Hey guys :) Sorry it's been so long. I've got exams really soon :( And you guys are going to hate me for this chapter :P But it had to be done. I'm off school on Wednesday for Christmas so I'm going to try and get this story finished. Literally is three or four chapters. But I'm doing a lote of revision right now so I'll have to see.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Can I talk to you for a second?” I whispered into Sam’s ear. She looked at me and nodded. I stood up and looked over at Riley. Satisfied she was focused on her conversation with Jim, I walked into the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” Sam said following me in.
“I need to ask you for a favour.” I turned around and sat down at the table.
“You know I’d help you and Riley as much as I can.” She sat down with a serious face on. I know I can ask Sam to do this for me. Then again, it’s not something that is particularly testing.
“Are you working on Monday?” I asked, making her shake her head. “Can you come over while I’m at work?"
She furrowed her eyebrows, leaning on the table. "Why; is everything okay?"
"Yeah I just want you to make sure Riley is okay while I'm at work. She's not really been bonding with Michael as much as she should. She won’t go to him if he’s crying.” I explained picking at my fingernails. “So I’m going to make her spend more time with him on her own. Then hopefully, she’ll start to go to him when he’s crying. But…” I stopped unsure of how to word it without sounding bad.
“You want me to make sure that she does it rather than leaving Michael on his own.” She finished, knowing where I was coming from.
“Basically yeah,” I looked up at her and smiled slightly. She let out a breath before nodding.
"Yeah I'll come over. About half eight; is that okay?"
I smiled and nodded. "That's perfect. I should be finished work at half two so I'll be home at around three." I told her standing up. "I'll try and get out early. I'm meant to be at rugby but I can get someone to cover." I smiled at her while pushing my chair in.
"It's fine, do what you think is best." She said standing up with me. "But she'll get there eventually Caleb. I wouldn't worry about it too much. She's just trying to get used to everything. I'm sure she'll hold him by the time you get home." She offered me a reassuring smiled which I appreciated. I know that she'll get Riley to hold him eventually.
"I know she will. But it's better that she does it now rather than later. With Christmas in a couple of weeks, things are just going to get busier. So dealing with this now won't add to everything."
She nodded and put her arm on my forearm. "It'll be fine," she said giving my arm a squeeze. "Come on; let's get back to everyone." She started making her way towards the door.
"Can you send Riley in here actually? I want to talk to her." Asking that made me sound like I was at work. That's exactly what I say when I'm talking to one of my students. Sam nodded and disappeared into the living room. I turned around and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
"What are you hiding in here for?" Riley said behind me. I turned around and smiled at her.
"You know what I'm like." I smirked as she walked over to me. "The less people I have to speak to the better."
She laughed, making me smile, wrapping my arms around her waist. "It's a good thing you're a teacher then. All those kids in your face every minute of every day." She sarcastically said wrapping her arm around my neck.
"Oh how I've missed your sarcasm." I smirked before kissing her nose.
"Did you miss nothing else?" She pulled away with a hurt expression. I smiled and pulled her back into me, nuzzling her neck.
"I missed everything about you." I mumbled squeezing her tightly.
"I wish I could say the same."
I laughed and pulled away slightly. "I wanted to talk to you about something." I reached out and played with a loose bit of hair from her ponytail.
"Talk about what?" She tugged at my hair slightly to make me look at her. I looked down at her and smiled.
"I just want to make sure that we're okay. That's there's no doubt in your mind that I'd ever do that again." I felt bad for asking her that when her smile fell. But it needed to be asked. I couldn’t just have the thought constantly in the back of my mind. I needed to know if she trusted me or not.
“Where did this come from?” She asked stepping back from me.
“I just have this voice in the back of my head worrying whether you trust me or not. We never really spoke about it. I want to know that you still trust me. I don’t want you to still have doubts about me.” I leant against the worktop, looking down at the floor. I really don’t know how I’d feel if she said she didn’t trust me.
~~~Riley’s POV~~~
What do I say to that? I’ve already told him that I trust him, so what if he still doesn’t believe me this time? How am I meant to make him believe me this time? I do trust him. He didn’t do anything to make me ignore him for as long as I did. But he was in the wrong to lie to me for so long. That’s what really annoyed me the most. “I do trust you. That’s why I’m here,” I said looking at the top of his head. I hate seeing him nervous and looking at the ground. I like seeing his eyes when I’m talking to him. “I know that you’d never give me a reason not to trust you again. I was wrong to ignore you for so long.”
