Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (9 page)

I
nod “Yeah, it was my fault. I was an asshole. Wonder where I
got that from.”

He
laughs at me and nods his head.

“Yeah
I’ll take responsibility for that one.”

“Dad,
I love her but I don’t know. It’s just hard sometimes,
you know. We are great but then we can set each other off, and we are
both stubborn.” I shake my head at the whole situation.

“Son
the best loves are the ones worth fighting for, believe me. If I
could have your mom back for just five minutes..” he shakes his
head and finishes his beer.

I
suppose he is right; I don’t want to be without Bailey. I’d
do anything for her, including begging for her forgiveness, which
means I need to get my shit together.

“Knox,
we need to talk about what happened with Lindsey and I need to
explain what happened with the whole situation.”

My
heart slams into my ribs with an excruciating explosion. My mind
blanks and all the emotions I have locked away rush to the surface
like a tidal wave, drowning me in pain, hatred, and confusion.

“Dad,
please not now.” My eyes are glassy and I can only manage a
whisper.

He
grabs me in a tight hug. “I’m sorry, son. I really am,
but I need to tell you the truth about what happened. Trust me, it’s
not what you think.”

I
feel the tears brim on my eyelashes and I cough them back. My dad
releases me and looks at me.

“Come
on let’s get out of here. I’ll buy you lunch.”

Nodding
my head, I turn off all the lights and music, then lock the door
behind me.

“My
bike is round back,” I tell him and he shakes his head.

“No
I’ll drive.” I follow him to his car.

We
end up on the boardwalk at Marion beach, not too far from the house.
We walk into a small beachfront café, that we used to frequent
with my mom and Max when we were kids. I forgot how small this place
was or maybe I just grew up. We sit in a booth at the back. My head
hurts from thinking and I’m tired too. We order our food and
coffees. We are the only people in here and its kind of sad to see
the place empty, but it is only February. When the food arrives my
dad and I eat in silence for a while.

“So
are you going to tell me?” I ask, watching him and he nods.

“After
we eat,” he tells me so I shrug and finish my burger and fries.

Leaving
the café, we walk down the boardwalk and along the path that
parallels the sand.

“When you kids came back
that summer I was over the moon. Believe it or not, I miss you two
turning my house upside down.” He smiles.

“I
don’t know why but Lindsey started staying behind when you went
to the beach. I would always see her on the sofa eating chips or
watching movies and I really didn’t want her there alone. I
kept asking her to go out with you because I had work to do but she
refused. After a few days I asked her why she was hanging around in
the house instead of being out in the sun. She told me you were
cheating on her, which I found odd considering your mother and I
brought you up better than that. At first I thought she was being a
moody teenager so I left her alone, but a few days later she came
into my office in her bikini telling me she was going out to
sunbathe. I waved her off and she left about lunchtime. I came out to
get some coffee and she was on the back patio naked.”

I
look over at my dad who glances at me and sighs am I really hearing
this? My mind can’t comprehend it at all.

“Well
when I saw her, I exploded and stormed out throwing a towel over her
and told her that it wasn’t allowed in my house but she laughed
at me. I honestly didn’t understand what you saw in her. I was
so annoyed I left her out there. A few days later she said she was
sorry and we began talking while you boys were out on the beach. I
don’t know how it happened, but she reeled me in. She kept
saying how lonely I must be without mom around and I was, still am.
But she opened old wounds and I was hurting. I couldn’t sleep
for weeks, thinking about mom all the time. I even had to take a few
days off work just to get through it all again.

Then
on that day she came over, I was feeling down and lonely and she told
me she could help me feel better. I was skeptical and a little wary
but I let her lead me upstairs. I went into the bathroom arguing with
myself, asking what the hell was I doing. Telling myself how wrong it
was. When I came out, she was in the bed naked and I was in two minds
about what to do. One part of me wanted to turn and run and then the
other part was lonely and wanted some company. But in the end I
started to get dressed and decided not to go through with it. I
couldn’t, she was too young, and I have only ever loved
Annabelle. Then you and Max came home. I wasn’t chasing her out
of foreplay. I realized she was taking your mom’s jewelry and I
wanted it back but she was making a game of it and well, you know the
rest.”

