Chapter 17

Seventeen

Haden

“Let me explain.”

Presley is standing inside my office, a visible flush in her cheeks. Eloise left minutes ago, and yet in the space of that time, silence surrounds us.

Timing was fucked-up. Eloise had arranged to meet Noah, not me, except he got called into another meeting. I didn’t think it would be a big deal since Presley stormed out of the office hours ago, telling Maria she wouldn’t return.

“Eloise was here to meet with Noah. They’re working on something together. I’m not involved, marketing is all Noah’s team.”

Her lips are pressed flat, and pupils flare with her angered expression. I know she despises Eloise. But she has to know there’s nothing going on which should warrant any jealousy. I fucking love Presley.

“Will you say something?” I ask her, raising my tone in frustration. “But, I guess, you wouldn’t care what I do unless it involves Sandy, right?”

My words seem to resonate, sparking a furious stare coupled with silence.

“How long has this been going on?” she grits.

“There’s nothing going on!” I shout, irritated by her assumptions. “She called me a while ago, and I gave her Noah’s contact information. That’s it.”

Presley lowers her gaze toward the floor. “I need to go…”

Panic rushes over me, my heart starts pounding at an increasingly rapid rate. She has to know nothing is going on with Eloise. I can call Noah, get him to explain. Fuck!

“Where are you going?” I demand.

She shakes her head with a twisted mouth. “Anywhere but here.”

Presley walks out of my office, and I don’t follow. Burying my head into my hands, I know this is the tip of the fucking iceberg. We are falling apart. The old me would have raced after her, demanded we go home so I can prove to her how much I only want her.

But I don’t have it left in me.

She has torn me to pieces, and I don’t know how to fight any longer.

Grabbing my things, I send Presley a text telling her I’ll pick up Masen. She doesn’t respond, though I can see the message was read.

Masen is exactly the distraction I need. We stop at a local burger joint, picking up something to eat before heading home. It’s almost like he knows something is wrong because he’s quieter than usual and even agreeing to go to bed without a fuss.

Once he is fast asleep, I pour myself a scotch, almost finishing it by the time I walk outside to the back deck with my guitar in hand. There’s a slight breeze, the perfect amount to distract my thoughts and focus on tuning my guitar. I can’t remember the last time I played out here, and to warm up, I begin to play Maroon 5, singing along to “Memories” until the sound of the back door stops me.

I place my guitar against the chair beside me. Presley doesn’t say a word, and taking a deep breath, I push the anger aside and control my voice.

“I can’t do this anymore, Presley. Watch you destroy us because why… we lost a baby?”

Under the moonlight and the fairy lights hovering above us, I can see her posture stiffen.

“Destroy us?” she states in a chilling tone. “Because it’s always my fault, right?”

It kills me that she blames herself. I can’t understand why she thinks she has anything to do with physically losing the baby. Yes, at first, we both thought we did something wrong, but just like Charlie said, these things are in the hands of God. I never considered myself an overly religious person, but fuck, I have no idea what he is doing to us right now. My faith is beyond shattered.

“It’s not your fault,” I tell her, faintly.

“You didn’t lose a baby, Haden. Let’s get that straight,” she shot back. “I lost the baby. Therefore, all my fault.”

Clint’s words echo in my head. Cassandra has something to do with this, I’m dead certain. The woman standing before me is not the Presley I fell in love with.

And she changed the moment Cassandra came into her life.

This person? She’s a stranger.

“So, what do you want, Presley? No matter what I do, I can’t seem to make you happy anymore.”

Her shadow doesn’t move an inch, her silence making her almost invisible. My frustration builds, on the verge of exploding. I take a deep breath curbing my desperate need to shout and cuss hurtful words to make her realize she’s fucking wrong.

“I’m going to go away for a few days,” she mutters, unable to look at me. “I need time to think.”

“Think?”

“About us.”

The second it leaves her mouth, it crushes me.

My limbs begin to tremble, my chest tightens, making it impossible to breathe.

Why the fuck is she doing this?

“You can’t just leave, you have responsibilities,” I remind her with a raised tone. “You’re a mother.”

A menacing laugh escapes her lips. “For the last four years, I’ve dedicated my life to you and Masen. Who dedicates their life to me? Certainly not you…” she pauses, each word cutting through me like a sharp knife. “I’ve lost who I am. I want to feel alive again.”

“And you think you need Cassandra to do that?” I bark.

“Leave her out of this.”

“Leave her out of this?” I jump to my feet, my guitar tumbling to the patio deck as the anger consumes me, my fist pounding against my thighs. “She’s the fucking reason why you won’t let me touch you anymore. I can’t believe I’m even saying this.”

“And I can’t believe how closeminded you are,” she fires back. “Actually, yes, I can. Probably one of the reasons you hid Eloise’s return from me.”

This is beyond Eloise, and I refuse for Presley to use that as an excuse. She knows I would never lay a finger on another woman.

“So that’s it. You’re just going to take off to God knows where to do what, Presley? Get drunk and party like you’re in college?”

This is the breaking point. I’m blinded by a serving of rage, only tasting bitterness toward them. Every word she mouths stings, fueling the fire burning inside of me.

I didn’t think we were beyond broken.

Until her eyes lift, and her stare is anything but loving.

I’m not staring at the woman I love. She is lost, possessed by this beast who actively wants to destroy us.

I want to save her.

I want to bring her back to me.

But I’m crippled by the shattering of my heart, watching it fall to a million pieces in one cold stare.

“No, Haden,” she says, falling into a momentary digestive silence. “To think about if I still want to be in this marriage.”