Heather

At dinner with Alice, Kayne, and Fletcher, my father acts like the same pompous asshole he always is. He has to mansplain anything that Alice says. Alice intentionally doesn't hide her emotions, and there is a moment I am sure she is going to throw a punch at him.

Alice tells us that when visiting California with her late husband, she once auditioned for Life Alert's signature commercial. She says her audition went great, but they picked some other woman who spent her prep time in the waiting room snake-charming her arm with the song "You Make Me Feel So Young."

After we are all stuffed with food, she insists on showing us Life Alert's "Help I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up" commercial. Then, she gives a live reenactment of what the woman does in the video. Clearly, she's more exaggerated in her movements, which made me enjoy her rendition more than the commercial. Life Alert missed out by hiring the wrong actress.

During the performance, Dad steps outside to take a call from one of his colleagues. By the time Alice finishes, he hadn't come back in yet, so Fletcher suggests we go for a walk in the field behind the house. Kayne and Alice take to loading the dishwasher and clearing the food from the table.

When we are far enough from the house, I knew I was seconds away from Fletcher asking that dreaded question. There are so many unanswered questions from the encounter with Ryder that I'm sure Fletcher is curious about.

"So, are you ready to talk about what happened earlier?" he asks.

I take a deep breath and decide to be direct. "Ryder raped me," I say. The more I say it aloud, the more I feel Ryder's power leaving.

At first, Fletcher says nothing. His mouth is slightly open and I can sense his brain is trying to process this information.

"Heather, I'm so sorry," he finally says.

I don't know how to reply, so instead, I say, "I really appreciate what you did earlier."

"Absolutely. I've got your back."

"We can only hope that Ryder takes Kayne's threat seriously and stays away. But in the meantime, I don't particularly want to be alone anywhere in this town."

"That's understandable. You don't feel safe and it always feels better to have someone else around."

"Yeah."

"Would you feel comfortable going to get coffee tomorrow morning? It'll be my treat," he offers.

"That would be really great." I say. Fletcher throws his arm around me as we continue to walk along.

My father's voice interrupts us. "Heather, let's go. I'm ready to leave!" he yells across the field.

With his arm over my shoulders, Fletcher and I head back toward the house. My father calls out again, "Hurry!"

I ignore him and keep walking, matching my stride to Fletcher's.

"I'll pick you up at 10 o'clock tomorrow," Fletcher whispers in my ear before I head back into the house.

I say a brief goodbye to Kayne and Alice. Kayne still has that worried expression on his face. I love how protective he is. It's different from Ryder was. Ryder was jealous. Kayne's concern feels so comforting.

From the yard, Dad waves farewell toward the house. We climb into the car and Dad turns the key in the ignition.

Once the car is on the road, Dad says, "So, Ryder seems to fit in well here. You know, he told me he plans to stay for a while. I know you aren't together anymore, but it's nice to still see him around as your friend."

"Dad, I have something to tell you."

His eyebrows raise at my reluctant tone. "What is it?"

"Well, Ryder isn't my friend anymore." I figured beating around the bush was best. I'm not ready to say the words yet. "He and Kayne don't get along. And now he and Ali—" My strategy isn't going well. Dad looks perplexed at my half-assed explanations.

I breathe in deeply, preparing myself for the truth. "The truth is, I've been going to therapy because Ryder" I pause, squeezing my eyes tight so I won't see my dad's expression. "Ryder raped me."

I peek out of one eye, but he's staring straight forward, his jaw clenched. My heart is racing while waiting for his response.

"When?"

"Before California."

"Is that why you wanted to go?"

I nod slowly. "Yes."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

I think about it for a moment. "He came by looking for you. I told him to come in and wait. I gave him a tour and then we were arguing in my room. He's trying to get back into dealing again. I told him you were giving him a better job than that. Then, he started attacking me verbally, so I asked him to leave. That's when he did it." I barely notice the tears until they have soaked my cheeks. My breathing hitches as I let all the tears flow out.

"I can't believe he did that." My dad says breathlessly.

We sit in silence for the rest of the car ride. When we get home, Dad turns off the ignition but doesn't get out of the car.

"Ryder said something else to me that night," I say. Dad raises his eyebrow.

"He told me he saw mom recently—" I look up at my dad as all of his muscles contract. He's as stiff as a mannequin. "—in a rehabilitation center."

Dad says nothing, which confirms it.

"Is that really true?"

"Yes."

"Why is she there?"

Silence again.

"Dad, why is she there?" I press on.

"Your mom was caught up in opioids. She had an overdose, and it fried her brain. She's in a rehab center to recover. They've told me she's making excellent progress."

"Why didn't you tell me the truth? You told me she left you and left our family."

"I was afraid you couldn't handle it. You're still a kid. It's a lot to process for a kid."

"But it's easier for a kid to process that her mom just up and abandoned her?"

Dad folds forward, placing his head on the steering wheel.

"It wasn't the best cover."

"You can say that again." Yanking my purse from the back seat, I get out of the car. "I'm going to Kayne's house tonight. Maybe I'll see you sometime this week." I slam the car door and then rush inside to pack a bag.

I shove three- or four-days-worth of clothing into my duffle bag. I pack my backpack hastily and grab my keys. My dad is at the back door as I approach.

"Listen. How about we go see your mother for Christmas? I'll arrange everything with Mac's mother and you can stay there while we are in California."

"Okay," I reply simply. Dad waits for another moment and then steps aside for me to leave the house. I rush out to the car and speed off to Kayne's.

When I arrive, I see Fletcher and Alice sitting on the porch, mugs in hand.

"Heather, come join us, sweetheart," Alice calls across the yard. "Kayne ran out for an errand. You can chat with us until he comes back."

Kayne

I see Heather storm out of her father's car and head into the house. Her father stays in the car. When she reemerges, she marches straight to her car, throws in an overnight bag and speeds off. I'm parked a few houses down, but as Heather drives off frantically, she doesn't see me.

Part of me wants to chase after her, but at the same time I'm more curious why her father hasn't exited his car yet. I wait until finally he cuts on the engine and pulls out of the driveway. I give myself a reasonable following distance before I trail behind him.

He finally turns off the road into a shabby motel parking lot. He parks in front of the building while I keep the truck closer to the road. I jump down from the truck and run over to the room that he is incessantly knocking on. I move closer to the room, but stay hidden behind a nearby SUV. I peek around the back of the vehicle, which gives me a good view of everything.

"Open the fucking door, Ryder!" he yells at the closed door. Finally, Ryder's door opens and Heather's father lunges at him. He wraps his hands around Ryder's neck and shoves him against a wall. "I didn't invite you to Idaho to have you rape my daughter. What the hell were you possibly thinking?"

"She. Wanted. It." Ryder is barely able to utter the words and then Mr. Bright's fingers tighten. I scoff at the audacity of Ryder, telling that to the man who currently has his fingers digging into his neck that his daughter wanted to be raped.

"The hell she did, you asshole. Get your ass out of town," Mr. Bright shouts, releasing his hands from Ryder's neck, but not before he shoves his head into the wall, leaving an obvious dent in the drywall. Ryder falls to the ground, clasping his neck. "Do you understand me? You came here to sell drugs, but take that shit home with you. I could get you locked up so quickly for the crap you sell, your head would fucking spin around."

"I-I understand." Ryder eeks out.

"Sir," Mr. Bright prompts with authority.

"Sir." Ryder responds, raw fear in his eyes.

"If you ever contact my daughter again, I will kill you."

I stay hidden until Mr. Bright has driven away. Then, I walk back to my truck and head home, all the while feeling like Mr. Bright isn't the villain that I thought he was in Heather's life.