Addison (The Mitchell/Healy Family #6)(49)

“Wait.” I stumbled on the details. “If you knew who he was to my family, then you knew all about me before we hooked up. This whole time you’ve known and you didn’t tell me.” I covered my mouth. “No. No, you wouldn’t do this to me.”

“Addison,” he tried to get my attention, but my dad was standing in between us.

“Get your shit off my land. Don’t visit my daughter. Don’t call her. Stay away from my family. Do you understand me? Keep your name, and your evils away from us.”

I was too distraught to stick around and watch it unfold. This wasn’t some little white lie he didn’t want me to know. All along Cole knew my parents would never accept us. He had to know they’d find out.

Was this a sick game? Did he come back to town to pay us back for his uncle’s death? How could he use me? He knew how vulnerable I could be. How insensitive of a person had I been sleeping with?

My God, I told him I was falling in love with him. How could I know? How stupid was I for not recognizing his last name. I’d brought him into our lives. I’d shared intimate moments with him.

I made it five steps outside in the yard before hurling. I was ill over it, utterly disgusted with myself and my actions. Home was where I belonged, but it wasn’t where I went. Once my feet started moving I couldn’t stop. I kept running until I couldn’t see the lights of the trailer any longer. I ran deep into the woods where no one would look for me. A tree stump sent me falling down. My palms stung as I realized the skin was off of them. I didn’t get up off the wet leaves. I couldn’t move. I was numb. The rain fell down over me, washing away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. I’d opened myself up to a stranger. I deserved this. How was I supposed to handle this? What was I to do when I had to face my family. They now knew I lied. They knew I’d met Cole when he was detoxing. They knew more about him than I did. My foolish heart had brought me to this place. Now I was broken, back to feeling the way I used to before I started using.

The sadness was heart wrenching. I curled up on the cold ground and bawled, wishing there was something to take away the pain. I didn’t want to experience this. I didn’t want to be that same disappointment again to my family. I couldn’t look them in the eyes and know what they were thinking.

I’d tried to be a good person. I’d worked hard to accomplish my new goals. Now I’d have no one on my side. They wouldn’t support me. I was on my own again.

Up until this very moment I’d never wanted to use so badly. Being clean was painful. I wanted to be back in that safe place where nothing mattered. I wanted it all to stop.





Chapter 19


Cole


I stood face to face with Addison’s dad, prepared to have him swing at me, or worse. He was being irrational, and now Addison was gone. She couldn’t know how sorry I was for how she found out. “Sir, I’m telling you, I’m nothing like my uncle. I’m nothing like any of them.”

“Every word out of your mouth is a lie, boy. Gather your things.”

“No, you listen to me. I wanted to tell her. She told me the past didn’t matter to her. I made her happy. That has to count for something. I care about her. This wasn’t about revenge. We have a connec-.”

“Don’t. Don’t talk about my daughter. It’s over. Do you hear me? Whatever you think you had, it wasn’t real. I’d die before I let anyone from your kin be with my family. What was taken from us we’ll never get back.”

“You can’t stop me from seeing her.”

That old man brought his arm around and clocked me right in the nose before I could see it coming. I shoved him backward and threw up my hands. “Whoa. Wait a minute here. I don’t want to fight you. I’ll leave. Just let me get my things.”

“You will stay away from daughter. I’d rather rot in a jail cell than have you anywhere near her. Take that as a warning. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

“She was safe. I care about your daughter. You might not believe it, but it’s true. You’ve got to understand my position. I couldn’t tell her.” I knew he wasn’t listening. He didn’t care. His mind was made up before he stepped foot into the trailer.

I managed to get my things together and shoved them in two duffle bags. I strapped them to my back and hopped on the motorcycle. The rain continued to fall down over me, but I was too irritated to care. This was why I knew better than to get involved with Addison. I knew it would end badly. I just thought I’d have more time to prepare for it.

I was losing her. Every second that passed by reminded me of how bad I’d f*cked this up. I’d taken something beautiful and turned it into shit. I’d destroyed her heart, her ability to trust, and maybe even her willpower to stay clean. I hated myself. I wanted to drive my bike off a cliff so I didn’t have to feel the agonizing grief I’d been stricken with.

With nowhere else to go, I spent the night at the tattoo shop. There was a cot in the back room, so it wasn’t terrible, although I couldn’t calm down enough to sleep. Joe had ruined my life again and again. It was just like high school again, when he hid his party drugs in my locker and got me expelled. Yeah, I planned on smoking some of it, but it was his idea to buy it and keep it with me. I’d promised to take it to my grave because I knew how much he wanted to be a police officer. I kept that secret as my own for all these years, only to have his jealous ass do this to me.