My Last Wish novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Tierney

I opened the door and stood in it, and I didn't step aside.

"Callie," Tierney said.

Her voice was very small.

"He left before noon," she said. "He took the car, and the bank card, and my name off the lease. I don't know where he is."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

"No," I said. "But I'm sorry for her."

The little girl looked up at me from beside the suitcase, holding her rabbit by one ear.

She had her father's chin.

I made myself look at it for as long as it took, and it didn't hurt as much as I had expected.

"I have nowhere to go," Tierney said. "My sister is three states away and she's not speaking to me. Chad's mother hung up on me. It's one night, Callie. One night on your couch."

"No."

"I'm asking you."

"I know. And it's no."

Her eyes filled.

She wiped them with the back of her wrist, and her bare arm looked strange without the gold on it.

"You could call him," she said. "He'd answer you. He'd do it if you said it was for the girl."

"I won't."

"You're going to turn away a child."

"I'm not turning her away. I'm turning you away." I kept my voice level. "You sat at my kitchen table every Sunday for two years and told me to rest. I'm not going to help you get him back, and I'm not going to put you in a bed in the house where you lied to me."

Behind me, Dane said nothing, which was the right thing to say.

Tierney laughed, and the sound cracked.

"You think this makes you good."

"I don't think it makes me anything."

"Everybody is going to be waiting for you to fall." Her voice dropped. "They'll watch your car. They'll watch your face. One bad day, and it'll be all anyone says."

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