If You Must Know (Potomac Point #1)(27)

“It certainly won’t hurt.” I almost apologized, but I stopped myself.

During the ensuing silence, I wondered if he’d ever known how much I’d loved him. How I would’ve done anything for him. If he’d wanted a life of adventure, I would’ve gone with him, even if I’d had reservations. All he’d ever had to do was ask. Instead, he’d turned to someone else and left me alone and devastated.

Now I faced single motherhood while he played fast and loose with fatherhood. Should I have suspected this could happen? We are, after all, a product of our genetics.

After I pressed my thumbs against my eyes, I checked the rearview mirror to see if my mascara had run, and noticed Barb coming off the school playground with Collin. Shoot.

“I guess there’s nothing more to say today.” No doubt he heard the quaver in my voice.

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you what you want to hear today, but I’m trying to be honest with everyone.”

Too little, too late.

When I said nothing, he added, “I’ll call you next week.”

“Goodbye.” I hung up, more confused and heartsick, wondering if he’d really thought himself unworthy of me—and if that were true, whether I’d done something to make him feel that way. Had I been too needy, like he’d intimated? My headache intensified. Frantic to flee the parking lot before Barb spotted my splotchy face and made me the next subject of pitiful whispers, I started the engine.

With only thirty minutes until my meeting, there was hardly time to grab something from Oak & Almond on my way home.

Heading in that direction took me past the police station—a handsome colonial-style three-story brick building. My thoughts began to stray, then Erin—whom no one could miss in that skimpy red shirt and decade-old biker boots—burst through its doors.

Erin’s head jerked up at the screech of my tires. She stared at me while I circled into the parking lot and leaped from my car, my heart pounding against my ribs. “You promised you wouldn’t say anything, yet here you are asking Rodri to dig around in Lyle’s and my business.”

She scowled. “Since when have I ever broken a promise to you?”

Strictly speaking, never that I was aware of. However, she had let me take the blame for denting Dad’s car even though she was the one who’d banged into it with the Kohl’s shopping cart. I’d covered for her because I knew our mother would’ve grounded her and made her miss out on the Fourth of July party she’d been talking about for weeks. “Then why are you here?”

Erin crossed her arms beneath her ample chest, her speckled cheeks and neck announcing her emotions. “Max stole Dad’s albums.”

“What?” I reached for her arm, imagining the unholy string of cursing that must have spewed from her lips when she discovered them missing.

It made sense that Dad had left those to Erin given their shared love of those classic tunes, but they were his most personal possessions, and he’d not given a single one to Kevin or me. He’d left me a little money, which I’d used to buy my living room furniture, so in that way I had a piece of him here with me. But it wasn’t the same thing.

“I found out last night when I went to play one. I left him a message warning to call me back or else. Well, twelve hours later, still no call, so I asked Rodri to issue an arrest warrant. Those albums are worth thousands, which makes Max a felon. If he gets caught, he could be fined big-time and go to jail.” She shook her head, the tiny diamond chip in the crease of one nostril glinting in the sun.

She acted tough, but this couldn’t be easy for her. It wasn’t the monetary value that mattered. Those records were her biggest connection to our dad, whom she’d loved more than anyone or anything in her entire life. Bad enough I’d felt replaced in my dad’s eyes, but watching those two share the kind of relationship that I’d once hoped she and I might build had rubbed salt in that wound. Based on my mom’s occasional comparisons of Erin’s attitudes to those of the infamous Patty—Dad’s first love—I think even she envied Erin’s bond with Dad.

“I’m so sorry, Erin.” Neither of us was having a good week.

“For accusing me of breaking your trust?” Erin cocked her head.

I glanced at my feet before peeking up at her. “Well, that too.”

After a brief pause, her shoulders relaxed and her eyes filled with sympathy. “Have you heard from Lyle?”

The recent call had depleted me, so I deflected rather than fill her in on the less-than-satisfying conversation I’d yet to process. “I’m meeting the investigator now.”

“Oh, that should be interesting. Want some company?”

“No, thanks.” Meeting Stan and discussing Lyle would be hard enough without my sister hovering and adding her two cents.

She wrinkled her nose. “I know you don’t want my advice, but if you want Lyle’s attention, send him a clear message. Go straight to Rodri. I guarantee that’d make him jump.”

For a split second a heady rush of revenge tore through me. I could screw Lyle over the way he was screwing with me. But he’d said things that made me question my role in all this. What if I’d unintentionally pushed my husband away exactly like I seemed to do with my sister?

The stakes required me to remain calm and protect my daughter’s best interests. Besides, Mom didn’t want anyone learning about the money.