Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

Aelin and Bailey stood on the crowded sidewalk, the morning sun already beating down on their shoulders. Bailey tugged on her shirt, eyes wide as the band marched down the street at the start of the Canada Day parade. Floats adorned in red and white crept down the street, people waved Canadian flags, and children darted past the curb to collect the candy that was most certainly cracked and crumbled inside the wrappers.

Aelin leaned down to Bailey. "Remember when we went to the Rose Parade with Grandma and Grandpa?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah, there weren't any bagpipes."

Aelin laughed. "True, definitely lacking in bagpipes." She looked back at the procession of men in kilts.

"I want to be in a parade." Bailey grabbed a sucker that landed next to her shoe.

Aelin smiled, ruffling her daughter's hair. "Ooh, you guys should do it as a choir next year!"

Bailey beamed at her. "Do you think they'd let us?"

Aelin shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to ask."

After they were hot and sweaty from walking through the Indigenous Artisans Market and watching a few performances on the main stage, they made their way to Megan's house .

The backyard was a welcome haven from the crowds at the Confluence and the parking lot on all the streets leading from the East Village. Tag stood in front of the grill manning the burgers, and Aelin took her dill pickle salad to join the rest of the sides on the picnic table.

"Glad you made it!" Megan greeted them with a bright smile and a wave. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a sleeveless blouse and denim shorts that showed off her somehow already-tan legs.

Aelin gave her a hug, and Tag waved from the grill. "Hope you're hungry. I put on extra burgers."

Aelin nodded. "Starving. Thanks for having us." She followed Megan into the kitchen and helped transport paper products outside as neighbours and friends began arriving, then set up camping chairs and jumped into small talk with some of the people she'd met last year.

Bailey disappeared after only eating half her burger and some chips and spent the rest of the afternoon playing dodgeball on the neighbour's trampoline. After dinner was put away and a few wine coolers later, Aelin and Bailey walked with the others along the sidewalk toward the park.

It was only seven thirty. They still had three-plus hours to wait until fireworks but there were horseshoe pits, a playground, and a disc golf course to keep them busy. They played and chatted until it started to get dark, then staked out their spot on the hill.

Megan was talking with some women from her neighbourhood, so Aelin pulled out her phone and scrolled to her sister's contact. After a couple of rings, Mariah's voice came through.

"Happy Canada Day!"

Aelin laughed. "I know you don't think it's a real holiday. You don't have to pretend."

"They still have the queen on their money. That's all I'm saying. "

Aelin stood and walked up the hill a ways. "Ugh. I miss you. Why is it still two weeks until we get to hang out?"

"Okay . . . speaking of which. I have some bad news."

Aelin's stomach dropped. "If you tell me you're not coming?—"

"No! No, we're coming for sure, but Blake dropped out."

Aelin groaned. "Seriously? He's known about this for over six months." Blake, their youngest brother, wasn't flaky, and he loved Flathead more than both of them combined. "What happened?"

Mariah sighed. "He got some opportunity to backpack in Switzerland."

Aelin pursed her lips. Okay. So that was a pretty damn good excuse. "Are his friends still coming?"

"No, they decided it would be weird if he wasn't there."

Not wrong. But that left her and Mariah footing the bill for five cabins between the two of them. Aelin's pulse thrummed in her ears. That was three hundred a night times five. Times seven nights.

Holy shit. Her breath came in quick bursts.

"Stop it, Aelin. I can hear you starting to hyperventilate."

She held her breath. "We've passed the cancellation date."

"I know, but we can find someone else to come," Mariah said flippantly.

"Who else? We've already asked everyone we know."

Mariah sighed. "Not everyone."

"Okay, everyone we like. " She'd asked Megan and Tag, some of her friends from college, and even a friend of one of her roommates who she'd met once last spring who seemed fairly not annoying. "We couldn't fill the last cabin, and now we have to fill three?"

