Page 120 of Guarding Over You
“Both neighbors. Mine and yours.”
“You told them about us?” she asked.
He wasn’t sure what to make of the stunned expression on her face.
The twist in his gut had to be shoved in a closet.
“The more people who can keep an eye out the better. Mike and Cassidy were on vacation, which is why they didn’t answer yesterday. They got home today.”
“We know my neighbors on the other side saw nothing.”
“I talked to Stormy next to me. I told you they aren’t around much, but they said they’d keep an eye out too. How did it go with Gracie?”
Arden pulled a chair out and sat, he did the same. It was warm, but not so bad that he was sweating.
“Better than I thought. I didn’t go into it too deeply.”
“She won’t understand it.”
“No. She asked if it’s the same as Tina.”
His eyebrows rose. “Billy brought up Tina to her?”
“Yep. I hadn’t known that. He told her not to tell me.”
Arden clenched and unclenched her fists. He wasn’t so sure he was happy with that either. Him more with the fact that Billy asked his daughter to keep a secret.
“What did you say?”
“I couldn’t lie and I told her she didn’t have to keep this a secret. I wanted so badly to call and give him shit, but I told myself to dial it back. I’ve laid a lot on him lately.”
“With reason,” he argued. “And it’s not as if he’s offering much help or even sounding as if he cares.”
She sighed and pulled her phone out, unlocked it and pushed it to him. “He texted me earlier today. I thought I’d let you read it.”
The dread he’d been feeling since last night almost crushed him, preparing him for the blow.
He picked the phone up but didn’t see any threat of custody or anything to change the arrangement they had.
Instead, it was Billy asking Arden to meet Tina so that she would stop trying to put the blame on them. Her ex even apologized for not asking how she was doing and that he did care and should have said that also.
There was more about Billy trying to get his life back on track and every time one of these fights happened it pushed him into thoughts he didn’t want to have.
“Wow,” he said. “Do you believe him?”
“We talked before you came down. I wanted to hear his voice before I decided.”
Because the guy was probably playing on her emotions. “What did he say?”
“The last few weeks have pushed the urge in him to reach for things he’s telling himself are evil. Every time he’s gotten close, Tina talks him down.” Her eyes filled. “Blaze. I don’t love him anymore. Most days I can’t stand him. But that was him being raw. Not something he’s ever done. He’s never said those things. I heard it in his voice. He’s struggling and what I laid on him is pushing a boundary he put in his life.”
“Don’t you dare put this on your shoulders. You’re not responsible if he relapses. You’re not responsible for any of this.”
“I can tell myself these things all I want, but I don’t know,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I can’t control the feelings I’ve got right here.” Her fingers were curling into her stomach. “I can say the words all I want like I’ve been doing most of my life, but none of that means it doesn’t still hurt. That the guilt doesn’t build.”
He pulled her over to his lap. “I hear you. I hear everything. Maybe I’m feeling the same thing knowing that I could have brought this to you.”
“We don’t know any of that and maybe that is the hardest thing to accept.”
