“Fuck.” It was. It was yesterday. I never even thought about the date. About the phone call I never received—or the follow-up text when I don’t answer. The one I don’t reply to either.

“I was going to tell you after the tour—when the stress of all this was off you. But I swear, Remi, I can explain.”

“Great,” she snaps. “Go right ahead and tell me why Sage calls you every year.” All the hurt Colton mentioned surfaces as Remi shakes her head, eyes pleading for a safe answer. “How could she call you, Foster?”

I look up at the rafters high above us. The moment I’ve been fearing bears down. The moment I stand to lose her.

After a drawn-out breath, I force myself to meet her gaze. “Because I called her after I talked to your stepdad.”

“I don’t understand…” Her eyes dart between mine, trying to complete a puzzle without the final broken pieces. Sharp and ready to slice. “How did you get her number? What haven’t you told me?”

I have to swallow, my throat tight and trying to keep the confession sealed away.

But she deserves better—she deserved better then, too, but I didn’t know.

This time she lets me step closer, and I thread my fingers through her hair while I stare down at her.

“I told you I was coming for you, Remi. And I did. Then I really fucked up.”

38

FOSTER

Before…

“Let me get you my card, son,” Daniel says. “In case you hear from her.” His gaze falls to the hardwood between us. “I don’t think any of us will, but my wife loved her. If I can ever get a part of Rebecca back in my life, I’ll find a way to forgive.”

I nod, still not paying much attention. The razor edge between heartache and doubt I’m teetering on requires a hell of a lot of resources.

Daniel reaches into the pocket of a black police jacket hung on a hook by the door. “Damn.” His hand returns empty. “I have some stashed in my office. I’ll be right back.”

He disappears through the arch, and I run a hand through my hair again. I’m still holding the funeral program in the other, and when I set it down, my gaze lands on what was beneath it. The corner of a blue sparkly phone case sticks out with half of a camera lens exposed.

I lift the program and uncover exactly what I expect.

Remi’s phone.

My heart shutters to a stop for a beat, but in the next one, I swipe it, letting the rest fall back into place. I check for Daniel as I pass the archway, and then I’m out the door. Fuck his card. King of Deceit, after all.