Page 40 of Dancing With Guilt

“No, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve the absolute fuck-me-over-fest my life has been, but I’m done with it. I’m done letting you treat me like shit because I tried to protect our daughter, and I’m done being treated like dirt by men. Just go, Lincoln. I don’t want to look at you right now. And to think, I thought you were better than the other men I’ve known in my life.” She looked at him, not bothering to hide her disgust, jerked her arm from his grip, and walked away.

“Roxie, please, let me explain,” he called out, but all she could hear was her begging him to let her do the same thing.

Well, Lincoln Young was about to get the same exact treatment he’d given her. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, or what exactly it was she was going to do, but she knew one thing - She would do whatever it took to pay him back for exactly what he’d done to her.

Roxie went out to the hall, grabbed her bag, and left the house. It was Lincoln’s house. She didn’t want to be there anymore. Let him have it. She’d pick Lily up from school when it was done and somehow they’d make do in her old apartment. Thankfully she hadn’t signed any of the custody papers. Lincoln would have to take her to court for that.

Of course, this meant someone would have to pack up all their stuff and bring it over to her place, but she’d ask Aunt Katie if she’d mind doing that. Her phone started going off about the time she reached her apartment door and opened it.

“Fuck you, Lincoln,” she muttered and turned the phone off for now. Later, she’d turn it back on and let Lily know there’d been a change in plans.

Who knew, Aunt Katie might decide it was better to take Lily back to New York after all of this. Roxie didn’t really want that, especially now that Lily had been enrolled in school down here and had her heart set on meeting new people. Okay, on getting to know her father, Roxie had to admit to herself as she sat down on the couch Wendy had replaced when the old one was shredded by Nathan.

Fuck, this was one huge mess, and she had no idea how to fix any of it. Maybe for now, it was best to let Lily stay at Lincoln’s until she could find a bigger place that she could afford. And then what? Go back to spending her nights dancing while her child slept at home with no mother there, only Aunt Katie? Could she really do that to Lily?

The tears that Roxie had thought were all dried up sprang back into her eyes as she remembered she’d promised Lily she would be at the house when she came home from school. None of this was fair to Lily, and it was all because her parents had made some very stupid decisions one night a long time ago, when very bad people had destroyed Roxie’s life.

She couldn’t make Lily pay for those mistakes, but she didn’t want to lose her daughter either. So just what the fuck was she supposed to do now?

19

Lincoln

Lincoln jumped when his phone buzzed in his hand. He’d been calling and texting Roxie, but there’d been no answer. He was worried about her and lost in the things she’d said to him, so the gentle buzz surprised him.

A frown formed between his eyes when he saw it was one of his security people stationed outside. He answered the call, not wanting to be bothered but they wouldn’t call unless there was a reason. “What’s up?”

“Um, Mr. Young, there’s a woman here who says she’s your mother. Shall I let her through?”

Oh, fucking hell, just what he needed. His mother here to berate him and tell him what a stupid boy he’d been. Fucking great.

“Let her in. It’s fine.” Lincoln hung up with a heavy sigh, his hands over his eyes. As if this mess wasn’t bad enough, now his mother was here. That was the last thing he needed.

He heard a car pull up and walked to the door to open it.

“Hello, mother,” he said simply as she stepped into the house, a yellow wide-brimmed hat that matched the tailored dress she wore smacking him in the face.

“Hello, Lincoln. I hear there’s been some trouble,” she said as she turned to face him while he closed the door. Her brown eyes were hidden by very dark sunglasses, but her lips were pursed in question.

“A little yes. Come in. Would you like something to drink?” He asked, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, the jacket and vest long-since discarded.

“Just coffee, please, son.” Ms. Young walked into the house behind him, judging everything if he knew her at all.

Lincoln produced the coffee in silence, added everything to a tray, and took it to the kitchen table where she’d settled. He saw she was glancing over the papers that Roxie had left behind, the sunglasses gone, her hard eyes now on him. “What’s all this?”

“Part of the trouble.” Lincoln took his own cup of coffee and sat down at the table. There wasn’t much use in lying to her, she’d figure it all out eventually anyway.

“Who is this Roxie woman June told me about,” Ms. Young asked, pushing the papers away, obviously not worth her time so she dismissed them.

“Roxie is Chloe, mother. Chloe Abshire.” Lincoln nodded at the papers but kept his eyes on his mother.

“Chloe Abshire, is she that girl you had a crush on in high school?” His mother tapped at her chin, lost in thought before she brought her eyes back to her son. “The one that disappeared?”

“No, I didn’t have a crush on her in high school, but yes, she’s the one that disappeared,” Lincoln responded, trying not to get impatient. His mother had her ways, most of them annoying.

“Oh, I could tell you were in love with her, Lincoln. A mother knows.” She smiled at him, that grin of knowing that infuriated him sometimes. At other times, it just left him amazed. “You didn’t have a steady girlfriend all through school, and the girls were around you like flies with your pretty face and swimmer’s body.”

Lincoln felt himself flush as his mother talked about his body, something he wasn’t exactly comfortable with. “I didn’t have time for a girlfriend, mother.”