Ignite (Legacy) Read Free Page B

my head, taking in deep breaths.
    River was leaving. This was my life. There would be no bright spots of laughter with him, of star-gazing, or stealing the comfort of his arms under the guise of friendship. This was it.
    My heart felt like it was being mashed, squeezed until I bled out. The life I led wasn’t glamorous, or even really fulfilling. It was duty. Duty to raise Adeline. Duty to take care of Dad.
    Duty.
    I slammed the pill bottle onto the counter with more force than I’d intended.
    Duty.
    I twisted off the cap, Dad yelling again from the living room because I was taking too long.
    Duty.
    And that had seemed fine last night because I had one small thing that I kept for myself: River.
    But now I felt like I was staring across the path my life would take…and suddenly the emptiness was overwhelming.
    “Avery!” Dad yelled.
    “Yeah, Dad. In a second,” I answered, knowing that if I didn’t, the shouts would only get louder until they turned to yells. Until he started throwing things. And if I put my foot down and made him get up for it…well, shit got broken. Not us—he’d never laid a finger on Adeline or me—just everything we loved, to make his point.
    Mom had died in the car crash that had resulted in Dad’s fused spine, and we would forever pay for losing her and his never-ending pain and the loss of his job on the force. After all, they’d been on their way to pick us up from a weekend with our grandmother. In Dad’s mind, if we’d never been born, she’d still be alive and he’d be whole—still a police officer.
    I knew better, whether or not he would ever admit it.
    It was the secret between us. He kept it because he’d never willingly expose himself to the consequences of his actions. I kept it because he was Addy’s guardian, and the minute I opened my mouth, he’d kick me out of her life, and then what would happen to her? Even if I reported him for neglect, there was no guarantee she’d end up with me.
    I rinsed the dishes and put them into the dishwasher, then grabbed Dad’s pain meds from the top of the cabinet, where I’d chosen to hide them for the week. Moving them around ensured that he never took more than he was allotted.
    I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and carried the pills to him.
    “It’s about time,” he grumbled and cried out as he sat up on the couch. He swallowed the pills and some of the water, then scratched his hand across his unshaven beard. I’d given up trying to get him to shave years ago. “You think about cleaning this place up?” He motioned around the general dishevel of the living room.
    “Maybe later,” I answered. “I need to run into the office for a few minutes.”
    “At the paper ?” he sneered.
    “Yes, at the paper. Where I have a job.” So I can keep the lights on.
    He laughed. “That’s not a job. Jobs make real money. Why don’t you quit that one and take up more shifts at the bar? Pretty girl like you can make good tips.”
    I did make good tips. Enough to save up almost a full semester’s tuition for Adeline. Five more years and maybe I could get her through college without the loans I’d taken out for my journalism degree. But that degree had also led me to River, which was worth every cent of the debt I’d accrued.
    “Okay, well, if that’s it, then I have stuff I need to get done.”
    He turned the channel. “Get me clean clothes and make me breakfast.”
    I bit the insides of my cheeks and something in me snapped. “Say please.”
    “I’m sorry?” he asked, finally looking at me, his eyes drug-hazed but wide.
    “Say please,” I repeated.
    “Why should I?” he snapped like a petulant toddler.
    The pain of River’s inevitable loss morphed into red-hot anger. “Because I haven’t changed from work yet. Because I’m holding down two jobs to keep the taxes paid, utilities on, and everything Adeline needs. Because River is moving back to Colorado and this is my life, so I need you to be a little