Page 42 of Derecho

“Jasmine, honey. I told you to wait in the car.”

My stomach dropped as I looked at the woman and child he gently wrapped his arm around. A gold band resting on his ring finger caught my attention. She had on a wedding set, too. And the little boy in her arms…looked like a carbon copy of Greg.

The edges of my vision went blurry, and I grabbed onto the shelf next to me for support. His eyes were still locked on my face, the subtle warning in the sharpness of his features locking my jaw shut.

Now it all made sense. Why he’d changed as soon as the pregnancy happened. Why he didn’t want to get married. Why he never brought me around his family. All those unfulfilled promises that I was too stupid to see as red flags. He’d made it seem like I was the problem for so long. That I never felt good enough to do things together, that I wanted a nice life while he had to work far away and for such long hours. Crashing at his parents’ place…I swallowed down the sudden urge to vomit, pressing my hand to my stomach as I willed my body to snap out of whatever pitiful state it’d fallen into.

“Sorry, Joseph woke up, and then I just got too excited. Wanted to see what painter’s tape they had in here, and if there were any seasonal decorations we could pick up. You know, like little flags or a wreath or something. I feel like it will help make the house more homey, for the realtor photos…I’m so sorry. I’m rambling. Do you two know each other?”

They’d named their son after Greg’s dad. And now, here I was, just standing here like a fool. I couldn’t make my voice work. Everything about this moment felt like it was happening in slow motion. I was so stupid. Deep down, I’d stayed because I thought there was something there…some sort of desperate love that bonded us together. I listened and held hope for all those times he promised to be better. I let him convince me that the way he treated me was normal, that it was what I deserved. Because I thought he loved me.

But the woman standing in front of me—with her arm wrapped around his back and their son—was proof that I’d never been loved by him. Not for one single second of our time together.

“I’m Jasmine. How do you two know each other?” she asked me directly this time. But still, I couldn’t make my voice work. How could I have been so stupid?

“Lainey and I went to high school together. We were just catching up.”

“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you!” Christ, what the hell was happening here? Jasmine extended her hand out to me, but I just stood frozen, watching as she slowly placed her hand back low on her rounded abdomen.

They had a child together, and she was pregnant, too.

His wife, who he already had a baby with, was pregnant.

I was the other fucking woman.

“We’re just here for the day to see about cleaning out Greg’s rental property. The woman who lived there before, well, I guess she wasn’t the tidiest person. We have lots of repairs to do, which is crazy with how much he had to travel up here to take care of things for her. But it will be a nice nest egg once we get it sold.”

“You’re selling the house?”

“Oh, do you know it? You’re not in the market, are you?” Jasmine laughed, like the idea of me buying the house where I thought I would raise my family with a man I once loved could be kismet for her and her husband.

My eyes never left the lying bastard's face. “That’s just perfect.” Oh, my voice was definitely back. “Wild that you’d tell her about high school and classify us as just friends.”

“Lainey, you remember that project we had due together in biology?” Greg’s face was all pleasantries on the surface, but I saw the anger simmering beneath. “How you took control and I let you?”

God, this idiot thought a thinly veiled analogy was about to save him from my wrath. “I remember. And you were right to just walk away from that project. Forever. I took care of it, and we were all better off for it, weren’t we?”

Two could play this stupid game.

“Yeah, we were,” he agreed.

“Good. If you’ll excuse me, I’m not feeling well.” I turned, heading to the end of the aisle to try and find Birdie. “Oh,” I said as I turned back around, “if I remember correctly, Greg always had a temper. Be careful, Jasmine. It took me far too long to realize I didn’t want to raise my child in an environment like that. You shouldn’t want to, either.”

Jasmine’s eyes went wide as she took a step away from Greg. I heard her hiss, “What the hell is she talking about?” as I turned the corner to try and find my sister.

Lachlan

“You cannot be serious? Lainey Calloway? The girl who made my life miserable for years? She had the whole school spreading rumors about me and the goats my entire junior year, Lach! I cried for months over how someone who was once my friend could flip one day and ice me out. Not just from our friendship, but from everyone I thought was my friend at school. And if that wasn’t enough, if what she did to me ten years ago just doesn’t matter, think about Birdie! Lainey has treated her sister, someone we both love, like hell. This is the same person you’re letting live with you?!”

Yeah, so…Jess had shown up while Birdie and Lainey were in town. I was pretty sure I had Beau to thank for that. That asshole was chuckling as he kept his eyes locked on his daughter.

“Jess, relax, would you? Jesus. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she was being a bitch to you because everything in her life was shit, and she was lashing out?”

My sister crossed her arms, threw out her hip, and glared at me. “No. And even if I had, I didn’t deserve that.”

“I’m not saying that you did. Fuck, it’s not my story to tell. It took her showing up on my porch in the middle of that storm the other night for her to tell me what I have a feeling is just the tip of the iceberg for things she’s been through in her life. But you know what her biggest concern was while I was trying to get her to agree to stay? How you would feel about it.”

“She’s taking advantage of you. I should have told Birdie to not meddle like this.”