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The Only One for Me(43)

By:Bridget Anderson


As mad as Chris was, he now realized that most of the damage was superficial and could easily be fixed. He walked over and patted his father on the back. “At least no one was here when they came in. That means more to me than all this stuff.”

“Chris, there’s probably some teenagers behind this, but I have to ask, do you have any idea who would want to do this?” Greg asked.

Chris shrugged. “No. But, with kids being out for the summer, maybe they get a kick out of trashing vacant houses.”

“I don’t know, we haven’t had any cases like this in quite a while,” Greg said.

A lightbulb went off in Chris’s head and he snapped his fingers. All attention turned to him. “Eric Hayden and I had words a few weeks ago. He’s moved back here.”

Greg nodded. “I ran into him a couple of weeks ago myself. We’ve been keeping an eye on him. What were your words about?”

“I’m dating his ex-wife.”

“Corra Coleman?”

“Yeah.”

Greg took a deep breath. “Yeah, I can see that getting him riled up. And from what I remember you two never did get along very well, did you?”

“You have a good memory,” was all Chris said.

“Well, I’ll check him out. You don’t mind if we take a few pictures for the report, do you?”

“No, not at all. Do whatever you have to. Just find the bastard responsible for this.”

* * *

A couple of evenings later, Corra and Chris were strolling through Fayette Mall in Lexington, and Corra couldn’t believe her eyes. Walking toward them was Kyla with her arm looped around a young man. Kyla had always been so into her studies and dedicated to her projects that Corra had never seen her with a man before. So Kyla wasn’t all work and no play after all.

Chris stopped at a kiosk in the middle of the mall to examine some glasswork as they approached.

“Hey, Kyla,” Corra called out to get her cousin’s attention.

Kyla gave Corra a double take, before releasing the young man’s arm and bringing a hand to her chest. “Corra!”

A tentative smile covered Kyla’s face as she looked startled and at a loss for words.

Corra made the first move and walked over to say hello to Kyla’s friend. The look on Kyla’s face was priceless.

While the three of them chatted, Chris joined them. Kyla introduced her friend as a former classmate who lived in Lexington. In the middle of their conversation, Corra was distracted by Chris peering across the crowd. She followed his gaze. A few stores down Eric glared back at him with a cocky grin on his face.

To her dismay, Eric and some anorexic-looking woman started toward them.

Kyla was saying something, but alarm bells were going off in Corra’s head. She touched Chris’s arm to get his attention, and felt how tense he’d become. When he turned to her, she noticed his flared nostrils and the hardened look of his face. Was it that serious?

“Chris, are you okay?”

He nodded. “I’m fine.” Then he turned back and glared at Eric as if he were daring him to enter their space.

Kyla followed Chris’s gaze. “Who’s that?” she asked, as Eric approached.

“My ex-husband, Eric.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember him.”

In a faded LeBron James T-shirt, cutoff long shorts and sneakers, Eric strolled up to them.

“Hey, how’s everybody doing?” Eric asked, smiling in Corra and Kyla’s direction.

“Hello, Eric.” Corra greeted him without an ounce of enthusiasm.

Eric gave Chris a quick head nod. Chris didn’t nod back.

Eric introduced his lady friend, then Corra introduced Kyla and her friend. Of course, Eric didn’t remember Kyla. He probably didn’t remember most of her family members since he hadn’t participated in any of her family functions. Chris didn’t say a word. His intense stare at Eric said it all.

“Where are the kids?” Eric finally asked.

“They’re at Rollin’s,” Corra said.

Eric’s date tugged on his arm, ready to go. He said something to her and then turned back to Corra. “I’ve got something for Jamie so I’ll see you later tonight.” He cut his eyes up at Chris once more before walking away.

“Well, uh, I’ll catch you guys later,” Kyla said, as she and her friend walked away.

Corra and Chris said their goodbyes, then Corra turned to Chris. “What was that all about?”

“What do you mean?”

“The staredown between you and Eric. You looked at him like you wanted to hurt him. I know you don’t like him, but you could at least be civil.”

Chris looked at Corra with furrowed brows. “Be civil to a man who leaves his family without paying any child support, returns to town without looking them up, and then expects to just walk back into your life.”