Page 195 of Chasing Hope

How could Marcus simultaneously save me and ruin Evie?

It’s been an hour since the big altercation, yet it feels like an eternity. Evie is sitting beside me on the couch, staring off into space, completely detached from what’s occurring around her. All the while, Caleb is pacing in front of us, Kieran sitting to my right, for once silent.

The atmosphere is…I’ve never felt anything like it. It’s as if someone died.

And I suppose, in a way, something did.

Resting my elbows on my knees, I turn my head, eyeing Evie. I want nothing more than to hug her, to soothe her, stroke her hair, but I can tell by the vacant glassy look in her eyes the last thing anyone should do right now is touch her. I blow out a breath at how helpless I feel, peering back down at my shoes as the heaviness of the room slowly suffocates me.

Her own father, I think again.

The man who was meant to protect her, the man who was meant to cherish and love her, the one tasked to keep her safe was the very one who terrorized her, who took her innocence and violated her in a way that is so goddamn repulsive I understand Evie’s fear of me murdering him.

Off the ice, I’m not a violent man. It’s different on the ice in a controlled environment. Any slight feeling of violence I’ve ever experienced is purged there, but tonight…tonight I wanted to wring my hands around his neck and squeeze until he stopped breathing.

And Serena…fucking Serena.

She said she didn’t believe her.

She looked her daughter dead in the eye and chose a monster.

The passing months barrel into my chest like I’ve been struck by a train. The sadness weighing Evie down, why it’s been so fucking hard for her to function, why she was avoiding the family for over a year.

The camera.

Oh my fucking god, the camera. That day I went to hand it to her, horror flooded her features. Marcus must’ve given it to her. No wonder she was so hellbent on purchasing a new one herself.

Every little piece of the puzzle is clicking into place.

A gag rings out through the room.

Caleb’s face darkens to a sickly green shade before he spins on his heel and rushes for the bathroom. The sound of his puking follows a second later.

Kieran and I exchange a look, a bone-deep tired look, and for some reason, I feel like he understands how everyone is feeling. As if he has a story of his own, as if he knows exactly what Evie is feeling in this moment.

Just one look and I can see the ghosts that have been haunting him.

After all, I’ve been watching similar ghosts haunt Evie for months.

Standing, Kieran grabs the thick blanket off the edge of the couch and hands it to Evie. She doesn’t move, doesn’t so much as budge, but Kieran shows her kindness and understanding. He doesn’t say anything, just gently places the blanket around her, cocooning her body, and I note he’s careful not to touch her.

He knows.

Somehow, he knows exactly what she needs.

I want to pull my hair out that I didn’t think to wrap her in a blanket to make her feel safe, a part of myself hating that I didn’t do it, but it’s nowhere near the magnitude of gratefulness I feel that Kieran is here helping. He dips his chin at me before going off down the hall, grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen before stepping into the bathroom and closing the door. It muffles the sound of his soothing words that accompany Caleb’s whimpers as he continues to retch.

“She chose him…again.”

Evie’s broken, cracked words snap my eyes to hers. She’s no longer vacant but she’s weighed down by such sadness that the tears pooling in her eyes make my own sting.

Moving to kneel in front of her, I lift my hand but pause midair. She’s still lookingthroughme, not at me, so I lower my hand, not touching her.

“I know, Dove,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry. We’ll make him pay, I promise. I’ll do everything in my power to get you justice.”

“Why?”

My head rears back. “Because he needs to be punished for what he did.”