He didn’t like when she came home smelling of other men, but he didn’t know who he was without her. She started dabbling with drugs, reminding him a lot of his mother, and he couldn’t be her friend anymore.
Finally, Rhett left and found a job working for a broker who taught him how to buy and sell stocks. He ran into Adel again, several years later, and she was no longer singing. Her body was skin and bones and she pleaded in desperation, begging him to help her get well.
She was the only true friend he ever had, so he couldn’t turn his back on her. If she died, he’d have no friends at all.
Rhett had secured a nice apartment and let her stay for a few months. She slowly nursed herself back to health, but she never fully recovered to the girl she once was. The claws of addiction had a permanent hold on her, and she’d often cry for an exorcism that didn’t exist. She could be so warm and feminine and then in the next moment out of her mind irrational.
He cared about her and wanted to see her get well. He arranged for her to see a doctor and speak to a professional. They told her she suffered from bipolar disorder, which explained why it sometimes felt like he was living with two people. He knew then, no matter how much part of her cared for him, she’d never fully love him, because another part of her would always love drugs more.
He told her it was best if she found her own place, and he’d help her any way he could. In a moment of weakness, when she was soft and weeping over the fact that she couldn’t be enough for him, he allowed her to get close again. Nine months later, Addison was born.
Rhett stared at the fireplace, taking in the grand hearth and expensive moldings. His life now unrecognizable from what it had once been.
After Addy was born, he made a promise to her and to himself. She would never want for anything. He knew how ugly the world could be, and he wanted to take her someplace safe and removed from crime and danger, a place like the towns he saw on television.
When he found Jasper Falls, he knew he found the perfect town. He just had to figure out how to make a home. Finding a place to live was easy. He had money from buying and selling stocks. But he had no idea what made a house a home, and he desperately wanted a warm, happy home for his daughter.
No one knew him there. They didn’t know his background or his upbringing. They only knew what he showed them. And while the small town was worlds away from the rough city he escaped, it was a far cry from perfect.
He wanted to give his daughter perfection. He wanted to create a place that mimicked the life he only saw on television shows and movies. He wanted to raise her somewhere safe, where people waved and left their doors unlocked. He wanted her to feel surrounded by love, always.
When the prior mayor announced he was retiring, Rhett saw an opportunity. He sold an idea to the townsfolk, with a promise that they could be more.
Jasper Falls needed work. It needed an economic boom, and without change, that wouldn’t happen. He campaigned hard and painted a picture the locals could see and feel. Vincenzo Marcelli, Skylar’s grandfather, had run against him, but Rhett had won in a landslide.
The thing about selling an entire population a fictional ideal, was that beneath all the antiquated charm, real secrets still hid. Families had dirty laundry, married people had affairs, and even their police station required a jail cell from time to time. Hell, there was a reason the line at the confessional was as long as the line at Dairy Queen some days.
But despite everyone else’s flaws, they expected him to be perfect. He wasn’t even close.
One would think that being a single father might have tipped them off, but no. They believed what they wanted to believe, and the other night had ripped away the illusion of perfection, exposing him as a flawed human who didn’t have all the answers, and now they were angry.
They felt tricked and deceived. Betrayed. He should have cared, but the only one who had truly been cheated, was Skylar.
He tried calling her again but the call dumped into voicemail. “It’s me. Please call me back. I’m worried about you.”
Was she worried about him? Probably not. She had every right to be angry. If not for him, she wouldn’t be the focal point of the town’s gossip. People could be so heartless.
He needed to do something. Would she be at her parents’? No, he couldn’t go there. That would be disastrous. But he couldn’t just sit by and wait for something to happen. He had to get the facts straight and clear things up if he ever wanted to fix this.