Page 53 of A Lifetime of Afters
Stepping back, his neck corded, his vein pulsing, the fury he’d held in check now palpable, he roared, “It will never be okay! We. Are. Done.”
I reeled back, my hand over my breaking heart. Disbelief rendering me speechless.
Spinning on his heel, he picked up his chair and flung it against the wall where it smashed on impact.
“No,” I mewled, as he fell apart. I backed up, my hands over my mouth, stunned by the force of his rage. This mood I’d never encountered. How did we get to this crazy place where I didn’t even know him?
Picking up a leg, he smashed it against the wall again and again until only splinters remained. His chest heaving, he stood with his hands braced against the wall.
I took a single, tentative, step forward. “Hawk?”
Roaring, he drew back his fist, slammed it into the wall, and walked out, sparing me not a glance. Drops of blood spilled from his split knuckles, marking a trail to the devastation he left in his wake.
“Oh, God,” I whispered. Half in disbelief, half in supplication.
Staggering back into a chair, I leaned forward and hugged my knees. His face. His furious face. Those lifeless eyes.
We are done.
No. No way.
My head shot up. Was he going to drive? I didn’t have time to break down, I needed to stop him.
By the time I made it to the front door, he was gone. Through the window, I watched as his car sped past.
A knock on the door.
It’s your son.
There was an accident.
Hunter is gone.
‘Drive carefully, darling,’ my heart cried, my hand splayed on the glass until his taillights winked out of sight.
I stood facing the window, staring into the past, threading an imaginary ribbon through my fingers as I prayed that history would not repeat itself.
A new set of footsteps sounded behind me. I turned to face the next onslaught only to see my dad, wary eyes alert, heading straight for me.
Two steps away, he held out his hand.
I grasped it like a lifeline, and he pulled me into his side. Still taller than me, but shorter than he used to be, that change, a blistering reminder of another loss yet to come.
I gulped.
Felt myself being ushered forward.
A door closed.
Lou’s office. Warm with wood, lit with stained glass. Covered in family photos.
He turned me into his chest, his tight hug holding me together.
I curled into him.
My body stiffened.
Oh, no no no no no.
