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Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the pages of notes I had compiled and slapped them onto the wooden table between us. “Memorize this. Research it. Come prepared on Monday, because we’re heading to the town first thing to start our investigation.”

He picked up the paper, his eyes scanning the dense, meticulous lines of handwritten data. A look of genuine shock crossed his face as he took it in. “This is… how did you find all of this online?”

I met his gaze, cold and unwavering. “I’m good at my job, Lexington. It’s time you became good at yours.”

I left him with those words to chew on. Maybe I had been too hard on him, but I didn’t care at the moment. He had no right to sit there and pretend like he knew anything about me. Me—free? It was absurd. He was cushioned by his family, able to make mistakes. I had been alone since I was only six years old. I couldn’t fail because I had no one to catch me.

He had everyone: his parents, his brother, his sister-in-law. I wasn’t negating how hard it was to be a single father, but to claim my life was easier was preposterous. He didn’t know me well enough to say that.

I wandered down the sidewalks, cars passing by lazily, the sun hidden behind clouds waiting for the perfect moment to cry their rain down upon the world.

Talk about freedom. The clouds above were freer than I would ever be. They could move without question, travel the world, change, shift, and adjust when needed. The clouds answered to no one.

The clouds had no one…

I stared above, realizing I was just as alone as the clouds high above. At least they were free.

Lexington

Ifucked up. It wasn’t hard to figure that one out. Watching Goldie leave the coffee shop last Saturday had made it blatantly obvious.

The day had been hard. River woke up mad at the world and even more angry that he had to spend the morning at Oliver and Theo’s. His clinginess was only growing worse, and I was existing in a constant state of stress. I was looking for a child therapist to meet with him so we could find the root cause, but it made me feel like a bad father that I couldn’t figure it out on my own.

River was supposed to trust that I could protect him, but I wasn’t even sure what I was protecting him from.

I had spent the entirety of the car ride between Oliver’s house and the coffee shop berating myself for not being good enough for River. When I pulled into the parking spot and saw Goldie in the window, I couldn’t help but stare for a moment. She was dressed in a black turtleneck, her long hair sweeping along her back, blending into the material and disappearing down the curve of her spine. There was something about her that was so intriguing, and so familiar, I could never put my finger on it. It was rare that I was able to look at her without her shooting me a glare, so I took the small opportunity I had. She had a coffee mug wrapped in her delicate fingers, her lips softly meeting the ceramic as she took a sip. Her eyes were flitting over a paper I couldn’t see, but it was obvious she was reading.

I wanted to be able to read her mind, to understand what I had done to make her so angry. To understand what she really felt about me. I told myself that the disdain was mutual, that it didn’t matter if she liked me because I didn’t like her either. Yet every time she shot me a glare or one of her barbs, my stomach clenched, hating it.

I stared at her through that window for a minute when the clock caught my gaze.

“Shit,” I muttered as I jumped out of the car and made a mad dash to the front door.

I was late, and she was going to be pissed. I should have apologized, I should have explained, but I didn’t want to hear another bad thing about me. I was already thinking it all myself. I had hoped that by brushing it off, we could just move on.

I had been wrong. So terribly wrong.

Her tirade had made me see her in a new light. I always viewed her as cold and closed off. I knew everyone else was her friend, but I assumed she was that way with everyone. That they loved her despite how chilly her demeanor was. I was starting to wonder if it was just me. The Goldie I saw in that coffeehouse had fire in her.

No… not just fire; the force of the sun lived deep within her.

I had fucked up, but I was going to make it right.

Placating words weren’t going to work with her; I had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn’t believe them anyway. So my best bet was to prove to her that I was dedicated to my work. I had stayed up all night Saturday researching for the case. River had crawled into bed with me, but he wasn’t bothered by the computer’s light, and I used it to my advantage.

However, the case had been nearly impossible to research. The town, Cherrytree Hills, was a tiny one located in the forests of Oregon, just north of Salem. There was very little about the town online, but I did find a vague blog post about local mysteries. They had briefly mentioned the case of the Watcher in an article titled ‘small town haunts’.

All it mentioned was that various notes were being sent across the town. The contents, the intended recipients, and the notes themselves remained anonymous. I couldn’t help but wonder why Goldie had chosen this case to dive into. I had started to consider if it was a test for me—to see if I could research, investigate, and write an article about a case we knew nearly nothing about. I was going to prove to Goldie I could. I had a detailed list of places I wanted to go to and people I wanted to speak to when we went to the town.

“How long?” River asked as he looked up at me while we waited for Theo to answer the door, his gaze set angrily on mine. He was less than pleased that he was coming here again, but I used the early morning to my advantage. He was still groggy from sleep when we left and put up less of a fight than usual. Usually, we weren’t here until Violet and Kaia, Oliver and Theo’s older two, were at school, but I was turning over a new leaf today. The sun was just starting to rise over the trees, the sky lit in golden hues. I wasn’t just going to be on time, but early.

“I’ll be back before dinner,” I explained and crouched down on my haunches in front of him. “I’m sorry it’s going to be longer today, little man.”

He shrugged one of his small shoulders. “Why do you have to work? Auntie Theo doesn’t have to work. She stays with August all day. Can’t you stay with me all day?”

God, how I wish I could. “You know I would if I could, but I have work, River.”

His bottom lip began pouting, his eyes growing sad. “Imma miss you, Daddy.”