Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“No, Dev. I’m not bad news.”
She stopped walking and began crying. “He’s mawipulating my daughter.” Her words slurred. “Asking about me. Pretending to care so he can tell me what do to. And she tells him because she loves him. He knows this and uses her.”
Hayden pulled her into his arms. “She’s a child. Maren didn’t do it to hurt you. She loves you, Devy, and doesn’t understand what’s going on. All she knows is her life got uprooted one day. If it’s a lot for an adult to process, imagine being nine.” Hayden expected that Chad had prodded the information out of Maren.
“I have to stop him from hurting her.”
Hayden couldn’t agree more.
“Come on, let’s get you back to Crow’s.” He put his arm around her to keep her upright. After another block, she slumped against him. Hayden lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way. It was a good thing he’d been slinging tools lately and had built up his strength.
When they arrived at Crow’s, he was standing on the porch waiting for them. “The light’s on upstairs. Take her on up.”
Hayden expected to find Maren waiting, but her door was closed, as was the shared door to the bathroom. Honestly, he didn’t know if he’d say anything to her. As it was, he was pretty hurt by what Devorah had told him.
He laid her down on her bed, slipped her shoes off, and pulled the blanket over her. Before he left, he brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “Please don’t leave,” he whispered to her.
Downstairs, he found Crow outside, rocking in the chair.
“That husband of hers said some things on the phone, which put her in a precarious position with Maren. She wants to blame her, when it’s Chad’s fault. He’s a piece of work and is intent on destroying what spirit she has left or has built up since she returned to OB.”
“He’s gaslighting her and using Maren to further his agenda.”
Crow nodded. “I spoke with Maren after Devorah left. Stressed the importance of keeping her conversations with her dad about herself. She’s old enough to stand up to her father. I wish there was something I could do.”
“I think . . . ,” Hayden started and then paused. “I think we have to be on her side. That’s all she needs right now. To know she has people who support her. We can’t even pretend to know how she feels. Her world is upside down. People talk about her constantly. The woman she thought was her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way. Devy needs the people around her to stick up for her.”
Crow glanced at Hayden. “I’ll do better,” he said gruffly. “I want to do better for her.”
“That’s all she wants, and from what I’ve seen, you already have,” he said as he headed down the stairs.
“Hayden?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Since the kids have a baseball game tomorrow, what do you say me, you, Conor, and the old man go fishing after?”
“We’d love to. See you in a few hours, Crow.”
The next morning, Hayden and Conor showed up at the ballpark with a giant thermos of coffee, just for Devy. Hayden figured she would need it once the noise level increased. When he came to where she sat, she looked up at him, with dark sunglasses on. He set his chair next to her and sat with a sigh. Cordelia, not to be forgotten, stood and rested her head on Hayden’s leg until he’d given her enough attention.
“I’m sorry,” she said right off. “Chalk it up to another embarrassing moment in Devorah Campbell’s life.”
“Crowley,” he said.
“What?”
Hayden shrugged. “I don’t know. I think you should use Crowley. It sounds better.”
A small smile appeared, but not for long. “Theo asked me if I wanted to change my name back, and I said I didn’t know. Mostly because of Maren. I guess it doesn’t matter, if we go back to Chicago.”
His heart twisted again.
He could tell her how he felt. How he wanted to date her and really get to know her. That he loved spending time with her and Maren. Conor did as well. Or he could sit back and let her make what he felt would be the worst decision of her life.
Nope.
He reached for her hand. Not giving a shit what others thought. If Devorah didn’t want to hold his hand, she’d let him know.
She squeezed his hand and smiled.
“Giving in to what Chad wants isn’t how you should live your life, Dev. You have a good thing going here. You and Laila are friends again. Your dad is cooking dinners. All you’ve ever wanted from him is an effort, and he’s giving you that. Do you want to leave him?”
“Not really.”
“So tell Chad no. You don’t need to move to make things easier for him. It should be the other way around.”