Read Online The Trouble with Temptation by Shiloh Walker - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Shiloh Walker
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darkened yard, lit by the smile and the dancing flames of a fire. She was watching them, Hannah realized.
Watching Hannah dancing with her dad.
“We were happy.” Slowly, she looked up at Griffin. “Mama, Daddy and me. We were happy, weren’t we? Before he died?”
He pushed off the railing and knelt down in front of her. “Yeah,” he said, a smile crooking up the corners of his mouth. He caught her hand and squeezed. “You were. All of us were. Mom … she … um, well. She tried to get you and your mama to move to Baton Rouge and stay with us, but Aunt Lily didn’t want to leave Treasure. Said she’d grown up here, wanted you to grow up here. Didn’t want to leave the house that she and your dad had bought.”
Hannah nodded and then looked away, tucking that scrap of memory away. She’d write it down, she decided. These bits and pieces that were real , that were solid, she’d buy a journal and write everything down. Sooner or later, she’d have enough to believe that she really did have a life—something more than the Swiss cheese experiment that was her brain these days.
But that one, bittersweet memory of her mother led to another one.
One of her mother crying. Begging .
“She was happy. Here .” She looked back at the apartment where she lived but shook her head. “Not in this apartment, I know that. I didn’t grow up here. I don’t know where that place is, or what it looks like, but it was here. But instead of moving to Baton Rouge, she let that miserable fuck move in and knock her around for the rest of her life instead,” Hannah said, frustration bubbling inside her.
“You remember him.”
“Some.” She managed not to flinch at one particularly clear memory. She didn’t want to think about that, or the guilt. Rage threatened to steal the air from her lungs and she sucked in a deep breath. “His name. What was his name, Griffin?”
“Omar.” Griffin’s lip curled as he said it, as though the very mention of the man left a bad taste in his mouth. “Omar Lovett.”
“Omar.” She clenched both of her hands into fists and wished she had something in front of her that she could hit. “I remember his face. He was this big, ugly, lazy pig of a man. I wasn’t a skinny girl, I know that, but he would sit there at the table, stuffing his face and then he’d take half the food my mother gave me and throw it away, telling me that I was too fat already and I had to quit being such a lazy pig—he sure as hell wasn’t going to let me hang around his house forever.”
A low noise escaped Griffin, but she didn’t look at him. “It was our house, mine and Mama’s. Insurance … I can remember that. Mama paid it all off with my dad’s life insurance policy, put some in the bank for me for college.”
It was weird the way those memories were just there, as if all she had to do was reach for them.
“I remember him hurting her—I can’t remember all of it, but there are these … flashes.” She waved a hand back and forth in front of her head. She reached for another memory but there was nothing else.
“What else do you remember?”
She laughed sourly and glanced over at him. “It would be better to explain what I don’t remember. Almost everything is vague impressions. Him hurting my mom, but I don’t remember her name.” Her voice broke and she had to press a hand to her mouth to keep from sobbing. “Griffin…”
He caught her in a tight embrace. “Lily. Your mama’s name was Lily.”
“Lily.” She clung tight to her cousin and tried not to cry.
She tried not to scream, too, because she was angry.
“It’s okay, Hannah.”
She let him tell her that and she let him think it helped.
But it wasn’t okay. Had she been this angry before? She didn’t know.
Moments passed as she calmed herself and when she thought she could look at him without him seeing the storm that still raged inside, she broke away.
He made her look at him for a moment and she was able to
Watching Hannah dancing with her dad.
“We were happy.” Slowly, she looked up at Griffin. “Mama, Daddy and me. We were happy, weren’t we? Before he died?”
He pushed off the railing and knelt down in front of her. “Yeah,” he said, a smile crooking up the corners of his mouth. He caught her hand and squeezed. “You were. All of us were. Mom … she … um, well. She tried to get you and your mama to move to Baton Rouge and stay with us, but Aunt Lily didn’t want to leave Treasure. Said she’d grown up here, wanted you to grow up here. Didn’t want to leave the house that she and your dad had bought.”
Hannah nodded and then looked away, tucking that scrap of memory away. She’d write it down, she decided. These bits and pieces that were real , that were solid, she’d buy a journal and write everything down. Sooner or later, she’d have enough to believe that she really did have a life—something more than the Swiss cheese experiment that was her brain these days.
But that one, bittersweet memory of her mother led to another one.
One of her mother crying. Begging .
“She was happy. Here .” She looked back at the apartment where she lived but shook her head. “Not in this apartment, I know that. I didn’t grow up here. I don’t know where that place is, or what it looks like, but it was here. But instead of moving to Baton Rouge, she let that miserable fuck move in and knock her around for the rest of her life instead,” Hannah said, frustration bubbling inside her.
“You remember him.”
“Some.” She managed not to flinch at one particularly clear memory. She didn’t want to think about that, or the guilt. Rage threatened to steal the air from her lungs and she sucked in a deep breath. “His name. What was his name, Griffin?”
“Omar.” Griffin’s lip curled as he said it, as though the very mention of the man left a bad taste in his mouth. “Omar Lovett.”
“Omar.” She clenched both of her hands into fists and wished she had something in front of her that she could hit. “I remember his face. He was this big, ugly, lazy pig of a man. I wasn’t a skinny girl, I know that, but he would sit there at the table, stuffing his face and then he’d take half the food my mother gave me and throw it away, telling me that I was too fat already and I had to quit being such a lazy pig—he sure as hell wasn’t going to let me hang around his house forever.”
A low noise escaped Griffin, but she didn’t look at him. “It was our house, mine and Mama’s. Insurance … I can remember that. Mama paid it all off with my dad’s life insurance policy, put some in the bank for me for college.”
It was weird the way those memories were just there, as if all she had to do was reach for them.
“I remember him hurting her—I can’t remember all of it, but there are these … flashes.” She waved a hand back and forth in front of her head. She reached for another memory but there was nothing else.
“What else do you remember?”
She laughed sourly and glanced over at him. “It would be better to explain what I don’t remember. Almost everything is vague impressions. Him hurting my mom, but I don’t remember her name.” Her voice broke and she had to press a hand to her mouth to keep from sobbing. “Griffin…”
He caught her in a tight embrace. “Lily. Your mama’s name was Lily.”
“Lily.” She clung tight to her cousin and tried not to cry.
She tried not to scream, too, because she was angry.
“It’s okay, Hannah.”
She let him tell her that and she let him think it helped.
But it wasn’t okay. Had she been this angry before? She didn’t know.
Moments passed as she calmed herself and when she thought she could look at him without him seeing the storm that still raged inside, she broke away.
He made her look at him for a moment and she was able to
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