mum was the strongest woman I’d ever met. And she’d done it because she had to.
My chest caved in, and I couldn’t stop it. It wasn’t even bricks tumbling out of place or a crack in the foundation.
Something, a guard or a wall or a barrier, just ... poof! Disappeared. I knew it would build itself back up again eventually, because it always did. But in that moment, I couldn’t feel anything holding me back from wanting to be whatever she needed me to be.
“I’ll help,” I heard myself say.
“What?” she whispered.
Fuck.Fuck. What had I done?
Panic had me talking fast, my voice hard and harsh.
“I’m terrible when kids cry, and I’ll be rubbish at it, and I guarantee you’ll regret ever putting me in charge of her.”
Hope filled Zoe’s eyes, and fucking hell, it tore my heart into a million pieces.
“Really?”
“I’m not joking—you’ll regret it. Probably tomorrow. I already do.”
She let out a shaky exhale, almost like a laugh. “You’ll help? Like, really, physically help?”
I shifted uncomfortably. “Can’t right now. I have to go meet with Coach and then run some drills with the rookies because they’re awful. But ... yeah, I’ll help.”
Zoe’s lips curved into a tentative smile. My chest cranked tight at the sight of it.
“Okay. Maybe ... call me later, and we’ll figure something out?”
Fuck. Ing. Hell.
What had I done?
There was no taking it back. Not when it had transformed her in an instant.
Even as rampant anxiety dug its icy claws into my stomach and yanked, I knew I wouldn’t take it back.
I managed a jerky nod and quickly strode to my vehicle. Zoe’s eyes burned into my back the entire way. In the background, there was no escaping the sound of my friends’ daughter, bawling her bloody eyes out over a stuffed frog.
You’ll take care of my family, won’t you?
“You better not show up in my dreams tonight, you asshole,” I said as I punched the ignition button. “I’ll never forgive you if you do.”
Chapter Eight
ZOE
For the first time since all this had started, I was mentally prepared to see Liam.
What anicechange of pace.
No ambush in the lawyer’s office, no burglary scare or swinging bat, and no early-morning surprise visit on my doorstep when I wasn’t wearing a bra.
This time, I was ready.
