Page 22 of Against The Tide

“This is so much bigger than you can possibly understand. You have no idea wha⁠—”

“Get out.”

“Avery, you don⁠—”

“I don’t understand. You’re right about that. I don’t understand how you can look at me and think that…” I know Kayla well enough to see that she’s not listening at all. She’s here on a mission for Carl. Not for me or Iris. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter. Just leave.”

Grabbing her purse from the coffee table, I get up and head for the front door, blocking out all the things she’s saying behind me. At this point, I only want her to leave.

How is this my life? What have I done to deserve any of this?

Opening the door, I hold out her purse and wait for her to get out. Every click and clack of her heels makes my skin crawl. I’ve known her most of my life; I shared parts of my life with her that I would never share with anyone else. I told her about all the crap in my marriage.

Swallowing down the bile that creeps up my throat, I hold myself as strong as I can.

“Carl was right—you’re impossible to reason with.”

“Carl is a cheating, lying son of a—” I stop when Iris comes running toward us. I won’t be that mother that poisons her against her father, even if he is nothing but a cold, hard disappointment. “He’s a fraud, and one day you’re going to look in the mirror, and every bruise and…every mark you see on me, you’ll see reflected back at you.”

“If that’s what makes you feel better.” Kayla grabs her purse, turning to look at me as she pulls an envelope out of it and stretches it toward me. “That should help you see reason.”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

Rolling her eyes, she crouches to hug Iris. The action makes all the anger bubbling inside overwhelm me.

“Why are you leaving?” Iris looks at her with letdown written all over her face, and while I feel guilty for being part of the reason she feels that way, I don’t say anything.

“I have to go home, sweetie, but I’ll see you real soon. Okay?”

Iris nods, making me want to snatch her up and run away from here as fast as I can.

“How about I go watch you swim again when you come back home?”

Iris pulls completely away, holding on to me so tight that it’s impossible for me not to wince. Looking up at me, teary and blinking wildly, she murmurs, “I don’t want to go back.”

I don’t bother saying anything else to Kayla. We’re done. Closing the door in her face, I sit on the bottom step, sitting Iris on my lap as I hold her to me, hoping that things can only get better.

I’m not sure how long we stay like that, but by the time we head back into the family room, Callie is standing at the breakfast bar waiting. The envelope in my hand feels heavy, and when I look at it, the glint of my wedding rings is a sharp stab in the gut.

“I’m going to run a bath for Scarlett before dinner,” Callie tells me before focusing on Iris. “You want to use the big tub in my room? It’s got jets that make amazing bubbles.”

“It’s amazing. Best bath ever.” Scarlett takes her upstairs as Callie and I follow behind, taking the bags Kayla brought with us.

Once the girls are happily soaking in the tub, we sit out in the hall outside her bedroom door so they don’t hear our conversation while we can make sure they’re okay.

“First of all, it’s not your fault that she’s a skank. Secondly, before you look at whatever bullshit is in that envelope, what do you want to do?”

“Disappear.” That’s the first thing that comes to mind, and then I catch sight of my rings and a rage I didn’t know I had inside flames hot and violent. “That’s not true,” I murmur, twisting the rings off my finger. “I want him gone. I want him out of my life and away from my daughter.”

“If he’s hurt you like this before…”

“He hasn’t—not in this way. I mean, he was always heavy-handed and short-tempered. But not like this.”

“I know you don’t want to press charges or report this⁠—”

“It’s not about what I want, Callie, it’s about protecting Iris. I failed to protect her already, and now I can’t even talk to her about it because I’m scared that she’ll hate me or that I’ll screw her up.”

“At the end of the day, it’s your decision and I’ll support whatever you decide…no matter what. I don’t want you to regret what you didn’t do because you’re scared. You have no reason to be scared.” Threading her fingers with mine, she squeezes my hand. “I’ve got your back.”