Second Chance Summer (Chance Series, #1) (20 page)

Ten minutes later, she reappears. Her make-up is fresh, her hair brushed and her clothes changed. She barely glances at me as she opens the drawer with all the bills in and pulls out a large brown envelope and tosses it down on the table in front of me.

“What’s that?”

“Divorce papers,” she says flatly. “Signed, sealed, and you get to deliver them since you’re friends with your daddy again.”

“You are kiddin’ me?” I shout after her as she walks away. I stand and shove my chair away, leaving it to clatter to the floor behind me. “You want me to deliver your damn papers?”

“I got nothin’ to say to that man, but you apparently do since you were with him yesterday.”

“I got six years of words to say to him, but that don’t mean I wanna do your dirty work!” I stand in the doorway as she unlocks her car. “You’re actually makin’ me do it, aren’t you? You’re sending your daughter to deliver your divorce papers!” My head shakes and hot tears burn in my eyes. “You’re unreal. You accuse me and Daddy of runnin’ from our problems, but look at you! You’re running from somethin’ you damn well caused and you don’t even give a shit!”

“Whatever I get from our divorce I’ve signed over to you,” she says. “Any money, it’s all yours. I don’t want a damn penny from him.”

“I don’t
want
the money! I don’t need the money! It means nothing to me. Do you get that? Nothing. I want parents! I want at least one parent that gives a crap about me, not money. You can keep the damn dollar.”

She glances at me before climbing in her car and starting the engine, and pulls away without responding. I stare after her for a minute, ignoring the eyes of neighbors peeking out from behind their curtains.

I guess I just became dinner’s hot conversation topic.

I go back to the kitchen and snatch the envelope up. The front door of our house slams behind me as I head back outside and get into my car, leaving in the same way my mother just did. Hastily. Without thinking. Not caring.

I make the fifteen minute drive to the Eagle with my head spinning. Every time she just takes it to a whole new level. I thought she’d hit rock bottom before, but now I know. Now I know the truth.

Sending your child with signed divorce papers is the shittiest of the shit.

And I can’t believe I’m actually doing it. I can’t believe I’m actually here delivering them for her.

Clara is behind the bar cleaning glasses when I walk into the bar. She looks up and smiles, but it quickly drops from her face when she sees me.

“You okay, sugar?” she asks softly.

I nod. “Is my dad here?”

“He’s in his room. He’s in four. Why don’t you go on up?”

“Thanks.”

Numerous pairs of curious eyes follow me as I head to the staircase at the back of the bar. Does no one around here have anything better to do than stick their nose in everyone’s business?

I find his room and bang on the door. Loud.

“Kia?” Dad says when he opens it. “I wasn’t expecting-”

“These belong to you.” I snap, slapping his chest with the envelope. “Signed, sealed, and now delivered,” I say bitterly, using Mom’s line.

“She sent you to bring them?”

I put my hands out to the side and shrug. “Here I am. Now, you can go back to New York and get married and play happy families, can’t you? You’ve got what you needed here.”

“Kia, I want you to be a part of my life in New York. I want you to meet Dee and to be around with the baby.”

“I can’t-”

“If you’re not ready for that yet then it’s okay, but I at least want us to try and rebuild our relationship.”

I hold my hands up, my head spinning at light speed. “I can’t even think about that right now. I still haven’t dealt with the whole Dee and the baby thing, so whatever right now. I need to process everythin’ before I even think about us, Dad. You can’t just drop this kinda bomb on a nineteen year old girl and expect her to be all rainbows and sunshine about it. I need time to deal with it.”

He sighs, but I see his resolve waver, and he nods sadly. “At least… Take my number, Kia. Then it’s down to you. There’s still a few weeks of summer left. You might feel differently when you’ve had time to accept everything and you’re not stuck here in Alabama. You can contact me whenever… If you want to.”

I bite the inside of my lip. No matter what’s happened, he is still my dad. And he’s right. In a few weeks, on neutral ground in the city, I might feel differently. There’s too many emotions and memories attached to home.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he asks hopefully.

“Okay, I’ll take your number. But I’m not promising I’ll call, Dad. I’m not promising anything, whether I’m here or in New York.”

