“Did you know about the father?” He slowly looked over at her. She said nothing. “Did you know?” he repeated.
“Yes. Logan told me.”
“You should have told me before we went in there. To at least prepare me.” His insides were jumping with annoyance. “You want us to talk openly, to work as a team, then we need to lay everything out.”
“It’s not like I withheld it on purpose.”
What was he going to do? Accuse her of lying to his face? But there was a part of him that was deeply offended, as if she had left this out on purpose. He’d told her about his aunt before. If she was trying to protect him from the ugliness of the world, too late. He’d already seen it many times over.
THIRTEEN
She didn’t want this to be goodbye, but she knew very well that’s exactly what it needed to be. If she was to move on successfully from her life, she had to make a clean break of it. She couldn’t leave without at least talking to Shell, though. They were blood. They had been there together through most of the ugly. Side by side.
Their father’s drinking.
Their parents fighting.
Their mother’s murder—at their father’s hand.
He could swear it was an accident all he wanted, but not even a jury bought it. The evidence and testimony from neighbors about her father’s violent mood swings and his alcohol addiction damned him.
So she lived with it because she had no other choice. It was that or resist and spiral down into Crazy Town. But that day would always haunt her. There was no rationalization or justification. Only questions. The main one being three simple letters. W. H. Y.
Her future was doomed to be an endless cycle, doing what she did with Nick, until that night at the bar. Enter Logan Hunter.
All because of a dare issued by her best friend, Roo, who thought it was time she meet a nice guy and settle down. She was twenty-nine, but marriage wasn’t in her purview. Nick had grown more into the role of an older brother. He was adamant they keep their relationship professional. Romantic entanglements could threaten the entire operation.
Roo had signed Claire up for the dating app. When Logan’s picture came on screen, Roo had grabbed her phone and set up a meet in person.
Logan was handsome in the strictest sense. Blond, muscular, and the way he peered into her eyes that first night made her question whether he could tap her darkest, most intimate secrets.
“I’m only here because of my friend,” she told him as she sat in the booth across from him.
“You too?” He smiled. Flashing dimples. And how she had a thing for them.
“You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. My friend John thought I needed to get out more.”
They laughed and what was to be one drink, then the door, ended up being three drinks, dinner, a nightcap, and an overnight at his place.
In the few weeks that followed, they became inseparable. She should have fought harder to push him away. Her life didn’t allow for such an indulgence, and she certainly wasn’t worthy of how he looked at her. And every time she saw him, she only felt it more. He loved her. She loved him. Maybe she could make it work—her secret life and Logan.
And it was fine for a while. They got married, a small but tasteful event. Her sister stood up for her, and John for Logan.
Kismet—that’s how Michelle and John met and started dating.
But she felt like an impostor, living someone else’s life, one that shouldn’t be hers. She had a father who was a killer—did that live in her DNA? She certainly wasn’t the lily-white image that Logan seemed to see. She had her demons, and they were hers alone to entertain.
All because of choices she’d made and one night that went so terribly wrong. There would be no turning back for her from that point; her life was forever changed.
The events of that time still came to her in flashes, the heaving, the blood, the last breath…
She had to get out of Prince William County. That was decided. She didn’t want to leave Logan, hurt him, but maybe that was unrealistic. Still, she was nothing if not a dreamer with high hopes. Maybe if she got herself far enough away from her past, cut all ties, went somewhere completely unpredictable, everything would be fine.
She decided on Nebraska, five states over from Virginia. That ought to do the trick.
She didn’t just want to leave Shell empty-handed, though. This would be the last time she’d probably see her or talk to her. It was just how it had to be. A complete sever from her life here to move forward with the man she loved. And in Nebraska, surely, she and Logan would be safe.
