Page 16 of Against The Tide

CHAPTER 6

AVERY

Iris looks up at me from the blanket fort. She has that same frightened frown on her face that she had when she found me and Carl. The last forty-eight hours have been hard enough without me talking to her about what she might have seen. Every time I’ve sat down with her and found a moment to bring it up, she’s looked at me with that sad, scared gaze that makes my stomach turn.

“You really should let Rhett take a look.” Callie nods down at my side as I grasp the back of the dining chair I’m using to hold myself up.

The pain hasn’t subsided even with the aging bruising, and I’ve stopped taking the painkillers regularly like Rhett instructed. They make my head fuzzy, and it panics me to be so hazy when there’s so much happening.

“I’m fine,” I tell her, taking the salad platter she’s got in her hand. I put it down as an excuse to look away from her prying gaze.

Now that the shock of it all is dying down, I don’t have a buffer to keep her from digging deeper. Maybe I should’ve gone back to DC like Mike suggested when we spoke last night. Long before he and Dad were partners, they were friends. He’s like an uncle to me, and he’s right, I could’ve gone back to my parents’ home. Locked myself and Iris away from the world until I figured out a way of moving forward. However, as Callie pointed out, I’m certain Carl would’ve found a way of getting to us.

The thought of him finding out where we are terrifies me because as much as he hurt me the other night and others before, he was still holding back. It’s obvious in every recollection I have of that night, because he could’ve caused more damage. And that is the one thought that keeps me from going back to DC.

“You’ve got the look, Avery.”

“You keep saying that, and I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m just…I’m trying to figure out what to do. How to do it. What our life is going to be like. I’m trying to understand why all this is happening now.”

“Sounds familiar.” Callie pauses, focusing on the girls as they disappear back into the fort that Rowan helped them pitch up in the open-plan family room. “I’ve been there. I’ve been right where you are, wondering why shit happened the way it did. Why my dad was gone…”

“This isn’t about my dad. I know why he’s gone.” My heart clenches so tight that it sends a jolt of unbearable pain to the pit of my stomach.

I can’t cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of Iris. Not ever.

“But it is, because you’re still hurting, and you’re having to get used to missing him. To add to that, you’re trying to protect her from the truth.”

“I think I know what the truth is, but I don’t want to believe it.” I follow her lead, sinking into one of the dining chairs. “I don’t want to believe that this is my life right now. It wasn’t perfect before, but it wasn’t this fucked-up. I swear to God, Callie, I had no idea what was going on.” Grabbing my glass of water, I drink what’s left of it. “I only figured out he was…” I take a deep breath, swallowing the sudden dryness of my mouth. “I only figured out Carl was…or is? What is it? We’re still married, so I suppose he’s still cheating on me.”

“Ding, ding, ding, douche face has managed to hit a whole new asshole high.” Callie rolls her eyes with a growl, focusing on me. “You can’t hide from the storm, Avery. You have to ride it out and make it your bitch.”

Rowan walks in from the yard with Caleb following behind him. He’s still listening to his son talk about some problem he’s having with the level he’s playing, and he doesn’t care how trivial it all is. He’s still smiling, still cracking jokes and listening.

“Case in point.” Callie nods his way.

“What are you smiling about, princess?” Rowan asks, pausing in front of her, before he tells Caleb, “Hands. Wash. Now. Use soap.”

“See?”

“See what?” He looks between the two of us.

“I was just telling Avery that she needs to ride the storm.” She grins up at him, her finger raking down his torso to the top of his shorts. “You know…make it her bit⁠—”

“Ah-ah-ah…save the riding for later.” He winks at her, mirroring her grin.

For the slightest tick of a second, I’m jealous of the way he looks at her. No one has ever looked at me like that. As though their world revolves around me…for me…maybe because of me.

Both of their phones ring at the same time.

“Right on time,” Callie chimes almost too happily at the notification that’s popped up.

Rowan laughs, shaking his head as he sits at the head of the table at the exact moment his brother and an older woman walk into the room. My heart races the minute Rhett greets me with a smile. Similar and yet so different to Rowan, his hair is a darker shade of blond, and up close, his eyes are a bluer shade of green. Like a tropical ocean.

With his shirtsleeves rolled up his forearms, he’s so obviously more clean-cut than Rowan. No tattoos. His shirt and slacks don’t have a single crease, and his hair is all deliberately mussed whereas Rowan is tattooed, shaggy-haired, and has the surfer dude vibe down pat with a side of “don’t fuck with me.”

“Hey, old hag.” Rowan wraps his arm around the woman’s shoulder, and she hits him with her walking stick hard enough that he grimaces a curse.

“Who you calling old bag, asshole?” she spits at him with a side glance before holding out her hand to me. “Jo.”