He nods again, his body more relaxed, and turns into his room. When he comes back out, he hands me a small piece of paper with three numbers on.

“My cell, office, and home number. Just in case.”

I curl my fingers around it. “Thanks, Dad.”

His voice stops me as I turn to leave, my other hand poised above the banister by the stairs. “Kia?”

I glance over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“I want you to know, I’m really proud of you.” He smiles a little, and his blue eyes, a replica of mine, light up. “I know I haven’t been around, but I remember enough of you as a kid to know how you’ve grown. You’re a remarkable young woman, and no matter what happens, I’m honored to call you my daughter.”

A lump forms in my throat. Emotion wells inside of me and I can’t do anything but nod in response. My feet carry me down the stairs, through the bar, and away from the building to my car. I climb in, shut the door, and rest my forehead on my steering wheel as I hold in the tears.

I fail. One trickles from the corner of my eye, landing on my leg with a silent splash. My fingers tighten on the piece of paper crushed into my palm, and I take a deep breath.

I never knew how much I needed to hear him say those words, and I never knew how much they’d mean if I did hear them.

Until now.

CHAPTER 14

“We’re going out,” Luce announces, letting herself into my bedroom and dumping a bag in the middle of my floor.

I glance away from my book. “And where exactly are we going?”

“MIXX.”

“The new club in Dayton Creek?”

“The very same one.”

“And we’ll definitely get in?” I raise an eyebrow and dog-ear my page.

“Yep. Eighteen and over – if you’re twenty-one you get stamped so you can drink.”

“So we’re basically going to be sober in a club half-full of drunk people and scantily-dressed girls tryin’ to score with an older guy?”

Luce smiles devilishly, unzipping a pocket of her bag and pulling out a blue stamp. “Or we’ll be in the drunk half.”

My lips twitch. I can’t help it. “And how the hell did you get that?”

“Leo works there. He borrowed this one last weekend knowing we’d want to go at some point.”

“Your brother is a pain in the ass, but he has his uses.” I grin.

“He sure does.” She grins back. “Just, er, if Mom or the others ask, we didn’t drink, okay? She has this thing where she doesn’t mind me drinking if we’re in the Grove, like at Rock’s, but anywhere else she gets a bit loopy. She’ll kick Leo’s ass, and yeah, he’s a douche, but he did do this for us.”

“I ain’t gonna tell her.” I laugh and get up. “I know your mom – she’d probably talk Leo into changing jobs or something.”

“You know, I thought it would be harder than this to get you out.”

“Why?” I ask, even though I know the answer.

“You’ve barely spoken to anyone for two days, Kia. You pretty much disappeared off the face of the Earth. I thought you were shacked up with Reese at first…” I shoot her an amused glance, and she shrugs, continuing, “Hey, girl, I wouldn’t blame you if you were! But when he said you weren’t and told me what happened with your dad, I got worried.”

“I’m a big girl, Luce.”

“Yah, but you’re also my best friend, and it’s my duty to pull your head from your mopey ass and put a smile back on your pretty little face.”

“Then why the hell are you sittin’ on
your
ass on my floor instead of getting ready?”

~

Dayton Creek is the next town over from Harlan Grove, but it’s about ten times larger than our little hole. The only thing we have they don’t is the High School, which both towns share. Otherwise, if you need anything, Dayton Creek is the place you head – and that includes weekend entertainment. It’s all newer, shinier, and more expensive than what we have in the Grove.

Which isn’t a huge deal. Except when it costs you eight dollars to walk through the damn door of MIXX.
Eight. Freakin’. Dollars.
Someone needs to tell the owner of this place they’re in a small town in Alabama, not in New York or Vegas.

“This better be worth it, Luce,” I grumble as she stamps my hand with the club’s logo. She stamps her own hand after and tucks it back into her purse.

“It will be. I came last weekend.” She grins, and it makes sense how she managed to convince Leo to get the stamp.

“And how much did he want for stamping your hand then?”

“Fifty,” she mutters. “Bastard.”

I laugh and let her lead me over to the bar where I can see Leo smiling charmingly at girls as he serves them. They’re practically falling over themselves for him, and I purse my lips to hide my smirk. Leo is lapping up the attention, smiling and laughing, but that’s all they’ll get out him.

