The One He Never Held novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Hailey Chooses

Jo's POV

They let Damian out of the hospital on Thursday with four cracked ribs and a stitched eyebrow.

Tim drove us home in the delivery van with the heater on high.

Damian sat beside me with his head against the window and held my hand the whole way.

He had not let go of it once in two days.

Hailey was waiting at the top of the stairs. She had washed her hair and put on one of my cardigans.

"I want to talk to you," she said. "Both of you."

We sat at the kitchen table with the black ledger between us.

"Daddy called," Hailey said.

I felt Damian stiffen beside me.

"On the neighbor's phone. He's known the number since Monday." She twisted a cuff around her finger. "He cried. He said he forgives me for everything. He said if I come home before Saturday, no one will ever mention it."

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I said I'd think about it."

"Hailey."

"I wanted to hear how it sounded." She looked up, and her eyes were dry. "It sounded the way it has my whole life. Like being a doll in a nice dress."

Nobody said anything.

"I called him back an hour ago and told him no. I said, 'Daddy, I'm not coming home. I'm standing next to Jo.'"

"What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything for a long time." Her voice shook. "Then he said, 'That is a pity,' and hung up."

I reached across the table and took her hand.

"You don't have to stand next to anyone."

"I do." She pulled the ledger toward her with both hands. "He's the father of my baby, and I love him, and he's a coward. But he carried Damian out of that shed."

"He did."

"I'm not going to be less brave than that." She slid the book across to me. "Copy whatever you need tonight. At the gala I'll hand the original to the cameras myself. Daddy kept it locked in the safe in his study, and I opened that safe myself. It's mine to give."

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