Angel of Redemption (92 page)

Kayla

After Dean and I get
dressed, we make our way out to the living room. Claire is there.

“Your phone’s been going nuts since I got in
here,” she says without looking up. She sounds off, but I can’t figure out if
she’s just tired or if something has happened.

“I know,” Dean sighs, giving me a sideways glance
to tell me he’s noticed the weird feeling, too. “I’ll be home in a few hours.
Claire, are you parked behind me?”

“No. I parked on the street.”

“Cool. Thanks. Bye, baby.” He leans in for one
more kiss. “You’ve got sex hair, too, by the way,” he whispers in my ear. I run
my hands over my tangled mess as he disappears out the front door. Jerk. I get
myself a snack, and Claire and I sit down to watch the last half hour of
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
.

“Did you see my dad was arraigned today?” she
asks nonchalantly. Ah, that’s it.

“I heard,” I answer. When she doesn’t say
anything else, I glance up. “How are you feeling about that?”

She shrugs. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“I think it does.”

“Why? It’s not like it’s going to change
anything. He’ll pay exorbitant amounts of money for the best lawyers to get him
off on some technicality. He’ll go home, beat up Mom for no other reason than because
he’s in a bad mood, and then he’ll go back to screwing over patients and
fucking his nurses.”

My jaw literally drops. I’m not sure I’ve ever
heard my sister be as blunt and harsh as this.

“What?” she asks when she sees I’m speechless.
“It’s true. None of it has anything to do with me. It’s not like either one of
them gives a shit about me or my baby. I’ll just do it on my own.”

“Hey!” I protest. “What is the matter with you?”

“Nothing,” she says flatly. “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit. You have been nothing but unpleasant
since you walked in that door.”

“Logan hasn’t touched me in over a week,” she
says quietly. I need a second to think before I can respond. If she were one of
my friends or even if she were a little older, I wouldn’t hesitate, but she’s
my baby sister. And I’m her guardian.

“Uhhhh
…”

“Forget it,” she grumbles.

“No,” I sigh. “I don’t want to forget it. That’s
just not what I was expecting. Did you guys get into a fight?”

“No. He just won’t have sex with me.”

Oh, God. Please kill me now.

“I’m getting fat and he doesn’t think I’m sexy
anymore.”

“That’s not true. First of all, you are not
getting fat—you’re having a baby. His baby.”

“Yeah, well. There are a lot of other girls who
can still get naked for him and get his attention. I’ve apparently lost it.”
She huffs loudly and bites her lip.

“What makes you think that?” I ask, not sure I
want to know the answer.

“Normally he can’t keep his hands off me.” She
sniffs.

“Okay.”

“And I told you, he hasn’t touched me in a week.”

“Have you asked him why?”

“No.”

“Okay, well, that’s where I would start.”

“What if he tells me he doesn’t want me anymore?”
she whimpers.

“Relax, Claire. You’re beautiful. Logan loves you.
Give him a little more credit. Just talk to him about it. Maybe he’s just
having a bad week at work.”

“Then why wouldn’t he just say that?”

“Honey, he’s a guy. He’s a guy who isn’t used to
expressing himself with words. Plus, he’s exceptionally protective of you. The
last thing he wants is for you to worry about him. Just talk to him, okay? I’m
sure everything’s fine.”

“You really think so?” I can hear the hopefulness
in her voice, and I hope I didn’t screw up.

“I think you need to talk to him.”

She brightens up a little bit after that. I don’t
mention her dad again. She chatters some about school. It’s hard, mostly
because of the accelerated pace, but she’s doing really well. Most of the kids
in her classes are there because they’re trying to graduate early and start
college classes mid-year, but Claire says none of them have said anything about
her situation. Either someone actually taught them manners, or they’re more
concerned with themselves than worrying about someone else
’s private
life. Either way, I’m happy she’s not getting shit from them. It makes things a
lot easier.

Andy comes in around six. He’s been steadily
moving things out little by little. I’m not sure if he realizes I’ve noticed. I
want him to do this, though. I want him to be happy.

“You’re staying for dinner, right?” I ask,
looking up from painting Claire’s toenails a brilliant blue.

“Uh
…”

“I’m kidding, dork. Go home to your girlfriend.”

“Are you sure?” Andy asks.

“Well, you can stay. Claire and I can paint your
toenails. Maybe do your hair.” I see Dean walk in the door behind my brother. I
grin at him. “Just ask Dean. He looks so pretty with bows and ribbons in his
hair. His niece, Ashley, is a particularly good hair stylist.” Dean groans. He
and Andy greet each other like guys do. “I think I might actually have a
picture here somewhere,” I say, grabbing my phone.

“See you later, Andy.” Dean laughs.

“Bye, Andy,” Claire and I both shout obnoxiously.

“You still have that picture?” Dean narrows his
eyes at me.

“What picture?” I ask, finding what I’m looking
for and handing my phone to Claire.

“Oh my God!” she squeals. “Dean, you are the
sweetest ever!”

I hear him mumbling, and he catches my eye. “
You’re in trouble,
” he mouths.

It’s Friday night, so instead of eating in, Dean
takes Claire and me out for dinner
—much to the chagrin of Logan,
who is working late on a rush job at the shop. He spends about twenty minutes
on the phone whining to Claire before she gets fed up, tells him to go back to
work, and ends the phone call with a huff.

“What’s going on with them?” Dean asks as we
enter the restaurant.

“
Claire thinks Logan isn’t attracted to
her anymore,” I whisper. Dean looks at me like I’m crazy. “Yeah, I know, but
she’s seventeen, Dean. She could be a supermodel and still think she’s fat and
ugly.” He chuckles and throws his arm over my shoulder.