He comes across a total playboy, but he’s the total opposite. Like his sister, he believes in true love and waiting for it.

Unlike Lucas and Liam.

He hands them their change and turns straight to us, much to their disappointment. Luce rolls her eyes, leaning forward on the bar.

“Two mojitos, please.” She smiles.

“Do you have a stamp?”

The smile drops from her face as we both hold out our hands, Leo smirking the whole time. He turns and makes our drinks.

“Listen,” he leans in close when he puts our glasses down. “I break in thirty minutes. Meet me by the DJ then. I need it back. If anyone sees it you’ll get banned.” His eyes stray to me. “Both of you.”

Luce nods. “Okay.” She hands the money over and we take our glasses.

The pounding music and strobe lighting fills every inch of the club. It’s not that late yet, but MIXX is already full. Bodies grind against each other on the dance floor. Groups of people sit on the red and black leather seats, drinking and talking amongst themselves.

We walk up a curved staircase to a platform where there’s a spare table, and take a seat on the red seats around the table. Neon lights flicker above the table, and we both sip at our drinks.

“So who owns this place?” I ask Luce.

She shrugs a shoulder, her red hair the same shade as the chair. “No one seems to know, which is odd for around here. Rumor says it’s some old guy who runs successful clubs in New York, Vegas, and L.A., but I searched for MIXX and this is the only one in the US. It’s not a franchise or a chain of clubs, and the name is copyrighted. If it was a big shot dude, I doubt he’d use a new name.”

“Right. He’d use the known franchise to bring people in.”

“Exactly, which makes me think it’s a newbie that doesn’t want their name attached to the business in case it all fucks up.”

I look out at the crowded club, the lines at the bar and the dance floor that looks even busier than it did five minutes ago. “Yeah, looks like business is real tough,” I drawl sarcastically.

Luce snorts. “It only opened a week before you came back. It’s still new and shiny. New and shiny makes it interestin’, until everyone gets bored of it and it becomes just another place to hang out on a weekend. Then we’ll see how successful it is.”

God bless her and her business degree.

She sinks the last of her drink and looks at my empty glass. “I’m gonna go get another before Leo breaks. Another?”

I nod silently and hand her the cocktail glass.

She slips off into the darkness of the club, and I cast my eyes out over the club, totally wrapped in my own thoughts.

“Surprise.”

I jump, my hands flying to my chest as I look in the direction of the voice. Hazel eyes and a cocky, lopsided smile greet me, and I relax.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?” I exclaim.

“Leo called. Said you and Luce were gonna be here tonight, drinking, and he didn’t like that he couldn’t keep an eye on you.” Reese eyes comb down my body, from the skintight, Aztec-patterned material of my peplum top, to the short black skirt and black peep toe heels. When they reach mine again, they’re heated, wanting. “And I’m glad we decided to come out,” he says as he slides in next to me.

“Wait, we?” I raise an eyebrow.

His arm goes around my waist, and he pulls me into him. “Me and Adam,” he mumbles, his lips against my ear.

“Of course.” I roll my eyes and pull away slightly, but he holds me tighter. “What are you doin’?” I ask, amused.

“Some guy on the next table has his eye on you. I’m just makin’ it clear you’re mine.”

The lilt in his voice has me seriously amused now.

I touch a hand to his cheek and look into his eyes. “You’re real cute when you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Course not.” I bite the corner of my lip to hide my smile. “Then why are you givin’ him the death look?”

Reese’s eyes shoot back to mine, and he opens his mouth, then closes it again. He grunts something unintelligible before leaning in and kissing me softly. My fingers slide around his head to his neck and curl round as I kiss him back.

“Yep, you’re jealous.” I giggle.

“Shut up.” He smirks.

“No. You can’t just turn up here and barge in on our girl’s night!” Luce exclaims, putting full glasses on the table.

“Doesn’t look like Kia minds.” Adam yells, winking at me. I drop my hand from Reese’s neck and look at them.

“Arguing already?”

“Goddamn, I told Leo this was a girl’s night!” she huffs and sits down. “I told him!”

“Chill, Luce.” Adam sits next to her, his eyes fixed on her legs. “We’re not gonna get in your way or anythin’.”