He let out a breath and looked up at me. “No I understand why you did it.” He shook his head adamantly.
"It doesn't matter though. I trust you and that's all you need to know. You shouldn't worry about that. If I didn't trust you then I would still be at my mum’s. The only reason that I wouldn’t trust you is if you gave me a reason not to trust you.” I probably should have thought about that last bit in my head before saying it.
“Well I have given you a reason not to trust me. I’ve probably given you many reasons not to trust me.”
I sighed and tilting my head to the side. “Have I ever told you how stupid you are?” I raised my eyebrows and he smirked.
“Probably a few times over the past few years. And I doubt that you’d stop any time soon.” He smiled pulling me over to him.
“I’ll stop when you realise that I trust you.” I said hitting his chest. “So do you believe me now?” I slid my hands up to his shoulders and squeezed them. He smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, I believe you now. I guess I always did, I just need to hear it.” He said with a simple shrug. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek.
“Well I’ll keep saying it if I have to.” I buried my face into his neck and gave him a hug.
“I love you,” he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
“I love you too.” I hope he heard that, but it probably came out as a mumble because of his neck.
“We should probably get back in there. Unless you’re like me and don’t want to talk to anybody.”
I smiled and pulled away, so my face was in front of his. “Well the sooner we get in there, the sooner they can leave. I want to sit down and watch a movie and just relax.”
He smiled before pressing his lips to mine. “Let’s go then,” he gave me one last kiss before turning me around and pushing me towards the door. I laughed and slipped my hands around to his. I really hope that we’ve sorted everything out.
*
“I’m away to work,” Caleb said walking out of the bathroom.
“I need the car for later though.” I slipped on my jeans before looking up at him.
“Why; where are you going?”
“Beth came home late last night so I was going to go over to her house.” I leant against the dresser and watched him pull on his jacket. “I’ll drop you off and pick you up later.” I offered, seeing it was the only option really.
“But your mum is downstairs.”
I frowned, tilting my head slightly. “What’s she downstairs for?” There wasn’t really any reason for her to be here. I love my mum, but she was here two days ago.
“She just called in so you’re not on your own when I’m at work. But I guess you’ll have to drop me off.” He grabbed his bag before walking to the door. “I need to leave now though so I’m not late.”
I nodded and followed him out. When we got downstairs, my mum was in the living room with a cup of coffee. “Hi mum,” I walked over and kissed her cheek. “I’m dropping Caleb off to work but I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”
She nodded as I slipped on my shoes. “That’s fine; I’ll keep an eye on Michael.” She smiled before taking a sip of her coffee.
“I’ll be back soon,” I grabbed my car keys before leaving. “Is she going to be the whole day? Because I have stuff to do before Christmas.”
He looked over at me and shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m sure she’ll help you with it.” He smiled slightly walking around to the passenger side. I unlocked it and he slipped inside. I narrowed my eyes, knowing he knew she was coming over. And I had a suspicion why.
~
“I need to talk to you about something.” My mum said after she put Michael down to sleep.
“What?” I had an idea of what she was going to say, but its better to ask to make sure.
“Caleb’s worried that you’re not bonding with Michael enough. Actually, I’m quite worried you’re not either.” She sat down on the chair opposite me before continuing. “I know that it can be terrifying having a baby, but if you miss out on the first few weeks, you’re going to regret it. So letting Caleb go to him every time, isn’t going to do any good.” She said exactly what I thought she would.
“I’m just trying to get used to it. I don’t know what you’re worrying about.” I sort of do see why, but I’ll do it when I’m ready.
“We’re worried that you’ll not bond with him. This is what the first few weeks are about. And later down the road, you’ll get upset that he’s closer to Caleb then he is to you.”
“But that’s only natural that a boy would be closer to his father.” I didn’t really want to talk about this.
“Yes, but when he’s a toddler and should want his mother as well as he father. He’ll want his father and that’ll upset you. If you start to deal with it now, then it’ll make everything easier.”