"I know. But I'm going to work on this. I promise. Mom and Dad said?—"

Aelin groaned. The last thing she wanted was her parent's friends to stay next to them and judge her obvious single status. But she couldn't afford this. There was no way in hell she could pay half that bill if they didn't get someone in there. She ran a hand through her hair, the perfect summer lake week slipping through her fingers in exchange for a geriatric couple's retreat.

"Don't worry. We'll have the boat and tubes and Leo even bought new kids' skis. It's going to be amazing. I'll work on some friends here. We'll fill them. Or at least the two that Blake was supposed to take."

Aelin nodded. Could they make Blake pay his share if they couldn't cover it? He had committed, but it wasn't like they'd gotten it in writing. They'd gone to Flathead every summer for the past four years and never had a problem.

"I'm sorry to stress you out. I know Clark's being an asshat about child support."

Aelin scoffed. "Understatement of the year." She drew a deep breath and exhaled. "How are the kids?"

"They're good. A month into summer, and I don't want to kill them yet." Something clattered, and Mariah cursed under her breath.

"I can't believe they've already been out a month."

"When you only have to learn about American history, it saves a lot of time."

Aelin laughed, then saw Bailey running up the hill toward her. "I've got to run, almost time for fireworks."

"Love you."

"Love you most." Aelin dropped the phone and walked back to her seat. "You going to call Amaya?" Aelin asked as Bailey reached for the backpack.

She nodded and pulled out the tablet. "I don't know where she's watching the show."

Aelin sat in her chair just as Megan and Tag sat down next to her.

Megan sighed. "This is the perfect night. I haven't even seen a mosquito. "

"Because they're all attacking me." Tag grunted and slapped at his leg.

Megan leaned in. "He eats more sugar. I'm pretty sure that's why."

Tag let out an exasperated sigh. "That's not why. That doesn't make any sense."

Aelin reached out and smoothed Bailey's hair as she clicked the button to join the call with Amaya. The call connected, and Amaya's face popped up on the screen, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Girl! Happy Canada Day!"

"Look at this sunset." Bailey turned the screen around to show Amaya the pink clouds above the trees.

Aelin's heart twinged. They sounded so grown up.

"I know, look at this." Amaya turned her screen, and Aelin glanced over to see the sky over the Confluence stage where they'd been that morning.

"We were there earlier!" Bailey announced excitedly.

"My dad and I found a great spot. It's packed, but we have a perfect view of the stage." Amaya settled the tablet in front of her, and Aelin's eyes snagged on the left side of the screen.

Ryan was there on the quilt. He wore a red polo shirt and a backward hat, his hands on the grass, propping him up as he leaned back.

"Aelin, did you hear me?" Megan's voice cut through her thoughts, and Aelin blinked, tearing her eyes away from the screen.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was saying that Tag's brother is trying to set their sister up with this guy who used to do adult review shows in Vegas."

Aelin blinked. "I've never known anyone who did adult reviews in general."

Megan laughed. "I keep begging him to send me pictures."

"Shirt on or off?" Aelin blushed when she realized Bailey wasn't on mute and she was in the frame. Ryan glanced up at the camera. Had he heard that ?

Megan kept talking, but Aelin's eyes drifted back to the screen. Ryan was in a new position, sitting cross-legged. The screen tipped and angled so she could only see . . . the middle of him. His legs and part of his torso. He reached over and grabbed his water bottle, lifted it out of the frame, then set it back on the ground.

Aelin pretended to be watching something in the distance, realizing this wasn't an I can't see his face, so he can't see me situation . He could absolutely be watching the screen even though his face was higher than the camera.

Aelin wanted to interrupt Megan and tell her everything about Ryan and his wife Kara, but she couldn't ask Bailey to mute her tablet in the middle of her conversation with Amaya.

She couldn't wrap her mind around what she would do if she were in his shoes. Looking at Ryan, she wanted to tell him to move on with his life, but she knew it wasn't that simple. If she'd been married to someone she loved?

