“Reed?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Your brother knew all this when he asked you to watch her?”
“He did. He knew I had eyes on her, and I’d be the best person to keep her safe.”
Reed mumbles something. “Coff, were you stalking the woman?”
“No!” I say defensively, but then I think about what I was doing. “I was watching her.”
“Jesus. It’s a miracle you’ve been able to stay focused this long. And let me guess, you two have rekindled your relationship?”
“No, not at all.” Although, if I’m being honest with myself, part of me wants that. But so many years have passed, and we aren’t the same people. What I want is what I had, and nothing will bring that back. Once she learned what her family did, she stayed. How could she stay?
“Let me talk to Stormy, and I’ll call you back.”
“Thank you.”
The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. When I told her about her dad being a criminal, she didn’t believe me. But did she really know then? I trusted her, but was I wrong?
I head back up to our room with my head spinning. Delaney is lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, when I walk in.
“I’m bored out of my mind,” she says. “At least if I had a phone, I could read a book or check the news.”
I stare at her. In some ways, it’s like no time has passed and she’s still that girl I picked up in a bar. But in every other way, everything has changed.
She sits up. “How did your call go?”
“Fine.”
She laughs. “Well, that tells me a lot. Are we going to New York?”
Yeah, I might have floated that idea by her before talking to Reed. Not my best choice. “I don’t know yet.”
“Okay, why don’t we get lunch?” she asks.
“Why didn’t you leave?” I rub my forehead. I should have thought before speaking and eased into this.
Her brow furrows. “You mean twelve years ago?”
I shake my head. “No, why didn’t you leave once you learned the truth about your dad?”
Her eyes dart to the window. “Oh. That’s not easy to answer.”
I cross my arms. “Try.”
Her eyes move back to mine as she swallows. “I’ve asked myself that question many times. The first time I thought something wasn’t right was after I overheard my dad on a phone call. I asked him about it, and he had some explanation. I wanted so much to believe him, so I did.”
I’m not surprised she’d believe him. “But at some point, you must have seen through his excuses.”
She nods. “I did. I called you.”
My stomach flips, and I sit down on my bed. I always wondered if she would reach out. But it was something I would never know. “I changed my number about a year after I last saw you.”
“Why?”
For a split second, I wonder if I should make something up but then decide the truth is best. “I drove myself crazy checking to see if you’d called or texted. After a year, I figured you wouldn’t, so I got a new phone and number, hoping it would help me to stop obsessing over you.”
She blinks several times, and her eyes become glassy. She turns away. “Oh.”