“It’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about anything.” As my Mum was about to say something, my phone rang on the table. “I’ll be back in a second.” I grabbed my phone while leaving the room. I answered it walking into the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Mark Campbell.” He either called at a really good time, or a really bad time. “I know this week is probably very busy for you guys, but I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t urgent.”
“Is this about the same thing as before?” I questioned, looking down at the clock. I really don’t think I’m getting to Beth’s house anytime soon.
“Yeah, I need you to come down. Is there any chance that you and Caleb could come down now?” It must be serious if he wants us down now.
“That’s fine, we’re coming down now.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you then.” And with that said we hung up. I really hope Caleb can come down with me, because I don’t really fancy going on my own. I called him, hoping that he wasn’t in class.
“Hey Ri. What’s up?” He answered, obviously not in class. Or he just answered his phone in the middle of class; which he’s done before.
“Mark Campbell just rang me. He wants me to come down to talk about something. Is there any chance that you can get away and come with me?” If only I could pout at him right now.
“Ummm, I think so yeah. Are you coming to pick me up now?”
“Yeah, I’ll be about ten minutes.” I grabbed my keys before heading towards the door.
“Okay, I’ll meet you in the car park.”
“See you in a bit,” I hung up and slid my phone into my pocket. “I need to go talk to someone down in the police station.” I said walking into the living room. “Can you stay here until we get back please?” I put on my shoes and looked over at her.
“Is everything okay?” She asked worried and concerned, a frown across her brow. I nodded standing up.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. But I’ll talk to you when I get back.” I stole a quick glance at Michael before leaving. And I have to admit, I did feel a slight pang in my chest when I looked at him. “I’ll see you soon,” I called before leaving the house.
~
“Did he tell you what this was about?” Caleb asked as we waited in reception.
“No, he never said. He said last time that he needed to tell us it face to face. But I don’t know what it is.” I looked at him and he shrugged.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” And soon appeared to be now.
“Riley, Caleb,” Mark said from a doorway. “If you want to come in,” he said stepping aside. We stood up and walked over to him, Caleb letting me go in first. “I’m sorry to call you away from your son so soon after he came home.” He apologised offering us a seat.
“I think we’re pretty much settled down now so it’s alright.” Caleb and I sat down as Mark sat opposite us.
“Right,” Mark said letting out a breath. “We’ve found a car that we think was used in the accident.” He opened a file before he continued. “We found it at an abandoned warehouse, and the owner rang us when we started to redevelop it. We found paint flecks on the front that match the paint from your car. The only problem is that there are no licence plates or registration numbers anywhere on the car. And there are no fingerprints, so we can’t track whose car it is. So,” he pulled out a picture and set it on the table. “Do either of you know anyone who owns a car like this?”
Caleb pulled the photo closer to us, before he leant forward to study it. “I’ve never seen anyone I know drive a car like that.” He said before sitting back.
“My friend’s parents had a car like this.” I said looking at the photo more critically. It was a blue Volkswagen Golf, but it was rusty and had dents in it. “But they leave it up at their beach house up at the north coast.” There’s no way that this is their car. It’s just a coincidence.
“Well we also found this watch between the car seat. It looks like it broke off during the collision.” He lifted a bag from the chair beside him before setting it on the table. “Have you seen this before?”
I didn’t know what to say. There was a lump in my throat, stopping me from saying anything. I reached across and took the watch. I can see that the car is a coincidence, but stretching it to a watch as well isn’t possible.
“If we can find the owner, it’s likely that’s our driver.”
This is crazy; absolutely crazy. There is no way that he would do something like this. I’ve known him for long enough to know this isn’t him. He isn’t the type of person to go out of his way to hurt someone, especially me. He can be an asshole, but he wouldn’t go to such lengths as to crash into someone on purpose. I really don’t think it was him.
“Riley?” Caleb brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him, trying to swallow the lump in my throat.
“Do you know who owns this stuff?”
I looked at Mark, and nodded. As I nodded, I felt Caleb’s hand slip into mine. I knew he was going to go mad when I tell them who owns it. And I really don’t want him to get mad.
“And who is it?” Mark asked as he eagerly got a pen and his notepad.
I took a deep breath and squeezed Caleb’s hand, before telling him.