Tears threaten to spill, so I shake my head and walk around my chair.
“Where are you going?” Dad calls out.
Yet, he doesn’t move to stop me.
I laugh sardonically but don’t answer.
I’m halfway down the street when I hear tires slowing down behind me. Part of me is shocked Dad would chase me down. I remember all the times I was younger and he never made an effort. He’d miss dance recitals and family dinners and everything in between because of work. His coworkers never met us, especially not when Lo started acting funny, and Mama never went out with him to work functions. He was ashamed of us. Maybe still is.
When a car stops beside me, it isn’t Dad’s. My steps falter when I see Kaiden leaning down to see me from the open passenger window. He pushes on the door.
“Get in.”
I blink. A car honks from behind him before passing, visibly irritated as they give us the finger like Kaiden isn’t pulled off to the side of the road.
“Emery, get in the fucking car.”
Glancing back at the faded restaurant behind us, I wonder if Dad and Cam are cancelling our food or waiting for it to go. Are they even going to come out? To go home? To search? It’s doubtful.
Not knowing what else to do, I slip into his car and close the door. Walking home would cause me twice as much pain. There’s no way I’d be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
He tells me to buckle up before pulling away, not even giving me one look. It’s fine by me, because I’d prefer staring out the window so he can’t see the tears dampening my cheeks. Wiping them away is no use because the more I replay what just happened, the more that fall.
Dad never told them about Lo.
About his dead daughter.
Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt li
ke Grandma told me to give Mama. I know that everyone grieves differently, but Dad acts like nothing even happened. How could he pretend as though Lo never existed?
When we get closer to the house, he doesn’t take the turn. Instead, he goes straight and stays on the main road leading out of the small city. There’s no music, only the sound of the wind against the car and the distant sound of traffic filling the silence.
“Where are we going?”
“Not home.” He pauses. “Yet.”
I want to tell him that’s a bad idea, but maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s exactly what we need. At least me. I’m still not sure what Kaiden needs, and I think he likes staying mysterious.
I watch as the buildings and houses fade into the tree lines the further we drive away. Dad came this way when he brought me into Exeter. On the outskirts is a large cemetery on a hill and not much else other than various trees and fields.
It’s a strange mixture of urban and rural here. We’re not near the big city, but not too far away. It’s almost like the area can’t decide if it’s trying to evolve or stay the way it’s been for decades.
In a way, it’s comforting. Seeing fields, hills, and trees reminds me of home. Lo and I would go exploring in the woods behind our childhood house, the one Grandma had to move into after Dad left before we lost it to the bank. We’d spend hours climbing trees and playing hide and seek. Lo always won.
To my surprise, Kaiden turns onto a narrow road leading into the cemetery. It should probably scare me, make me nervous, something, but it doesn’t. After all, he saved me from walking back to a home that doesn’t feel like home at all.
We get to a large fenced-off clearing and he puts the car in park and shuts it off. Shoving open his door, he gestures for me to follow him out. Hesitantly, I obey, unbuckling and stepping out onto the paved path we’re pulled off to the side of. He starts walking past the fence, jumping over it like it’s nothing, but waiting expectedly for me to do the same.
Blinking, I stare between him and the chain fence separating us, noting the rust on the top and the odd and end holes throughout the rest of it. There isn’t an opening big enough for me to crawl through.
“Well?” He crosses his arms.
I blush. “I can’t jump that high.”
He sighs like I’m a burden despite bringing me here on his own free will. “Can you climb and get at least on leg over?”
Swallowing, I study the fence. I used to be part of the cheer squad at my old school. Flexibility and strength never used to be a problem for me until the past couple of years. But, I’m curious about where he wants to take me.