“This is what I meant by needing time to figure it all out, Axel.” She fought with a strong, sturdy tone. “You’re her teacher now. What will happen to your job? You fought with me last week when I suggested requesting a transfer. That’s no longer an option anymore. You can’t be her teacher, regardless of our relationship. And my dad is still recovering. How in the hell am I supposed to spring this on him? The moment Sarah saw you here last week, she knew. She knew immediately who you were. We talked about it, and she even agrees with me. We have to take this serious and tread lightly. You want to just jump in and play the daddy. That can’t happen, Axel.”

“Like hell it can’t! She’s my kid! I’m sure once the school finds out, they won’t think twice about it. They will have sympathy for me, and not hold it against me. And your dad? Like I give a shit how he reacts to it. He already thinks I’m a criminal. Let him think worse of me. But I can tell you one thing he won’t call me—a dead-beat dad.” I backed away, feeling my face burn with frustration, animosity, pain, and complete, unadulterated fury. “You want time? Fine. I’ll give you time. You have one week to figure it out. I don’t care what you tell him, how you explain your lies to him, but I will be listed as her father on her birth certificate. And she will know I’m more than Mr. Taylor. She will know exactly who I am to her.”

Aubrey’s mouth opened and closed without a single word escaping. I didn’t care to watch it anymore. Instead, I turned to leave, storming out of her door and to my truck on the road. As I looked in the rearview mirror, I noticed the blanket covering the table I’d picked up for her that morning. The same table I couldn’t wait to give her. So I got back out, yanked the blanket away, and with the force of my anger, I pulled it from the bed of the truck, throwing it in her front yard. Two of the legs snapped off as it landed on the grass. But I didn’t care. I didn’t care if she used it for firewood. I vowed that’d be the last thing I ever gave her.

It began with my heart, and ended with a table.

Both started out whole and sturdy, but left in broken pieces by the end.

I couldn’t seem to calm down after leaving Aubrey’s house. My hands shook, my feet bounced, and my head throbbed. My chest burned, feeling as if a brick wall had fallen on me, yet my heart pounded away inside, threatening to break my ribs. I didn’t want a drink, but I couldn’t stop thinking about one. I couldn’t stop thinking about how just one drink would ease this pain inside, would numb this ache that threatened to swallow me whole. But I knew better. I’d come so far, accomplished so much, and knew that one drink wouldn’t be enough. With what I’d just been through, I wouldn’t be able to stop at the first. And now I had a daughter to think about. I had a real life to look forward to. And I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.

As I drove around, attempting to lose some of the adrenaline that coursed through me, I ended up finding myself at my sister’s house. I didn’t even call her, not mindful of where I was headed until I found myself parked in her driveway. I sat in my truck, parked in front of her house, contemplating everything. She came outside and stood with her arms folded, throwing daggers at me with her stare.

“I can only assume this isn’t good, brother bear,” she said as I stepped out of the cab. “You never drop by unannounced, and by the look on your face, I know this isn’t a friendly visit. If you have alcohol on your breath, you might as well turn around and leave now. But I swear to you, if that’s the case, and you get behind that wheel, I’ll—”

“Tracii! Stop! I haven’t had anything to drink. You’re right, this isn’t a friendly visit…but I haven’t had anything to drink. I just need my sister.” The desperation in my tone echoed in my ears. I didn’t even have to wonder what my facial expression looked like.

“Okay…” She relented, holding her palms up to calm me down. “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to seeing you this way. It’s been a while, and I freaked out. Do you want to come inside?”

I nodded and followed her in to the kitchen, taking a seat at the bar while she continued making dinner. No words were spoken for a few minutes as we let the air settle around us. She chopped away at her vegetables while eyeing me.

“Do you remember the girl I told you about? My student? Aubrey?”

“How could I forget? That girl demolished you,” she said, not stopping her task.

“Tracii, please don’t go there.” I knew my sister didn’t care much for Bree, but I also knew that was only her protective side coming out. She hated what happened to me after that. And she had been under the same impression I was—that Bree had turned me in. But beneath it all, she knew how much I loved her, and because of that, she couldn’t completely hate Aubrey. “I need to talk to you about her, and I need you to stay levelheaded. Please. I’m already shaken up, and I need you to ground me. If you can’t do that…if you’re going to do nothing but hate on her for what she’s done, then I’m going to leave. I need you to talk me off this ledge. And I came to you because I don’t trust myself with these thoughts I’m having right now.”

She set the knife down, leaned against the counter, and met my gaze with hers. “Okay. You have my levelheaded attention.”

I couldn’t hold back my laugh, and my shoulders bounced as the chuckle rippled through me. “I don’t think you’re capable of that, but thanks for the effort. Whatever you have to say about this, please keep my feelings in mind.”

“I will, Axel. Now get on with it. I have dinner to make.”

I rolled my eyes but set in to explain everything to her. I told her about the girl at the lake, how I’d gone there for a while and watched her. About the odd connection I felt with her, even though I had no idea who she was. Then I told her about the night I pulled her from the water, realizing who it was.

“Was she trying to kill herself?” Tracii asked, coming to the same conclusion I had.

“No. She was drunk and doesn’t really remember it.”

“Oh…a drinker. That’s not good for you, Axel.”

“She’s not a drinker. It was her sister’s bachelorette party. But that’s completely beside the point, Tracii. I can’t expect everyone in my life to never drink again. That’s ridiculous. Can we just stick to the story here?” I asked, watching her lips twitch with a smile she tried to keep hidden.

I told her everything after that: having Ayla in my class, finding out her mom was Bree, our moment in the hospital, and our moment back at her house. Tracii had a few choice words about Bree’s reaction in the bedroom, but after a pointed stare from me, she stopped and let me continue with my story. She half-listened to me explain Aubrey’s surprise apology, and our decision to work things out. I could tell she had an opinion on it, but kept it to herself. In order to put off the inevitable confession of why I’d shown up in her driveway unexpected, I stalled by telling her of our conversations that weekend over the phone and the table I’d picked up that morning.

“So at what point are you going to tell me that the kid is yours?” she asked after slamming the oven door closed and turning to me with her hand on her hip. “I’m not an idiot, Axel. The girl is yours, just tell me.”

My head fell forward as I took in a cleansing breath, hoping to calm my nerves. “Yes. Ayla is my…daughter.” I glanced back up, catching the rarely seen sympathetic gleam in her eyes.

“And let me guess…you’re mad at Bree for not telling you?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” I sat up straight, suddenly feeling the need to be defensive.

Tracii bent her head to the side, cracking her neck. That meant what she had to say wouldn’t be nice or pretty. “Did you expect her to wake up on your couch after nearly dying and say, ‘Thank you for saving my life, Axel. Oh, and by the way, we have a kid together’?”