“I’ll call you when I get the information,” she says. I hang up and call the one man I have spent the past eight years avoiding.

“What now?” he answers.

“Five minutes, your parents’ house.” I don’t even wait for him to respond before I toss my phone on the passenger seat. Pulling up to Kallie’s house, I stop the truck and grab my phone. I look around to see if I see anything when I walk to the door. I don’t have to knock when the door swings open and a pissed-off Casey is there. He walks out and closes the door behind him.

“She’s been home two days. Two and every single time she turns around she’s hit with the reality that you fucked another woman,” he says between clenched teeth. “I had to fucking carry her in today.” He looks around. “After having a panic attack where she almost fucking fainted.”

“You think I want to cause her pain?” I now stand up to him. “You think that in any of this, I want her to feel the pain that I feel every fucking day?” I shake my head. “This isn’t about me. I found someone creeping around the creek.”

He steps back at my words. “What did you just say?” His jaw clenches. “Let’s go inside.”

He walks back inside. “Mom, Dad!” he yells, then yells up the stairs, “Kallie, Darlin’!”

“What is all this screaming going on?” Charlotte comes out of the kitchen, and she’s wiping her hands on a towel, and you can see she was crying. “Jacob, honey, I don’t think …”

“Mom, not now.” Casey goes to the liquor cabinet. “Mom, please go get the girls,” he says, taking a swig. He goes to hand me the bottle, but he just shrugs when I shake my head. “Suit yourself.”

Charlotte comes down with Olivia right behind her who glares at me. “I don’t like you,” she says, and I almost roll my eyes.

“Um …” Charlotte says. “Kallie will be down in a minute.”

“What is all this about?” Billy says, coming into the house from the backyard.

“We are waiting for Kallie,” Casey says, taking another swig.

“What is up with you?” Olivia gets close to Casey, and he just shakes his head. I hear her coming down the stairs. Her hair is piled on top of her head. She wears pink shorts and a white shirt, and she avoids looking at me.

“Everyone’s here,” Casey says. “You can start anytime you want.”