* * *

Dean has to work the
Saturday overnight shift, but since Andy has poker night, Sara and I have a
chance to hang out, which makes us both happy. There’s a band she wants to see
playing at a bar downtown. Neither one of us intends to get drunk, but we take
a taxi anyway. It’s a nice chance for us to relax. We keep things easy and
light. Four hours and a few glasses of wine later, we’re stumbling a little
more than we intended. It’s a giggly buzz, though.

Logan’s there when we get home, but not in the
living room. Or in the kitchen. Or anywhere I can actually see him.
Unfortunately, I can hear him. It sobers me up way too fast.

Apparently they’ve fixed their issue.

I’m torn between being grossed out and kinda
pissed. Sara tries not to laugh, but she’s just drunk enough that she can’t
hide how funny she thinks it is.

“Shut up,” I grumble. I knock loudly on Claire’s
bedroom door.

“Fuck!” I hear shuffling and stumbling. Claire
opens the door after a minute. She’s dressed, but not put together. She’s not
fooling anyone.

“Hi.”

“Tell Logan it’s time to go home. Now,
” I
order. She opens her mouth, presumably to deny, but rethinks it. “And we’re
gonna talk about this in the morning.”

“Oh, God,” Sara cries, falling onto my bed. “This
is hysterical.”

“Now I know how my mom felt when she found me and
Jimmy,” I mumble, slipping off my skirt and putting on sweats. “Do you need
some pajamas?”

Sara holds out her hand without moving. “How is
your mom?”

I shrug. “Don’t know. Last I heard, Richard was
arrested for battery. She won’t press charges.”

“I saw on the news he was arraigned.”

“Yep.”

“What about Claire?”

“Nothing. Jasmine says we can look at
guardianship.”

“Is that something you want to do?”

I hear the front door close, and a few seconds
later, Logan’s car start up.

“After that, I’m not so sure,” I joke.

“Seriously though,
” Sara says.

I nod.
“Yeah. Honestly, I wish I didn’t
have to. Not because I don’t love my sister. I just feel bad that she has to go
through this. But if I take guardianship now, there will be a review in six
months. The baby will be here, Claire will only be a few months from being
eighteen. I think it’s pretty unlikely they’ll send her back. I want her to
have that security and permanence. She needs it.”

“You don’t want her to go back.” It’s a
statement, not a question.

I shake my head. “As long as he’s there, no. Men
like him don’t change.”

“But what if he goes to jail?”

“The trial won’t be for months. He’s out on bond;
he can’t go back to work. And if he does go to jail, I don’t think Claire wants
to go back to my mom. I think the trust is gone.
”

Sara leaves it there. We’re both tired.

“There’s no jizz on these sheets, is there?” she
asks, lifting the comforter gingerly.

“All over,” I deadpan. “Dean and I go at it
24/7.” I see her lip curl up. “No,” I laugh. “We’re still using protection, and
I changed the sheets today anyway.”

Sara and I climb into my bed. “You want to
snuggle? Spoon?”

“Shut up,” I laugh, burying my face into my
pillow. “Why aren’t you sleeping in Andy’s room?”

“Because I love you.” She grins. “And I miss
this.”

I turn my head to face her. “I miss you, too.”

* * *

“I said I’m sorry.”

Sunday morning, I wait until Andy and Sara are
gone before I lay into Claire. Dean’s home, but he’s staying out of the way.
Good plan.

“I don’t want to be some overreacting
mother-type, Claire. I get that you’re almost an adult and you’re having a
baby. But that was really disrespectful. I don’t have a lot of rules, but
having sex with your boyfriend in my house is just
…not okay.”

“I know,” she mumbles, her head down. I could
keep going, but I’ve already made my point.

“Good. Do you have homework?”

When Claire goes back to her room to get her
books, I sit down at the table. Dean hands me a cup of coffee.

“I think that might be my fault,” he says, taking
a seat across from me.

“What might be?”

“Logan called me yesterday to ask if having sex
would hurt the baby. I guess that’s what his issue’s been. Now that Claire is
showing, he’s worried he’s going to do some damage. I told him it was fine.” I
just stare at him. He grimaces. “Sorry. I was just answering his question. I
didn’t think of it in context. If I had
…”

I put my hand up to stop him. “Forget about it. I
don’t want to think about it anymore. How was work?” I listen to Dean talk
about the Wyatt House kids without really mentioning names so as not to violate
confidentiality. It
’s all surface stuff. His offer is always in the back
of my mind. Days like today, when he’s smiling and laughing about their antics,
it’s closer to the front. But if I’m going to go, it needs to be for the right
reasons.

“I’m thinking about going to see my mom,” I
mention when he’s done. He raises his eyebrows in surprise. “I want to shoot for
guardianship of Claire, but I need to talk to her first.”

“When are you thinking about going?”

“Tomorrow, I guess. After work. Assuming I make
it.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t have to. Or you can,” I add when he
scowls at me.

“It wasn’t a question, sweetheart. I’m going with
you.”

“Okay.”

* * *

“I don’t like this,
Kayla.”

“I’ll text you if I have a problem. I promise.”

“Do not go into that penthouse if he’s there.”

We’ve been arguing about this for over half an
hour, ever since he picked me up at work. I finally managed to make it a whole
day. I had two visits with kids in their foster homes and went to a well-child
appointment for one of my babies who was born drug exposed. It kept me busy
enough that I didn’t have time to be anxious.

“Come up with me. If he’s there, you can stay,
but if he’s not
…”

“I’ll come down here and wait.”

I’m lucky that the security guard is the young
guy who I think has had a crush on me for the last several years. He lets us
past him without calling up. I hope he doesn’t get fired for it.