My
dad and I walk in silence while I digest all this information. I am
stunned to the core; I can’t believe that not only is Lindsey a
home wrecker but a thief too.

“Dad,”
I say and he stops beside me. We look at each other and, fuck this
whole thing is messed up. “I’m sorry dad.” He hugs
me again then wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“It’s
okay, son. I am as much to blame as her.”

We
walk back to the car with his arm still around my shoulders. He
smiles at me.

“I
do miss you kids you know.”

I
nod. “Yeah I miss you too, dad.”

We
climb into the car and he starts to drive back into Blackrock.

“You
and Max can always move home; come work for me.” He smiles and
I laugh at him.

“Nice try dad, but no
thanks. I’ll be too far from Bailey, and Max won’t take
off on Paige either.”

He
nods. “The offer is there,” he says, pulling off the
freeway and into downtown.

Looking
around, I can’t help but miss Bailey. Every storefront and
every restaurant has a memory attached to it already. She is stuck in
my heart forever and I know we will be okay, but I think we both need
a bit of time to get through our shit.

Max

Checking
my watch again I see it’s only been two minutes since the last
time I checked it. Visiting hours will be over soon and still no
Paige. I keep turning my phone on then off over and over. I don’t
want to push her but I do want to see her. Closing my eyes, I groan
at myself.

“That
doesn’t sound too good,” I hear and open my eyes to see
Paige standing at the door chewing her bottom lip.

My
heart speeds up and I open my arms to her. “Get over here,
angel.” She smiles and walks over hugging me. “Damn
Paige, I missed you,” I tell her as my body sags against the
bed, but I don’t let her go.

She
scratches the growth on my cheek and smiles. “You need a
shave,” she whispers, her voice stuck in her throat.

“Yeah but first I need you
up here beside me.”

She
climbs onto the bed and rests her head on my shoulder. My body hums
with happiness that she is in my arms again.

“I
really missed you, angel.”

“I
missed you too. I’m sorry for not coming earlier but I had some
things to sort out.”

My
body tenses when she says that because I don’t know what
“things” she is talking about, or if those “things”
should have involved me when decisions were being made.

“We
have some things to discuss,” I say emphasizing the word
“things” and she nods.

“Yeah we do, but can it
wait? I just want to be here with you for a few minutes,” she
asks, moving closer to me.

I
hold her tight, but inside I am freaking out. Does she not understand
how hard it is for me not knowing if I am going to be a dad in
September or not. After about ten minutes of silence and private
thoughts, she sits up and folds her leg under the other so she can
face me.

Taking
a deep breath, she looks at me. “I lost the baby,” she
whispers and hangs her head low.

I
wasn’t expecting to hear that, and a piece of me crumbles.
Taking her hand, I kiss it. “I’m sorry angel.” I
really don’t know what to say because I am not feeling how I
thought I would. I feel a little angry and hurt and I am questioning
why me? Why us? Paige looks up at me.

“I
guess this means you’re off the hook.” She tries to smile
but can’t.

“What?
No way, angel. There is no hook to be freed from. I am sorry you went
through it alone.”

She
nods as tears fall off the end of her nose. Using my thumbs, I wipe
them away and pull her close to me.

“I’m
sorry Max, it was my fault.”

I
look down at her and frown.

“No
it’s not Paige, no way. It just wasn’t meant to be,
that’s all.”

Paige
climbs off the bed and wipes her face.

“No
Max, I lost our baby from stress. If I wasn’t stressed out then
we would be having a baby right now.”

I
can’t reach her; I try to move but the pain in my body makes me
cry out and clench my teeth. Paige runs over to me with a look of
worry on her face

“Max,
what is it?”

Shaking
my head, I pull her closer, holding her as waves of pain subside.

“I
just can’t move so don’t walk that far away,” I
tell her and she nods, hugging me back.

