“I’ve had worse than this from a fall off my bike.” It wasn’t a lie, but the five stitches that traced my hairline would carry haunting memories.
Birdie hurried down the stairs and over to the couch. She nestled into my other side. “How do you feel now?”
“Better, Birds.” The painkillers they had given me at the hospital had undoubtedly helped, but I didn’t want to be zoned out right now, so I’d only taken the minimum dose.
She toyed with a corner of the blanket, tugging on a loose thread. “Do you hate us?”
“What? Why would you ask something like that?”
The pain in Birdie’s face was a living, breathing thing. Her small fingers fisted around the edge of the blanket. “I heard Dad on the phone. It wasn’t an accident. Mom pushed you off the cliff.”
Sage gasped.
I let my eyes fall closed for a moment. Calder and I had decided that telling the girls it had been an accident was better. Our fire and rescue teams had gotten Jackie out of the bottom of the ravine. She hadn’t lost her life yet, but she was currently in a coma, the doctors unsure if she would survive.
When we told Birdie and Sage, they’d been upset and confused. They’d been worried about me. They didn’t need this, too.
“Birdie,” I whispered.
“No! Don’t lie to me. Dad always lies about Mom. We deserve to know the truth.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Hey, what’s with the yelling?”
Birdie’s gaze shot to her father. “Tell us what’s really going on.”
I looked at Calder. “She heard you on the phone.”
Calder muttered a curse under his breath and moved to the couch, sitting next to Sage. “This isn’t something I want you guys worrying about. It’s grownup stuff.”
“No, Dad. It’s our mom.” She shook her head. “I don’t even want to call her that. It’s Jackie. But we deserve to know. We deserve to know if she did something that would make Hadley hate us.”
I pulled Birdie into a hug, ignoring the flare of pain in my ribs. “I could never hate you. What Jackie did has absolutely nothing to do with you.”
I wrapped my other arm around Sage. “Nothing. You hear me? I’ve loved you both from the day you were born.” I swallowed back the burn creeping up my throat. In so many ways, Birdie and Sage had always felt like mine. I couldn’t bear the thought of them worrying that I might cast them aside.
Sage’s shoulders shook. “I’m so sorry.”
“Goose.” I pressed a kiss to her head. “It’s not your fault. Nothing she has ever done is on you. Nothing.”
Birdie burrowed deeper into my side but looked at Calder. “Will she go to jail?”
“If Jackie wakes up, yes. She’ll go to jail.”
“Good,” Birdie mumbled.
My heart ached like nothing I’d ever felt before. For these beautiful girls who’d had their lives ripped apart again by a mother who should’ve put them first but never had.
Calder moved in closer, wrapping us all in his embrace. “We’re going to make it through this.”
“We’re strong,” Sage said with a sniffle.
“That’s right. We’ve been through harder things and made it through with flying colors.”
I looked into those beautiful dark eyes. “And we have each other.”
He didn’t look away for a moment. “Always.”
Calder closedthe door behind him with a soft snick. “They’re finally asleep.”