“Don’t ruin it before Merida sees it.”
He raises his hands in a big no before grabbing a beer.
Slowly, the room fills out with men from Kings Security who have known Mere since she was a baby.
The doorbell rings and I ask everyone to be quiet. Grabbing the champagne-bottle-shaped pink confetti popper, I open the door and twist the bottom.
The colorful bits fall on Keith’s head as screams of surprise from the guests die.
For the first time since our night together we are face-to-face, but I’m having a hard time reading his expression.
It looks like he is shocked, but not in a happy way. There’s a hint of anger simmering in his eyes. But I’m no longer afraid of him. If he doesn’t want to celebrate Mere’s birthday, he can get lost. I didn’t even invite him, though in hindsight I’d hoped he would show up. Not only for Mere, but for me too.
Mere appears from behind Keith, who is standing like a stone, blocking the entire doorframe.
“Clem!” she gasps, looking around after I pull her inside.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” I hug her and kiss her forehead, like I’ve done several times now.
She returns my hug, squeezing me more tightly than usual. “Thank you so much, Clem.”
When I pull back, there are tears in her eyes.
“Mere, it’s just a small birthday surprise.” I look at her and then at Keith, who is regarding the living room in almost shock.
“It’s just…that…” Mere hiccups and I’m stunned by her response.
Why is she overwhelmed at such a small surprise?
Maybe because Mr. Jerk here never bothered to do such small things for her.
“It’s okay, Mere.” I rub her back. “From this year on, I promise you’ll have the best birthday.” I peer at Keith, who now is glowering at me. “I’ll always be here to celebrate this day with you.”
I don’t know how much that promise of always was for Keith’s benefit.
Keith grabs my arm and pulls me away from Mere. He hisses at me, and I can feel his hot and heavy breath over my skin. “What the fuck are you doing?” His grip on me tightens to the point that it hurts.
My limbs go slack at the utter disgust on his face. I cannot believe he’s the person I’m falling for.
“There is a reason we don’t celebrate Merida’s birthday.” His nostrils flare and I can see the vein popping on his forehead. He visibly shakes with frustration. “Melanie, my wife, Mere’s mother, died on this day eleven years ago.” He looks behind me at the wall clock. “At this exact hour, I was asked if I’d like to say any final words to my wife because they were pulling the plug in fifteen minutes. Fifteen fucking minutes.”
His face turns blurry as tears race down my cheeks.
“Fifteen fucking minutes were all I got to tell my wife how much I’ll miss her, how I’ll never forget her, how I’m worried I’ll mess up our daughter, how I wanted to die with her.” His bloodshot eyes turn misty.
I almost lose my balance when Lukas rights me.
“Let it go, Keith. Clem didn’t know. It’s my fault. I forgot it’s Mere’s birthday.” Lukas tries to pacify Keith, who turns around and storms out of the room.
“I—I am so sorry, Clem.” Mere hiccups, her chin trembling before she throws her arms around me.
“I…didn’t know, Mere.” My voice cracks as tears stream down my face.
I feel like someone has slung a hammer over my heart, shattering it into a million pieces, which can never be joined again.
Minutes pass by, Mere and I stay hugging each other, until Connor lightly taps on Mere’s hand.
I notice most people have already left except for him, Gavin, and Lukas.