Chapter 26

PRESENT DAY

 

Noah doesn’t get back for several hours. It’s nearly sunset when he comes back into the house with his tackle box, now wearing a pair of old blue jeans to replace his swim trunks. I’m sitting on the couch playing with my phone while Lily is out with my father and Gwen, taking a little hike. Noah plops down next to me on the sofa, smelling like the outdoors.

“So how did you calm down Lily?” he asks me.

“Uh, what do you mean?”

He rolls his eyes. “She was freaked out when I took my prosthetics off. I told you she would be.”

“Okay, fine. She was a little freaked out.” I’m not going to tell him she cried. “But she’s over it.” I add, “Really.

“That’s good,” he says. “Because I’ve been spending far too much time on my prosthetics the last few days, so after dinner, I’m taking them off for the rest of the night.”

“She’ll be fine.” Hopefully she won’t cry again.

He nods. “Want a beer?”

“Oh my God, yes.”

He gets up and grabs two Millers from the fridge. He hands me mine and then twists the cap off his own beer. He takes a long swig before he drops his head against the sofa. “Tired,” he murmurs.

“That’s what you get for staying out so late with that woman you didn’t even like,” I tease him.

He smiles crookedly.

I attempt to open my beer, but the cap isn’t budging. All it does is make angry red grooves in my palm. “Is this twist-off?” I ask.

“Didn’t you just see me twist off my cap?”

I examine my beer. “I think this one is defective.”

He winks at me. “Give it here, woman.”

I pass my beer to him and he twists it open so easily that even though I’m a woman, it’s slightly emasculating. He passes it back to me and I take a long swig. I sigh contentedly. It’s nice sitting here next to Noah, drinking beers together. I could do this for hours. Although I’d probably be pretty drunk by that point.

I groan when I hear a knock at the cabin door. “That must be my dad and Gwen with Lily,” I say. “They probably forgot the key.” Noah starts to get up but I shake my head at him. “I’ll open it. You got the beers.”

I twist the single lock Noah’s got on the door, and throw the door open, bracing myself for Lily to run into my general groin area. But it’s not Lily. It’s someone completely different. Someone completely unexpected.

It’s Theo.

Oh no.

“Theo?” I manage to say.

I can’t believe my eyes. What is my ex-husband doing here, two-hundred miles away from his home? He didn’t just wander into the neighborhood.

He looks like he’s been driving all day based on the circles under his eyes. Theo is five years older than I am—in his late thirties now—and he’s starting to look his age. There’s a deep groove between his eyebrows and the lines around his eyes are there even when he isn’t smiling or laughing. It’s probably a reflection of how much he drinks. And the receding hairline doesn’t help matters. He’s still attractive in a grungy sort of way, but the shit he’s pulled with me over the years has completely killed any sexual feelings I might have had for him.

“Hey, Bailey,” Theo says. “I came to see Lily.”

I know Theo can’t see Noah where he’s sitting on the couch and I’d like to keep things that way. I want to get rid of Theo quickly. “I told you—we’re staying here just for the week, then we’ll be back,” I say. “You didn’t have to drive down here.”

“You took Lily here without telling me last weekend,” he says. “I was supposed to see her last weekend.”

“Well, you were supposed to give me a child support check last month,” I point out.

“Again, Bailey?” He frowns, his hands squeezing into fists. “You really don’t want our daughter to see her own father just because I’m short on funds? You’re better than that.”

I sigh. “Look, Lily isn’t here. She’s… out with my father right now.”

Theo looks relieved. “You mean you came here with your dad?”

“Yes,” I say, aware that it isn’t the full truth.

“Oh.” Theo grins sheepishly. “I, uh, I guess I assumed you came here with some guy.” He ducks his head down. “I guess I got… you know, jealous…”

“Who’s that at the door, Bailey?”

Noah has impeccable timing. Just as I’m getting Theo calmed down, the appearance of another man—especially one who looks like Noah—makes my ex-husband’s eyes grow wide and fill with fury. Despite how much he’s cheated on me, Theo is not good at dealing with his own jealousy.

“Who’s this, Bailey?” Theo demands to know. “He doesn’t look like your father.”

Noah narrows his eyes at Theo. He steps toward the doorway, a menacing look on his face. “I own this cabin. Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Bailey’s husband,” Theo shoots back.

“Ex-husband,” I correct him.

Theo waves his hand like it’s an insignificant distinction. “I can’t believe you, Bailey. This is the guy you’re messing around with? This prettyboy isn’t even your type.”

Noah just snorts. He already knows he’s not my type. The time for him to be bothered by something like that has come and gone. “Listen, why don’t you get lost? Bailey obviously doesn’t want you here.”

Theo grits his teeth. “You gonna make me?”

“I’d be happy to make you.” Noah curls his right hand into a very visible fist. He’s got a couple of inches on Theo, as well as quite a bit of weight—all muscle. He’s really strong, but I’ve only seen him throw a punch once ever—the night Derek got fresh with me. I doubt he wants to fight now, but he probably recognizes that the threat of it will frighten Theo. And it does.

“Look,” Theo says to me, “I don’t want any trouble from Abercrombie and Fitch here.”

“Abercrombie and Fitch!” Noah bursts out, looking down at his worn, baggy blue jeans and T-shirt I’m pretty sure he’s been wearing since college based on the holes at the seams.

“Where’s Lily?” Theo presses me.

“I told you, she’s out with my father,” I say. “I don’t know how soon she’ll be back.”

“I’ll wait,” he says.

“Not in my house, you’re not,” says Noah, who’s not helping the situation at all. “I want you out of my house, and I want that piece of shit car of yours off my property. Now.”

Noah’s still got his hand balled into a fist, so Theo decides to listen to him. He backs away from the doorway, his eyes still on mine.

“Theo,” I say quietly. “I promise we’ll be back in a few days. I’ll bring Lily over to you, okay?”

Theo nods. I’m relieved that it looks like he’s going quietly, although you never really know with Theo. He says to me, “And next time, don’t bring Lily somewhere without telling me.”

“Maybe if you were a half-decent father, you’d know where your daughter is,” Noah mutters under his breath.

I can tell Theo hears him, but he decides not to respond. It’s probably better for Theo’s self-esteem to avoid a pissing contest with Noah. At least, considering he doesn’t know about Noah’s secret.