Page 33 of Law Maker
Subject: Asher Williams
Hi Miguel,
It’s been a while. Hope you’re doing great. I’ve been trying to reach you, but it looks like you have a different number now. I was hoping we could catch up, so please get in touch as soon as you can.
Asher
Ihit send, shoved the laptop aside, and rubbed a palm over my face. It wasn’t everything I wanted to say, but if I pushed and Miguel kept ignoring me like he had for years, I’d never get the answers I needed. And if I did manage to talk to him—if he confirmed Dad had made a mistake like everyone else seemed to think—I’d have to accept it and move on. Knowing the truth wouldn’t bring him back, but at least I’d get closure.
I straightened on the stool and snapped the laptop shut just as my mother appeared in the doorway. Kaia hadn’t wanted me to say anything, but after she lost her job, I sure as fuck couldn’t stay quiet.
“Good morning,” Mom said, heading for the coffee maker. “You’re up early. Training?”
I should have been—but I was taking Kaia to the beach instead. “Not today. I wanted to talk to you while we’re alone.”
She poured coffee into a mug. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“Kaia waited for you yesterday. She lost her job because you didn’t show.”
Mom leaned against the counter, sighed, and tapped her nails on the mug. “She doesn’t need to work. Believe me. It’s just a rebellious phase teenagers go through. They think their parents are against them. Kaia doesn’t realize her dad’s looking out for her. Why take a job that pays next to nothing when he’s always made sure she has everything she needs?”
A dry laugh scraped out of me. How could she be so oblivious?
“Why do I race, then?” I asked. “Dad left me enough money.”
She sipped her coffee and looked out the window. “It’s not the same.”
“Did you forget her on purpose?”
She turned, eyes flashing. “Who do you think I am?”
“Someone who thinks her boyfriend is a fucking saint and refuses to see the obvious.”
She set her mug on the counter and folded her arms around herself. “So, we’re back to this? You’re going to behave like you did five years ago?”
I wasn’t fifteen anymore. I still didn’t like Russell—or who my mother became with him—but it was her life. Dad wasn’t coming back. I could handle myself, but Kaia was too young to suffer her father’s neglect.
I scoffed. “Don’t worry. I won’t cause problems with your boyfriend. I just wanted to know what was more important than picking Kaia up and taking her to work.”
“It’s just too much sometimes. I’m the one who takes her everywhere. It’s hard to keep up with her schedule.”
Bullshit. I stood, grabbed my laptop, and headed for the door. Staying meant saying something that would shred our fragile peace even more.
“I can take Kaia places,” I said. “In fact, I’m taking her to the beach today. Hopefully your boyfriend doesn’t think breathing fresh air counts as rebellion.”
She didn’t answer, but her dramatic sigh followed me out of the kitchen.
***
I drove Kaia to a beach near Emerport. Perfect—white sand stretched for a mile, and seagulls were our only company, crying overhead as they dove for food. Kaia giggled, wide-eyed, as we strolled the water’s edge.
“How can they see the fish when the ocean’s so choppy?”
“Instinct, I guess.” I touched her elbow lightly, steering her away from a tide pool cutting across the sand. “Do you like the beach?”
“Love it. I haven’t been to one in forever.”
I couldn’t say the same. Back home in El Puerto, I’d spent hours by the ocean. Early jogs along the wooden walkway at Playa de las Redes always cleared my head.
