Torn (Connections #2)(27)

That wasn't at all what I'd expected to hear. And although I understand her intentions, I know forgiveness isn't in me right now.

She sighs and then shrugs. "Maybe try looking at the situation from his point of view, that's all. Just think about it."

I nod. "I'll try but that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive him." With that, she stands up and goes to sit back in her chair.

Looking down at the coffee cup still in my hand, I swirl it around. "River and I got into a fight after I saw Ben this morning."

She says nothing. Fuck me, she knows that, too. I can tell immediately because she stands back up and paces the room, avoiding my intent stare at all costs.

"Aerie. What do you know?"

She doesn't answer and I stand up and walk over to her. "Aerie. Tell me now."

"Dahlia, I think I should let River explain."

"Well River isn't here right now and he isn't talking to me anyway. So how about you explain."

"Fuck!" she says and she never says fuck so I know it's bad.

She walks to the window and pulls her phone out of her pocket then dials a number. "Serena, are you almost here?" she says and after a few moments she hangs up.

I gape at her. "What's going on here? You called Serena already. Why?" 

"Dahlia, please calm down. We didn't want to tell you right away about the attack because . . ."

I cut her off. "Did you always know Ben was alive? Did you know this whole time?"

"Jesus, Dahlia. No! No! I knew nothing about that, I swear. God, I would never have let you go through that if I had known, none of us would have. What I meant was we knew who attacked you, but that's all."

I study her face, trying to understand. "We? You mean all of you knew? Not just River?"

"Dahlia, please let River explain this."

"No Aerie, I want you to explain the 'we' to me now."

She sighs as if resigning herself to a fate worse than death as she slumps back in the chair and picks up her cup. She takes a few drawn-out sips before talking. "The night before you were attacked, Grace was notified that Ben's shooter was released. Caleb found him and chased him out of your house. He was worried that guy would come after you. Grace tried to call you, Serena tried to call you, and Caleb tried to call you. They all left you messages but you never called them back. Serena tried again in the morning and River answered. They told him everything that had been going on, but it was too late by then," she stops for a few seconds as I continue to glare at her in total and complete shock.

"Go on. So why not tell me? I don't understand."

"Dahlia, we remember how you were when Ben died, and none of us wanted to bring that pain back on you. Grace wanted to tell you in person so she asked River to wait before saying anything. Then you two decided to go get married and not tell anyone. I questioned River's decision to not tell you first, but in the end I decided I'd rather see you happy than risk what might happen if we dredged up those sad memories." She stands back up and walks over to me.

I try to absorb all this information. Is there anyone I can trust? Wanting to put the pieces together, I run out the door to my car and grab my phone from the console. Back in the house I glance at the screen and see three missed calls. I immediately scroll through my voice messages. There are none from five days ago. River must have deleted them. I shake my head and throw my phone across the room. I can hear the sound of destruction as the screen shatters, but I don't care. I don't need it. He hasn't even called me, but Unknown Caller has called another three times.

I sink to the ground and pull my knees to my chest. "I can't believe he hasn't even called me since our argument this morning."

Aerie comes to sit next to me and looks at me questioningly. "Who? Ben?"

"No! Not Ben. I told you I don't want to fucking talk to him. River. River hasn't called me."

As I'm speaking, I hear the door open and look over to the foyer. Serena stands there with a bag of Chinese takeout in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other.

"Maybe you should call him? You're the one who slapped him and left him at Mom's," she says when she walks into the room and sets down the bag on the coffee table.

"How do you know that?" I know I'm staring at her, but I can't help it.

"Dahlia, Mom saw the whole thing. She saw you and River at your car and saw you drive away. She called you to come back home, but you wouldn't answer."

"Serena, so much has happened in the last day, I'm doing the best I can. I'm just not ready to talk about it yet."

"I get it, Dahlia, but what you don't understand is that by avoiding the issues you're just causing a bigger rift between everybody. You need to stop running away and face what's right in front of you. You might actually be surprised by the outcome."