Final Score: Part One (Game On #5) (17 page)

I heard the shouting as I approached the front door with Jessica in my arms, and my feet halted instantly. And not just shouting, but crying too.

The voices were muffled but I had to listen hard because I wasn’t walking my daughter into the middle of something that sounded so messy.

“It was an accident!” a female voice sobbed. “I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for any damage.” It sounded like Jen, and a split occurred in my brain. My inner bitch wanted to chuckle because she had obviously done something terrible, and it was about time she tripped up. But the real me grew angry, because if she was crying, the yelling had clearly been aimed at her, and that meant she’d damaged something that meant a lot to Mitch and Deanna. They would never have raised their voices over something trivial; they weren’t the type to get upset over nothing.

Why was Jen even there? Radleigh knew how I felt about her being around Jessica, and even if he’d wanted to see Jayden, he should have scheduled his time better to make sure she was gone before I arrived. Although, it was just like her to show up late, just to create more drama.

“An accident!” Deanna screeched. “No. This was deliberate!”

“He’s just a kid!” Jen argued. “He didn’t mean to cause any harm!”

Oh God. This was sounding worse with every second. Because they would
never
have been this mad at a child.

Although I wanted to take Jessica far away from this, Radleigh was expecting us and maybe our arrival would diffuse the tension.

I knocked on the door and I swear I felt the tension ramp up several notches. Maybe it was the deathly silence and the fact that there was no immediate sound of footsteps coming towards the door. It was way too quiet. It was a full minute before the door opened, but it felt like an hour. It was Mitch who opened the door, his face almost apologetic as I stepped inside. In the hallway were Deanna, Radeigh, Jen, and two little boys. The smaller of the two kids was covered from head to toe in blue paint, and there were blue paint footprints all over the cream carpet.

Several thoughts jumped into my mind at once. No wonder Deanna was angry, but she would never have accused a child of deliberately ruining her carpet. Why would he? He was three years old. The next thought was why were they all there anyway? Deanna and Mitch knew I was coming, so how come they were having some kind of family painting session so late in the day? Especially when they didn’t have any time or patience for Jen.

I felt like I should say something but words failed me. I’d walked into a mad house – what
could
I say?

My eyes flicked from person to person, taking them in. They all seemed to be breathing a little too heavily, and Jen was still crying, with the paint-covered child clinging to her leg.

“Leah…” Mitch began, and Deanna turned away, biting her lip.

“What…?” I started, and Jessica clung to me, as if sensing whatever this was, it had to do with me. My heart pounded as I waited and then Radleigh took a step to the side to show me exactly what the problem was.

Mitch stepped in quickly to take Jessica from me because I almost dropped her as all strength left my limbs and I sank to the floor to stop myself keeling over. On the stairs, plastered in blue paint, was my beautiful wedding dress.

To be continued…

Kyra Lennon is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall.

Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. She published her first novel in July 2012, and her novella,
If I Let You Go
and
Blindsided (Game On Book 2)
soon followed.

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