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“Call the cops. Her ex is here.”
The line goes dead immediately. He doesn’t waste a second asking questions he knows I don’t have the answers to.
The SUV jerks to a stop, and it’s still rocking back and forth when I shove open the driver’s side door and climb out.
I do my best to remain casual as I walk up. He’s not holding a weapon and the look on Sunshine’s face reads more irritation and frustration than fear.
“The cops are on their way,” I say, a warning to him, and an assurance for her.
Travis keeps his eyes on Sunshine, and I don’t miss the sway in his body as he fights the alcohol in his system to keep standing.
I move to stand beside Sunshine, and although his jaw flexes, he doesn’t spew hateful shit in her direction. If anything, he looks devastated. This is the moment I’ve worried about, the realization that he lost the best fucking thing that had ever happened to him because he couldn’t value her the way she deserved. I almost feel sorry for him. I couldn’t imagine losing her.
“Sunshine, please,” he whispers, his hands out, palms up. “I’m going to get sober. If I have to go to jail to prove to you I’m sorry, I will.”
She doesn’t say anything, and I get the distinct impression that I’m witnessing her the same way she’s been where he’s concerned for a long time. We don’t let talk of Travis ruin our time together. Ryder is always present, and I’d never trash talk the kid’s father in front of him. I do my best not to let my opinions slip even when I’m alone with her. She sees the time spent with the man as a weakness because it took her so long to leave, and I’m not willing to contribute to that in any way.
“I want my family back.” The desperation in his voice sounds genuine, and I don’t doubt the man realizes he made a mistake.
“You need to get sober so you can be the best father you can be for Ryder,” she says, not giving any attention to his request for her to be part of the equation.
The sharp wail of sirens circles around us, and the second Travis hears the crunch of gravel behind him, he drops to his knees. Tears roll down his cheeks as he intertwines his fingers and puts them behind his head.
“Tell him I love him,” he begs, and fuck if I don’t believe the man.
The real truth of it will come out when he decides whether the work and effort required to get back to something resembling a healthy relationship with Ryder is worth it.
“I will,” she promises as the police officer walks up with a pair of handcuffs out.
Travis doesn’t fight or argue, and despite the cop telling him he has a warrant for his arrest, the cop doesn’t press him into the gravel and treat him like he’s been on America’s Most Wanted for decades.
I turn and pull her to my chest when they escort him away.
She sobs against me, her body shaking.
“He was never violent,” she says into my neck.
“But you don’t trust him enough to think it isn’t possible.”
My mom didn’t hit me until she did, either.
“He’d yell. He’d get frustrated easily. I’m so glad you’re here.”
She clings to me tighter, her fingers gripping my t-shirt.
I keep my eyes open, watching Travis watch me hold her from the back of the cop car as it turns to drive away. He nods at me in a defeated way, in a way that makes me believe he knows he won’t get this from her again. If he still works hard for Ryder, then that will prove the type of man he is. If he treats him like a package deal and he’s an all or nothing kind of guy, then so be it. I don’t have to be Ryder’s biological father to love him as fiercely as he deserves. I learned that myself from experience starting from the very first day I stepped into the Porters’ home.
And even if by some twist of fucked-up fate leaves me without Sunshine, my love for that boy will never falter.
“Do you believe him?” I ask because I have to know where she stands.
“I want to,” she says, pulling back and wiping tears from her eyes. “But he’s tried before. He’s heard a song or caught some talk show where someone turned their life around. He wanted it so many times, but then he’d stumble. He always saw it as failure. The attempts were fewer and farther between and the fall was harder each time.”
“Sometimes the demons are impossible to escape from.”
She nods, understanding what I’m saying. Being hopeful is much different from fully believing.
“Is there a chance—”
“No,” she answers before I can formulate the full sentence. “Even if you weren’t the man I wanted, Travis and I are over. We were long before I left, and long before I met you.”
