Into the Storm (Signal Bend #3)(92)

“Of course they are. Okay.”

oOo

A man Show had never seen before opened the door to Holly’s apartment. Show checked the number on the wall next to the door, thinking he’d somehow gone to the wrong one. No—this was Holly’s place.

The guy was short, maybe five-nine or so. Greying black hair, slicked back from his forehead. Wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Beer belly. Who the f*ck was this guy in the house where Show’s daughters lived, answering the door like he belonged there?

Show stood up as tall as he could get and stared down at the interloper. The guy looked up and forced a smile. “Hey. You must be Show. I’m Ted.” He held out his hand. Show ignored it.

After a second, Ted dropped his hand and looked back over his shoulder. “It’s him, babe.” He moved clear of the door. “C’mon in.”

Holly came down the hallway, like everything was normal. “Hey, Show. The girls are finishing up in the bathroom.” She looked behind him. “I guess you’re Shannon.”

Show could feel Shannon begin to step around him, moving toward Holly, probably to make acquaintance, but his mind was on other things. He stepped forward and grabbed Holly’s arm. “Talk to you in private?”

He sensed ‘Ted’ take a protective step in their direction, but Holly shook her head. She wrenched her arm from his grip. “Come on. We’ll talk in my room.” She turned and headed down the hallway.

When they were in her room—he noticed that both sides of the bed were unmade—she closed the door and turned back to him. “What’s your problem, Showdown?”

“Who the f*ck is that guy? Did he sleep here last night? Are you f*cking him?”

Holly’s eyes were huge and irate. “What is it to you? You have your fiancée out there. You’ve been f*cking her for months. What do you care what I do?”

“My girls live here! I have a right to know who’s around my girls! Who you’re f*cking around my girls!” Jesus, he was pissed. It felt bigger than he understood, though. He couldn’t get his hands around it.

“Keep your voice down, Show,” she hissed. Ironic as hell that she was telling him not to yell. “Again I say—you brought your redhead here for your weekend with the girls. Where do you get off pitching a fit about Ted?”

“Eight years, Holly! Eight goddamn years you said you couldn’t stand the pain of it. Was that all a lie?

Fuck!” Ah. There it was.

She stepped back, her expression changing, softening as she comprehended what he hadn’t even fully understood until the words were in his throat. “Oh.” She hesitated, and Show felt her guilt. She had lied.

Jesus. All those years without. Without even a loving goddamn touch.

“No, Show. I didn’t lie. There was more than just that coming between us, you know there was, but I didn’t lie. I didn’t want it, either, though. There was stuff, medicine or whatever, I could have done to try to fix what hurt, but I didn’t want to. I was glad to have the excuse. It was easier to say I couldn’t than I didn’t want it.” She sighed. “Anyway, it doesn’t hurt with Ted. It did at first, but then it didn’t anymore. Does it really matter at this point?”

It did, actually. A lot. Their marriage had died a slow, starving death, and maybe it needn’t have. Maybe if she’d kept trying, they could have had that back. Maybe everything would have been different. If she’d wanted it. Him.

But did he want it to be different? Would it have saved Daisy? He didn’t see how. And, except for missing Rosie and Iris, he was happier split from Holly. They’d never been a good fit. Shannon was the woman he wanted. He calmed down and took a breath. She was right. It didn’t matter. There was no use being angry about something so old. They were both happier now. “Okay. Sorry. I just—he’s good to the girls? To you?”

“You know I wouldn’t have anybody around who wasn’t. He’s a good guy. He was…patient with me.”

Show was starting to feel like a dick for coming at her like he had. If after everything she’d gone through, the pain and trauma, she could have that part of her life back, that was a good thing. He should be glad for her. He was. “It’s serious?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have him here if it wasn’t.”

“What’s he do?”

“He sells cars. Can we go back out now? We left them standing in the living room together. That’s got to be awkward.”

Oh, shit. He’d been so overtaken by anger at the sight of Ted that he’d just walked away from Shannon, abandoned her in the middle of his ex-wife’s apartment. “Yeah.”

When they got back out to the hallway, Rosie and Iris were standing in the doorway of their room, watching.

“Hey, flowers. Ready to go?” They nodded. Iris lifted her backpack to show him how ready she was.

Since Holly had allowed overnights, he always took them to Little Rock for the weekend, taking a room at the Embassy Suites, so they wouldn’t have to sleep in the same room as their old man.

Guiding the girls in front of him down the hallway, he looked toward the front door. Shannon was standing there. She was smiling at the girls, but when she met his eyes, he saw that he was going to pay for being a dick to her just now.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR