A Walk in Your Shoes

CHAPTER 20

I roll over as the sun peeks in through the curtains. I've only been asleep for three hours, tops. A soft throb pulses around my temples. Memories of last night filter in. I put a finger to my lips, remembering the way Flint's felt there. When I first kissed Cam, I thought I wanted to squeak with joy, but this felt different.

I try to fall back asleep, but my stomach is growling so loudly I'm pretty sure a monster has invaded my body. I crawl out of bed slowly. Before leaving the room, I check my phone, but there are no messages. I shrug it off and head downstairs to see if there's anything to munch on.

I stop at the entryway to the kitchen in awe of the scene happening in front of me. It was quiet coming down the stairs, so I wasn't expecting everyone to sit down for lunch. Instead, Dom and Derek are sitting across from each other at the table. Dom is on his phone, smiling down at it while Derek plays with his Nintendo Switch. Lucille floats gracefully around the kitchen, putting things away and in her own world.

She stops moving when her eyes land on me, carefully observing everyone. She cautiously takes a few steps towards me. Her soft features harden, probably out of fear that I'm going to go off on her. The fact that anyone in my family could look at me in that way breaks my heart.

"Hungry," she asks?

"Yeah." I clear my throat, attempting to get rid of the lump that's forming.

Dom peaks up from his phone and nods. I turn away and start to walk over to where Lucille has the bread on the counter. I tap her shoulder, and she spins, her hand bracing her chest like she's waiting for impact. I cower backward.

"I'm sorry." I lower my gaze. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. You've been in my life since I was a baby. That wasn't right of me to speak to you in that way. I want you both to be happy. It's going to take a while for me to feel better about what you two did, but I don't hate you, Lucille. I never could."

She's been there for me when my mom wasn't. So apologizing was easier than I thought.

"We were in the wrong, Marnie. We never meant to keep it from you. I love you as if you were my own daughter. I can't force you to like me, and in no way do I expect you to think of me as a motherly figure. But I do care a lot about you, about all of you."

"I know," I whisper.

She opens her mouth but is interrupted by dad's booming voice calling my name. Again, I'm frozen in place. I stare off behind Lucille at the large sink, void of any dishes. Then, finally, the kitchen grows quiet, minus dad's footsteps and Derek's game. I close my eyes and wait for him to yell, but instead, I'm greeted by a friendly hand on my shoulder.

"Can we talk?" His voice softens.

Tears spring to my eyes. I haven't spoken to dad all week, and even though I'm angry as hell, I miss him so much.

"Marnie?"

I try to hold back the tears, so he doesn't realize how hard this is on me. I fail miserably.

"I'm so sorry, dad," I sob.

He spins me around to face him and pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around his middle and hold on tight. I repeat the word sorry over and over as he gently smooths out my hair with his hand.

"It's gonna be okay, Marnie. Come with me."

I stay buried in his shoulder as he leads me to his office. It's been a while since I've been here. The room is dark with a block of deep mahogany wood. There's only one window in here, and it's covered by a heavy thick brown curtain. I settle into one of the tan cushioned chairs, pull my legs up, and then fold them in. Dad pulls the second chair closer to mine and takes a seat.