I dressed her twin sized bed, went downstairs and made a cup of coffee. I was anxious as shit, waiting on a phone call to give me the information I needed. I had a fucking score to settle before I left this town. Someone was going to pay…
I was sitting on the porch swing, trying to woo the fleabag himself when Derek joined me.
“Morning,” he said, sitting down beside me.
I nodded. I couldn’t see anything good in this morning. If I had my way; I would have Lee halfway back to Colorado by now.
“Where are the girls?” Derek asked, patting Bruno on the head.
“They’re at the hospital, visiting him.”
Derek stretched, yawning loudly. “So, did you and Lee straighten everything out?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know Derek; everything is still all messed up.”
He leaned forward, tickling Bruno behind his ear. How was it the damn dog let Derek pet him, but when I went to touch him, he all, but ate my arm off? “Was it true?”
I knew what he meant. “Yeah, all of it and more.”
He let out a whistle and turned to face me. “You’re gonna break her if you don’t choose. It’s going to end bad Kyle and you’re not the only one invested anymore.”
I could hear the warning in his words and I knew what I had to do.
I had to phone Rachel.
Lee
“He knows?” I nodded. “Everything?”
I thought for a moment. Kyle knew about Perry and now he knew the worst part of me, the dirtiest corner of my secret life. “Yes.”
Cam let out sigh. “I think I might have been wrong about you staying away from Kyle. He’s different with you Lee. He’s changing.”
I looked at her face; she looked deep in thought. “In what way?” I asked. Could it be possible that Kyle really was changing? We hadn’t spoken in a month before last night and I had missed him. But I couldn’t keep riding this rollercoaster of passion and pain.
“I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but he is different with you. It’s like you’ve woken up a part of him that has been missing with years.”
I pondered over her words. Whether I had changed Kyle or not was irrelevant to the fact that he had perpetually changed me. “I’m in love him Cam.”
“I know Lee.”
Chapter Thirty-one
Lee
We visited my father again. Cam came in with me this time. She wanted to see for herself the change in him.
“Camryn Frey,” Daddy said when Cam walked into the room ahead of me.
“Jimmy Bennett,” she responded coolly.
“Hello Delia,” he said addressing me.
“Hello,” I muttered. I stayed further away from his bed today. Daddy seemed more active and I was too afraid to get too close. I guess old habits die hard.
“How have you been Camryn? What have you been doing with yourself?” Daddy asked, shifting his focus to Cam, who towered over his bed.
“Oh, you know Jimmy,” she said airily. “A little of this, a little of that, mostly taking care of the shell of a girl behind me.” I cringed when spoke about me like that.
My father flinched and Cam went on. “I gotta tell you Jim, it was fun to see the horror scene of scars on her body. How’d you do it this time? Your fist? Hmm, no you’re more creative than that. Maybe it was your belt, or the fire poker. Oh no wait, I forgot the tire iron was always a firm favorite of yours, wasn’t it?”
I gasped. “Cam…” I started, but she interrupted me.
“No Lee, he needs to hear this.” Cam turned her gaze on my father. “You could have killed her,” she spat. “Did you ever think about that? But I guess that never worried you, considering you killed her spirit years ago. And her name is Lee, so quit it the Delia crap. She’s not your wife and it’s not her fault that she’s dead. She was just an innocent baby and you laid all that blame on her. It’s not Lee’s fault your wife died in childbirth and if you ever lay so much as look at her wrong again, I will personally rip your heart out and give a better reason than you already have to be lying in that bed. Are we clear Mr. Bennett?”
Daddy paled in the bed, nodding. “I’m sorry, so sorry.”
Cam straightened her spine even further. “Now, I’ve spoken to your nurse and she tells me that you’ll be just fine in a few days. Tomorrow morning, I will be taking your daughter back to Colorado. If she chooses to visit with you before then, well that’s her choice.” Cam paused and looked back at me briefly, before facing my father once more. “I personally think she should leave you here to rot, but I won’t argue with her if she wants to visit before then, but she won’t be staying here,” she said, flicking her ponytail off her shoulder.