Chained Guilt (Hidden Guilt (Detective Series) Book 1) (22 page)

Her eyes grew wide, and then she scowled. “That’s a lie! That’s not what happened!”

“You are not to leave this house or talk to Rodney by phone, email, IM, text . . . hell, not even a fax. Do I make myself clear?”

Tears formed in Hilary’s eyes as she turned away from me and stared out the window.

“So you don’t want to hear my side of it?” she muttered. “You don’t want to hear the truth?”

“I asked you a question, Hilary.”

“You told me to be quiet,” she snapped. “Now you want me to talk? Make up your mind. Or do you need to call Stacy so she can make it up for you?”

“Okay, your one month restriction just went up to two.”

“Make it until I move out; I really don’t care,” she said. “Close my door when you leave.”

I stood staring at Hilary. I had come full circle; my emotions ranged from anger to confusion and sadness. I knew all too well how tough the last year had been for everyone. I somehow felt responsible for this whole thing. If I hadn’t asked about Stacy moving in, this probably wouldn’t be happening. Hilary was rebelling. I knew that. Maybe I had been too damn selfish about the whole thing.

I closed Hilary’s door and walked into my bedroom. I found Karen lying in my bed watching cartoons.

“Daddy, I heard you yelling at Hilary. I don’t want to talk about what happened at the park today. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine, Karen. We can talk about it later. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

I climbed in bed with my little angel, cuddled up, and held her tight.

After Karen fell asleep, I got up to check my email. I wanted to see if De Luca had come across anything new. I grabbed my laptop and logged in. The first thing I saw was an email from Hilary. I could only imagine what it would say. To my surprise it was short and sweet—well . . . not sweet, exactly, but short.

“Dad, is this what I can expect if Stacy moves in? If so, I may have to take my chances elsewhere. Good night.”

I had some soul-searching to do. I didn’t want to lose my daughters. I needed to decide if this whole thing with Stacy was real or just a live-in booty call, as the kids called it. I didn’t believe in coincidence or happen-stance. Had Stacy been following the girls? Was that the real story if so it meant Stacy had lied to me. And as it turned out Hilary’s park make out was brought to light because of it. So maybe it was a good thing.

I couldn’t decide if I’d over-reacted with Hilary or if it was just what she needed in order to snap out of it. I was starting to feel like I should do my own background investigation on Stacy. She’d however been a teenage girl and her gut had been right maybe she was just what I needed to help out with the girls.

41

I rolled over toward the window. The blinds had a crack in them, and the sun was beaming in full-force. Stacy was supposed to come over to begin her weekend stay today. I hadn’t talked to her since she and Hilary had gotten into it at the park. I figured I should talk to Hilary to see if it was worth even trying our little experiment or not.

I took care of my morning business, dressed, and walked down the hall to Hilary’s room. Her door was ajar. I knocked on it.

“Hilary?”

“What, Dad?”

“Wake up. I want to talk to you.”

I stepped into her room and sat down at the foot of her bed.

Hilary slowly rolled over, but she didn’t sit up or even make eye contact with me. She kept a pillow over her head and gave me a thumbs-up.

“Look, I’m sorry I came down so hard on you the other night,” I said. “You know we made a statement regarding your mom’s case the other day. Remember when I told you someone had sent us a note saying your mom was still alive?”

She nodded. The kids had taken it hard at first, but I’d decided they’d be better off hearing about it from me than some kid in school, especially since we’d held a press conference.

“And?” she said, her voice muffled beneath the pillow.

“I admit I was pretty scatterbrained that day.” I paused to gather my thoughts. “That doesn’t excuse your behavior, but I could have handled it better, and I admit that. Furthermore, I should have at least given you the chance to tell your side of the story. I’m sorry. I was wrong about that. You want to tell me your version of what went down the other day?”

“No. When I wanted to talk, you didn’t want to hear it. Now I don’t want to talk.”

“Okay, Hilary, fair enough.  Stacy is supposed to be coming over today to stay the weekend with us. She’s supposed to call me before she comes to make sure everything is still a go.”

“Do whatever you want, Dad.”

“Hil, I don’t want it to be this way. All I’m asking is that you give it a chance. A real chance.”

Hilary finally moved the pillow from her face.

“She hates me, Dad. And I don’t know . . . there’s just something about the way she looks at me sometimes. I can’t put a finger on it, but it gives me the creeps.”

“She doesn’t hate you. She actually admires you. She’s told me as much.” I smiled. “She thinks you’re a smart and talented girl. Please give this a chance. For me.”

I got up, waiting to see if my daughter would respond. Nothing.

“I’m going down to cook some breakfast. I love you, kiddo.”

I went downstairs, prepared breakfast, and held my breath to see if Hilary would come down to join Karen and me at the table. I was pleased when I heard her footsteps on the stairs.

Just as the three of us settled at the table, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Karen shouted, scrambling from her chair to race to the front door.

She opened the door and there stood Stacy, bags in both hands, obviously prepared for her weekend stay.

“Good morning, everyone!” Stacy called out.

I almost spit out my orange juice. 
She was supposed to call
, I thought. Pushy little thing, she was.

“Stacy?” I sputtered. “I thought you were going to call.”

“Oh, I just thought I’d surprise everyone.”

“Well, you accomplished that goal,” Hilary muttered under her breath.

Hilary turned to me.

“You should tell your girlfriend not everyone likes surprises. I’m going to my room. I’m not hungry anymore.”

