Pine Lake Inn Cozy Mystery Box Set Two: Books 4 to 6 by K. J. Emrick

Author:K. J. Emrick [Emrick, K. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B0894RCFH5
Publisher: South Coast Publishing
Published: 2020-05-24T00:00:00+00:00

In our cabin I found James sitting on our bed. Elbows on his knees, he was holding his head in his hands as if that was the only thing keeping him from exploding. He looked up when I came in. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

“Don’t shut me out,” I told him gently. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

“It’s a little bit much, don’t ya think?”

“James…” What can I say to him? What would make this better? “I told Stevie that we would be back to talk to her. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Back? Dell, why in the name of God would we be going back? Were you in the same room that I was just now? Did ya hear what that girl said? It’s just so… unbelievable. Me and Spectra were only together for a few weeks. Nothing shoulda come of it. Me and her… it was a whirlwind, it was. Bit of a wild phase for me, I guess. Then me career started to take off and I realized she wasn’t the kind of woman that I could make a life with.” He gestured helplessly with one hand. “She wasn’t you, in other words.”

“Nobody’s me,” I had to agree. I wanted to get closer to him, but something was stopping me. Something was still there between us, as real as any physical wall would’ve been. “James, you have to go back and talk to Stevie. I mean, get your head around it first because I can’t imagine what you must be thinking right now, but then you have to go talk to that girl.”

His hands dropped to his sides, and I watched as they curled into fists. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. She’s your daughter.”

“She’s no daughter of mine!” The words hung there in the air for several long seconds while James took in a slow breath. “She’s my ex-girlfriend’s daughter. That’s who she is.”

“Oh, James, don’t be like that.”

“How should I be? Tell me that, Dell. How should I be?” Now he stood up, and began pacing back and forth between the beds. “I’m supposed to just be all daddy’s home? How messed up is that? No. I can’t do that. I don’t know how to be a father!”

“I am a mother, remember?” I reached out for him again. “I know what it’s like to be a parent. Why don’t you talk to me?”

“I can’t. I can’t do this.”

The impact of those words settled in hard. He looked down at my hand, held out to him, and shook his head.

“James, talk to me. Let me help you.”

“No. Dell, just… no. I don’t want this. I don’t want that woman to be my daughter.”

“I don’t think you can do anything to change it,” I pointed out to him.

“Yes, I can.” He stopped pacing, and looked out through the windows of the cabin. “Oh, look. There’s Alistair. Come on.”

“James, please,” I started to say. We needed to figure this out. We needed to stay here and figure this out, not go traipsing off with James’s new friend.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.