Page 19 of The Haunting Plot

If I’m going to let these women in and accept their help—which I clearly need after today—they deserve to know this part of me.

“Kris was gay. His grandmother planned to write him out of her will if he didn’t get married and have kids. He fought it for a while in his twenties, but as he got older, he realized that he didn’t want to lose his family and he wanted to settle down. I suggested we get married so he could get his inheritance.”

Lucy’s mouth hangs open. “Oh my God. All those years. We never knew,” she breathes.

“You weren’t supposed to, not if we wanted to convince his family. And he honestly was one of my closest friends aside from you all. The plan was that we’d stay married, I’d have his kids, we’d divorce, and I’d give him custody. But once McKenna was born, my emotions got involved. We made a new pact to stay together to raise the kids unless one of us fell for someone else.”

Bella holds my gaze. “But then he had the heart attack?”

I nod as emotion clogs my throat. “It was hard enough with Jonah’s meltdowns before he died. Kris was so calm and patient with him. I’m calm until he hits one of my triggers. No one tells you how hard it is to parent your flaws that manifest in your kid. He can’t regulate his emotions just like I couldn’t. It took me years to get to a place to be able to do that, and I still feel ill-equipped to be able to help someone else.”

“Sweetie, you’ve been doing that for us for years,” Summer says gently.

Lucy nods. “You have. You’re always so level-headed. It’s refreshing when we’ve all had our fair share of messes.”

Something warms in my heart at the way they see me.

“You know what? I’m kinda pissed off,” Bella says. Lucy and Summer stare at her in shock before she continues. “Not at you. You have every right to have whatever secrets you want. And it sounds like you’ve been silently struggling with so much since Kris died. Juggling two kids, a job, and all of our friendships and emotional health. That’s a lot, Raven. You’re amazing.”

“So why are you pissed?”

“Because I had no idea. I was so wrapped up in my issues that I never noticed, and I’m mad at myself for being a bad friend,” Bella says as Lucy and Summer mumble similar sentiments.

“Bella, I love you and your big heart, but your squirrel brain isn’t to blame here. I get that it’s out of sight and out of mind for you, but I didn’t want to make a louder fuss about what I was going through.”

“We know you’re pretty private and we’d never want you to feel pressured to share anything with us if you’re not comfortable,” Summer says.

I eye her suspiciously, noting the way her eyes dart between Bella and Lucy. “What’s going on? I feel like there’s a but coming.”

“But we think you should accept Sawyer’s help. He can help with the house, and he’s a special needs dad, so he gets it,” Lucy adds.

She’s right, but it doesn’t make the prospect any less terrifying.

“Is that all you want to tell us?” Summer asks.

“Isn’t that enough?”

Her brows pinch, and my hackles rise. I’m not about to share any other secrets with them today, especially when I’m not sure they’d be pleased to know I’ve been lying to them for years.

CHAPTER 7

SAWYER

It takes everything in me not to get in the back of that ambulance, but I have a good crew, and I know they’ll take care of her.

RJ drives up in my truck minutes after the ambulance takes off, and he hustles over.

I lift a hand. “She’s fine. Possible concussion or broken nose. She lost a bit of blood from the nosebleed, but she’ll be fine.”

“Shit. Jonah?”

“How did you⁠—”

“This isn’t the first time she’s gotten hurt. Her late husband was really good at calming him down, and his meltdowns have been more frequent since he passed.” He pulls out his phone and taps out a text. “Summer’s gonna head over to the hospital with the moms.”

What am I doing? The plan was to help with a house reno, but this is way more than that. “I’m in over my head here, man. Helping with the house stuff is easy, but Raven…” I trail off, unsure how much to share.

“Raven?” he pushes.