We
talk about the bar fight last night. Paige tells me what happened
from her point of view and it sounds like Knox didn’t really
see how it started at all.

“Is
Bailey okay?” I ask her because even though she is a tough
chick, she is still a chick and got punched by a dude.

“I
don’t know. I haven’t spoken to her today.” She
shrugs.

“She
came by earlier, after my uncle ripped into her but she never said
anything about getting punched in the gut, and trust me it fucking
hurts.”

Paige
watches me for a minute then asks, “Do you know they broke up?”

I
nod. “Yeah.”

We
lie in the bed, holding each other until a nurse walks in eyeing us
and informs us visiting hours are over. Paige climbs down but not
before I pull her lips to mine and let her know just how much I
really missed her.

“Come
back soon, angel.” She nods and kisses me again before leaving.
I grab my cell phone from the tray beside my bed and wait while it
rings.

“Hello,”
she answers.

“Hey,
you never told me you got punched in the gut, sis,” I accuse
and she laughs, but not in a funny way,

“Yeah I did, and bounced my
arm off the stage but that just adds to my battle wounds.” I
roll my eyes at her listening to her put on a tough act.

“Bailey,
you can talk to me. You know I won’t run back telling Knox
anything. I am not like that.”

She
sighs. “Yeah I know Max, but I need to sort through my own
stuff before I drag anyone else into it.”

I
don’t know what is going on in her mind and she clearly doesn’t
want to give anything away, so I just chat about school and movies
and how Valentine’s day is on Wednesday, which I had totally
forgotten about. I say goodbye after about thirty minutes and I do
feel bad for her and my brother.

Bailey

After
I hang up with Max, I finish my coffee and decide to go out to clean
up the freestanding shed. Opening the door takes a lot of effort
because it’s heavy and rusting, but eventually I get it to move
enough so that I can fit through and carry some trash out. I sort
through the boxes of crap my dad has kept, putting all the boxes of
photographs against the left wall and my dad’s personal stuff
against the back wall, leaving a nice square to actually walk in and
look around. All the boxes I numbered and ordered so we can clearly
see what is in them so whole exercise took two hours and I am still
feeling restless.

My
legs are dirty from kneeling on the floor and my hands are covered in
dust and dirt too. I will take five then haul the trash over to the
cans. I see someone walking towards me from the lake. I can’t
make out a face but I know it’s a guy just by the shape of him.
He is wearing jeans a t-shirt and a baseball cap. When he reaches me
he smiles.

“Hey
Bailey,” he says and my heart slides down my throat to its
rightful place back in my chest.

“Hey
Sean, what’s up?”

He
sits down in the chair beside me.

“Not
much, how are you after last night?”

I
shrug, not really wanting to talk about it with him. He is a nice
enough guy but there is something that kind of nags at me when he’s
around.

“I
heard you and Knox broke up, that true?”

I
shrug again. “Who told you that?”

Now
he shrugs. “Word gets around fast when there is a line of guys
waiting for one to mess up.”

I
laugh at that but he looks over at me and smirks.

“You
don’t believe me? That there is a least ten guys I know of,
just waiting for Knox to fuck up and step in?”

Shaking
my head, I lean back against the wooden backrest of the chair.

“You
are here alone a lot, huh?” Sean asks looking around, and
immediately the hairs on the back of my neck raise and I feel really
uncomfortable.

“My
dad is asleep; he got in at five this morning but usually Knox stays
with me.”

Sean
nods. “Yeah, I hear his Harley sometimes coming up the hill,
noisy fucker.” He shakes his head.

I
need a plausible excuse to get rid of him and I left my phone in the
house so I fake a yawn.

“Well
I am beat, so I guess I should go finish my homework and go to bed.”

Sean
stands up smiling. “Want some company?”

I
laugh it off. “Na, I’m good thanks,” I say, backing
away.

He
just waves and returns the way he came. I watch until he walks onto
the trail, then I run into the house locking all the doors and
windows and arming the alarm system.