I sighed and got up to greet Stacy, whose eyes were fixed on Hilary’s retreating back.

“She thinks we’re moving too fast,” I explained. “She’s just going to need a little more time, Stacy. She’ll be okay.”

I leaned down to give Stacy a peck on the cheek. Then I took her bags to my bedroom.  I hadn’t even reached the door when Karen started in on Coach Stacy. I strained to overhear their conversation. 

“I like you, and I like you and daddy hanging out, but I’d rather you and Hil not fight,” Karen said.

“I know, sweetie and I’m sorry,” Stacy said. “I should have butted out the other day. It really wasn’t any of my business. Do you forgive me?”

I returned to the kitchen in time to see my teary-eyed daughter give Stacy a big hug.

“Aww. You okay, Karen?” Stacy smiled.

“Yes, I’m okay,” she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I just want a mommy so bad sometimes. I miss my mommy. And yes, I forgive you, but you need to apologize to Hilary, too.”

I raised my eyebrows. Out of the mouths of babes . . .  A sense of failure washed over me, followed by sadness for my girls. I cleared my throat to let the ladies know I’d reentered the room.

“Karen, you okay, baby?” I said.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, Dad,” she grinned.

“Great! Now how about you help me get this kitchen cleaned up?”

We’d barely cleared the table when the doorbell rang. I frowned. We weren’t expecting any more company this morning.

When I opened the front door, no one was there. I glanced down to find a certified package wrapped in brown butcher paper. The words
Open Immediately—Perishable
were printed across the top in bold, red letters.

I frowned, examining the box as I nudged the door closed with my foot. The package was addressed to me, but it had no return address except for a street, Sycamore, and a local zip code. I was surprised the package had made it through with such sparse return address information.

No sooner had I closed the door when I heard voices outside. I peeked out again to find my in-laws, Tom and Grace, standing there.

“Tom, Grace, what a surprise,” I said, startled. Then I grew nervous.

It had been a few months since their last visit. Why had they decided to show up unannounced the weekend Stacy was supposed to stay with us? What next?

I offered to take their bags and placed the package on the entryway table, temporarily forgotten as I invited them in.

“I hope we’re not intruding, David,” Grace said as she handed me her bag.

              “Hello, David,” Tom said, casting a wary glance in Stacy’s direction. “I told her we should have called first.”

“Granny!” Karen yelled in excitement, running into the entryway for a hug.

“No problem. Tom, Grace . . . uh, this is my . . . friend, Stacy.”

              It was not how I had planned to introduce Stacy to the family. I didn’t need anyone’s approval, but I still felt a strong sense of uneasiness. I was sure they would, too. I thought I’d waited more than long enough to start dating. But now I was questioning myself, and I felt sure Tom and Grace were doing the same.

Miranda’s parents continued to stare at Stacy unapologetically. I cleared my throat. Deep down, I’m sure they both knew the girls and I would eventually move on, but I could tell the shock was affecting them. I got the feeling neither of them really fancied Stacy. Still, that would have been true no matter what woman was trying to fill their Miranda’s shoes, I’m sure.

Hilary heard all the chatter downstairs and peeked out to see what was going on. When she saw her grandparents, she ran down to greet them.

“Boy, am I sure glad to see you,” Hilary muttered as she hugged her grandmother.

Hilary didn’t waste any time and quickly dragged her grandmother upstairs to her room.

“Grace,” Tom called after her. “I think we should get a hotel room for the next few days.”

“Don’t be silly.” I jumped in, though I didn’t want to. They had been so good to me and the girls. I had no problems with them at all, but the timing was bad this trip—really bad.

42

Tom and I left the ladies at the house and went to the store to pick up what we needed for a barbeque later. I wondered what kind of trouble Hilary might create while I was gone. She had apparently lost all fondness for Stacy, and I was sure Grace didn’t care for her too much either.

“So where’d you meet this Stacy, David?” Tom wasted no time asking once we were in the garage.

We climbed into the truck. I didn’t answer until we were on the road, headed toward the store. I didn’t think it prudent to mention I’d first met her at Miranda’s memorial service.

“She was Karen’s softball coach. She’s a really nice girl.” I needed to make the point right away. “I’m not trying to replace Miranda, Tom. She’s the mother of my children and always will be. I’ll never be able to replace her.” I sighed. “But at some point . . .”

“At some point what, David? At some point you’ll have to move on? Forget about Miranda? Start a new life?”

I glanced at my former father-in-law. His face was red with anger, and I saw pain in his eyes. I knew I was the cause of his discomfort. I waited a few seconds before I spoke up and considered my words carefully.

“Tom, we all lost someone dear to us. I won’t sit here and pretend I know what it feels like to lose a child because I don’t. But I do know what it feels like to lose your best friend and wife. It hurts like hell. It hurts every day. Stacy allows me to be myself again. I feel more alive when I can share time with an adult companion. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

“Let’s just drop it, David,” he said, staring out the window. “How have the girls been?”

“They’re doing okay. Karen is as sweet as ever, and Hilary is . . . well . . . still Hilary. If she changed at this point, I’d have to seriously consider admitting her somewhere.”

We rode the rest of the way in silence. The brief conversation had left me questioning myself again. When we arrived at the meat market, we picked up ribs, charcoal, and a tub of potato salad. It wasn’t until we got back in the truck that Tom spoke again.