That idea was equally ludicrous. She didn't even know what that would look like, and even being married to someone like Clark, she hadn't been able to turn off the idea of love or the commitments she'd made like a faucet. It had to be killed. Slowly.

She knew exactly what he meant the other night in his kitchen. Death would've been difficult, but at least he would have closure. If there was no way she was getting better, her diagnosis put them both in the worst kind of limbo.

Still. It didn't seem right that he should have to give up his entire life. That he should deny himself the possibility of starting over.

Something fluttered in her chest. If he did start over . . . what kind of woman would he want to start over with?

Something shifted in her field of vision, and she glanced up. Her whole body went rigid as Clark set up a chair next to Megan and Tag.

"You didn't invite me this year." He smirked .

Megan's eyes flicked to Bailey sitting a few feet away and smiled tightly. "I didn't know you'd be around."

He laughed. "Because you asked?"

Megan folded her arms over her chest and shot Aelin an apologetic glance. Aelin's heart beat like a rabbit. This was her mistake. She shouldn't have come here with Bailey knowing they'd come here the past couple of years with Clark.

"I'm so glad this worked out, though, because I needed to give you information for our daddy-daughter date next time. I need you to pick up Amaya after."

Aelin ground her teeth. Of course he did. That Saturday was the day before they were leaving town, which meant she couldn't say a damn word about this request. He was being generous and letting her take Amaya for the week, missing his normal weekend with her. So now she had to do whatever he wanted.

"Just text me the address," she said.

Clark reached out a hand. "Here. I'll type in the time and place on your calendar."

She frowned. "Uh, you can just?—"

"Aelin, please, don't be difficult about this. It'll be easier to type it in for you. There are some instructions for finding the place." Clark's tone made her want to strangle him.

Bailey looked up from her tablet, and Aelin smiled tightly. "Sure. Makes sense." She swiped open her calendar and clicked on a new event, then handed it to him. Her heart jammed into her throat as she watched his fingers on her screen. It looked like he was typing. Was he swiping or entering information?

Aelin started to sweat. "I think?—"

"Damn it, I accidentally deleted it." He looked up at her and smiled. "Can I make a new one quickly?"

"Why don't I?—"

He waved her off. "Already done. It'll be quick."

Aelin's hands were shaking by the time he handed her phone back. She inspected the entry. It showed nine o'clock at some address in the southwest. "Clark, that's a long drive."

He shrugged. "We're going to ride horses."

Bailey gasped and turned her head. "Horses? Really?"

Clark grinned at her, then stood and picked up his chair. "I'm going to move a little closer up." He shot Aelin a look before taking his chair down the hill and disappearing into the moving shadows.

Glittering light shot into the sky ahead of them.

"They're starting!" Bailey lifted up her tablet and flipped the camera view around for Amaya.

Aelin dragged in a breath as Megan's hand landed on her shoulder. "Such an asshole," she whispered, and Aelin let out a ragged laugh.

Bailey smiled back at her, and she snapped a few pictures, then scooted down to sit next to her and take a selfie together. She slipped her arm around Bailey and watched the show, listening to the synced music on Tag's radio behind them.

Bailey stared in awe at the finale. "Are you cold, Mom?"

Aelin nodded and gave a small smile. Not cold. The shaking happened anytime Clark was around. She couldn't stop it but knew from past experience that it would fade in another hour or so. She was so weak. The thought pounded through her like a gavel.

Cheers rang up around the park, and she stood to pick up her chair. As she went to put her phone in her purse, she saw a message on her screen from her lawyer, Jules.

Check your email ASAP

The blood rushed from her face as she stopped and scrolled to her inbox. She clicked on the message from Julie .

Subject: Urgent Update Re: Division of Assets/Property Settlement

She scanned the message, bile rising in her throat. Requesting the sale of property as part of division of assets . . . spouse unable to financially maintain . . . option to buy out partner's share in property . . . August 10th . . .

Her vision began to blur. Clark was trying to force her to sell the house or buy him out. He knew she couldn't do either, and she knew exactly how he planned to use that to his advantage.