Page 58 of Under Ground

He scowls and storms out, slamming the front door behind him.

I wrap my arm around her. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Lana buries her face in her hands. “This is all such a mess.”

“It’s my fault. I should have realised that eventually something like this might happen.”

She looks up. Her eyes are so tired, and I hate that I’m responsible for this. And there’s no shying away from that fact. This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for me.

“I think you should go too,” she says.

I swallow hard. “Are you sure?”

“I’m going to spend the evening with Casey and crawl into bed with her for the night. I just want her near me.”

“Lana, I—”

“I know you love me. I love you too. Today was just really hard.”

“Come here.” I fold my arms around her and bury my face in her hair. “Call me tomorrow. I just want to know you’re okay.”

“I will,” she whispers.

I kiss the top of her head then, reluctantly, I stand. She keeps her gaze down, and it’s frustrating. I get that she’s scared, but I want to be the one to remove that fear. Even if I am responsible for it.

Driving away is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

I love her.

I want us to be a family.

* * *

It’s not until seven the next evening that my phone buzzes.

Lana: Can you come over?

My stomach sinks to my feet. It might be nothing, but I don’t have a good feeling about this.

There’s a part of me that wants to put this off, but I can’t. I have to convince Lana that we can face this together and emerge stronger. I’ll do whatever I can to protect her and Casey.

My heart aches that I wasn’t able to protect them from what’s already happened.

The difficult part is convincing her to look forward and not back.

She drops her gaze as soon as she opens the door. I move to wrap my arms around her, but she steps back to let me in instead.

Shit.

“Are you okay?”

She shrugs, turning away from the door. I follow her into the living room.

“Where’s Casey?” I ask.

“She had dinner early and crashed.” Her voice is so monotone—her mood obvious. She’s not happy, and she has every right to feel that way. I’m the one who assured her we’d be fine.

Lana sits on the couch, and I take a seat beside her.