Page 17 of Against The Tide

“Avery, this is Josie. She’s a friend. Helps keep these two mankids in line.” Callie introduces her to me before turning to Jo and telling her, “Avery is a friend from DC. She’s staying with us for a while with her little girl.”

“More babies.” Jo looks around the room, pausing when she finds Iris looking at her. “Hey there, sugar.”

When Iris doesn’t answer, she shakes Rowan’s arm off her shoulders with a pat to his face as she walks past him toward the fort. I don’t know what she says to Iris, but it makes her smile for the first time today.

“How’re you feeling?” Rhett asks, catching Scarlett when she runs at him. “Hey, scoundrel.”

“You wanna join us?” Scarlett nods at the blankets and sheets pitched up in the middle of the seating area. “We’re watching the Care Bears.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, it’s Iris’s favorite, and she’s sad, so maybe it will cheer her up soon.”

“Huh.” He nudges the tip of her nose with his. “Check you out being Little Miss Sunshine.”

“Call me Funshine.” She grins at him with narrowed eyes.

“Okay…”

Clearly, he has no idea that Funshine is the sunshine Care Bear, and it makes me chuckle that he’s trying to work it out as though it’s some important fact she’s shared with him.

“Is that a new thing?” Rhett asks Rowan when Scarlett crawls back into the den. “Call sign…code name, whatever it is you call it.”

“Nope, she’s still a demon.”

“That’s not sunshine or funshine, that’s contained hellfire dying to explode.” Callie hands him a beer from the fridge, pulling out the chair next to Rowan for Jo to sit. “Caleb! Scout! Kids…dinner!” she yells, dropping into her seat, leaving Rhett to sit beside me with Iris on my other side.

She doesn’t eat much, not that I expected her to when I’m struggling myself. The entire time we’re at the table, I’m wondering how exactly I’m meant to make anything “my bitch” when I can barely move without bursting into tears or vomiting my guts out.

How the hell am I going to fix any of this?

Trying to understand how I completely missed what was going on with Carl only makes me feel like more of a fool. He was never the easy and soft kind of husband or father that I dreamed about. But to be in politics, you need a thick skin and you need a level of hardness. I thought that was it; his personality was a byproduct of the world we lived in. As it turns out, I was an idiot.

My rose-tinted glasses are gone now, and all the times he pulled me up on my misgivings and on all my inadequacies are nothing more than a power trip. It wasn’t stress; Carl is nothing but an asshole. And it’s taken me this long to fully realize it.

“Are you still in pain?”

I look up from my plate to find Rhett assessing me. He’s so close that I have this panicked urge to pull back. His stare makes me all too aware of what I look like. The bruises, swelling, scratches, and grazes pulse. Every cut stings the longer he stands watching me.

“I’m fine.” I get up and start for the back doors, trying to gather my wits about me before I break down.

Given I still feel awful about my outburst the other night, I don’t want to lose my slippery grasp on what’s left of my tact. I’m not quite sure what’s more exhausting—holding my shit together or falling apart. My head is only now starting to dull from the throb of my sleepless, tearful nights, and yet, it feels as heavy as the prospect of where I’m going from here.

Sitting on one of the seats by the pool, I take a deep breath, reminding myself that I’m not alone and that somehow, I’m going to make sure Carl doesn’t come near us again. That’s the one thing he is one hundred percent right about—Iris is mine.

I lie back into the lounger, focusing on the stars ahead. They’re so bright out here; I don’t think I’ve seen this many in years. Something about the clear sky almost makes the burden on my shoulders lighten, until my phone rings, jarring me from the calm.

Kayla’s familiar tone keeps ringing and ringing. I’ve ignored it enough times to know she must be worried, especially with the headlines that have taken over almost every news station and paper. A part of me feels guilty that I haven’t called to check on her. It’s not fair that she’s being tainted by whatever Carl was involved in, and it’s part of the reason I feel almost embarrassed taking her call. So, for now, I let it ring out again.

“I know you’re fine, but in case⁠—”

“Are you this pushy with all your patients?” Ice chills my veins with the pain from my sudden movement to sit and look at Rhett.

“I’m not being pushy, I’m concerned about your well-being…any good doctor would be, and I can promise you, I’m a fucking great doctor.”

The sound of the curse sets my pulse off, racing wildly. Something about it is shocking and severe in contrast to his jovial tone and aloof stance. With his hands in his pockets, he has a coolness about him that’s somewhat contagious.

“Besides,” he sighs, kicking off his shoes and lowering to the edge of the pool. He goes about stripping his socks and rolling his slacks up before dipping his feet in the water. “You’re not actually my patient patient. I’m doing my brother a favor by making sure his wife’s friend is…as fine as she says she is.”