Kian (Undercover Billionaire, #1)(19)
Roxie was so confused, she wasn’t sure if she was happy about that or not. It didn’t matter what she felt; she knew she’d made the right decision. She needed space and time. She might never be able to find enough of either.
Chapter Nine
One Month Later
As Roxie stood in the small house her sister had so lovingly decorated, had made into a real home, she had a difficult time not expecting Pamela to walk through those doors, her signature smile lighting her beautiful face.
It was so much easier for Roxie to picture her sister when she was young, when neither of them had known how harsh the real world could truly be. Those days, they hadn’t been worried, hadn’t been burdened by the bad choices they’d one day make. That was how she wanted to remember her sister.
Pamela had grown up and led a difficult life, and things had just begun to go a little bit better for her, only to be so prematurely snatched away in a moment that still didn’t have a resolution. Maybe that was why Roxie didn’t feel as if her sister was truly gone; maybe it was because she hadn’t been able to lay her memory to rest.
Returning home to the city of Edmonds, Washington, hadn’t been easy for Roxie, especially with her past and all the memories flooding back, and she didn’t even want to think about her first night back and her time with Kian. She shuddered as she thought about what she’d run away from four years earlier, and what she’d so easily fallen back into. But that had been one mistake out of many, and she refused to allow herself to dwell on the past, even if it had already bitten her once since her return.
She couldn’t focus on all she’d done wrong. She had her niece to take care of, and though she wanted to fall apart every second of every day, she couldn’t allow herself that luxury.
The trip home to move out of her apartment had been pathetically easy. Though she’d had to give up her job, it hadn’t been difficult, and, sadly, she hadn’t had anyone to say goodbye to. Even after living in the bustling city of Portland for four years, she’d never taken the time to make lasting friendships.
So, she was in Edmonds, in her sister’s place, a small two-bedroom house in a quaint neighborhood, with her few possessions still in boxes. What she should do was place those boxes back into her car and drive away, start somewhere fresh, somewhere away from the memories, away from Kian Forbes.
As soon as she had the thought, she dismissed it. It was no longer just herself she had to take care of. Now she had the responsibility of raising Lily, who was beautiful and kind, and who had asked about her mother often in those first couple of weeks. Sadly, her niece was already forgetting her mother, was already attached to Roxie, even though, much to Roxie’s shame, she hadn’t spent time with her niece since her birth. They’d practically been strangers to each other before now.
Kian was most definitely putting pressure on Roxie to communicate more, but he wasn’t being cruel. In reality, it was more likely that he was letting out the fishing line, and soon—much sooner than she was ready for—he’d begin reeling it back in. She was so afraid of what he was going to do next that she chose instead to live in denial and hide her head in the sand. She’d managed to avoid him and the attorney who’d been calling.
People said ignorance was bliss, and she believed them. If she pretended there wasn’t a problem, then there wasn’t, right? Well, obviously, that wasn’t the case, as her time was running out already.
At least she had a few positives going for her. Thankfully, the house she was living in was paid off. It was the only possession her sister truly owned, and that was only because it had been passed down to her from their father. Technically, the place was in Roxie’s name as well, but she hadn’t hesitated to let her sister have it. Once Roxie had made the decision to move away from Edmonds, she hadn’t looked back.
Now, she didn’t want to leave the place and head to the attorney’s office. This was it; this was where she’d find out if she had a battle ahead of her she had no chance of winning. She hung her head as she grabbed hold of Lily’s hand and walked from the safety of their home.
She couldn’t help but appreciate the town of Edmonds as she made her way through it. Though Edmonds was only about fifteen miles from the bustling chaos of Seattle, a person really wouldn’t know that when they stepped back in time to the historic town.
This was a place where people still helped their neighbors and still smiled and waved at strangers. It was a place you had true relationships with people and where you called the family attorney uncle instead of sir. It was a place she’d run from quickly, and if she wasn’t so guarded, she might admit she had regrets about doing that.
When Roxie arrived at the attorney’s office, she stopped at the front door and wiped away the sweat springing up on her palm as she clutched Lily’s hand with her other. Her young niece clung to her, as she often did these days, and she looked up at Roxie with a hesitant smile on her sweet pink lips.
Roxie had pored through her sister’s photo albums, and there wasn’t a single picture in them where Lily wasn’t smiling with pure mischief in her eyes, even when she was an infant. To see her so much more subdued than what those images revealed was another heartbreaking realization for Roxie. She was determined to see that same light shine again in her niece’s eyes, and to see it sooner rather than later.
As Roxie opened the door, Lily scooted a little closer to her. Soon only her short brown curls could be seen as she peeked out from behind the safety of Roxie’s body. This made Roxie’s eyes sting as she fought the need to cry again.