Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes Read Free Book Online Page A

away.
    That infuriated me as I stood among green grass and hummingbirds feeding from beautiful flowers. What did he know of losing the person he loved most in the world? What did he know of misery? He whose heart had never been broken. He whose parents both still breathed. He who would most likely live to a ripe old age. “He should have insisted she get checked out.”
    David opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. I turned to Lindsey, trying my best to keep my hands unclenched and my volume down. But like every other time in my life when I felt slighted, a switch had been flipped and I was powerless to control what came out of my mouth. “Your father-in-law told my mother her fatigue and headaches were due to anemia. Without running a single test, he gave her prescriptions for ibuprofen and iron pills, which she took faithfully. Six weeks after that, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Three months after that, she died.”
    Lindsey looked pleadingly to David.
    He was more focused on debating me than offering her the refuge or explanation she sought. “Jenny, what do you want? Like I’ve said a hundred times, what’s done is done.”
    “All my father ever wanted was an apology.”
    “Right. What he wants is for us to raise her from the dead.”
    I slapped his face and felt the sting on my hand. Shocked at my behavior, I clutched my hand to my chest to keep it from lashing out again against my will.
    Lindsey stepped back, looking lost and unsure. David grabbed my other wrist. “You come to my house, accuse my father, then attack me?”
    I pulled from him and rubbed the spot he’d held. Hot streams of shame trickled down my cheeks. “David, I’m sorry.”
    His expression didn’t soften. “I’m tired of all the grief your family’s caused mine. I thought when we broke up, we could spend the rest of our lives avoiding each other. It’s a big world. You’d think you’d be able to stay on your side.”
    I wiped the tears from my face. “I’d love nothing more than—”
    “So do it,” he hissed. “Go. I didn’t ask you to come here. I’m married, Jenny. Married. It’s time for both you and your father to move on.”
    I laughed bitterly. “Do you really think I’m not over you? I was over you the second I slammed the car door that night. You Prestons really think you’re something.”
    “I want you to leave. You’re upsetting my wife.”
    Lindsey looked embarrassed at her mention.
    A tiny butterfly landed on the hammock David had been lying on, and finally I remembered Isabella.
    This wasn’t about me or David or Lindsey or my mother or our fathers. It was about her. This idiot was her daddy. I needed to do damage control. For her sake.
    “Listen, David, Lindsey, I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to hit you or to accuse your family. I came here to—”
    “Save it.” David rubbed the red mark I’d left on his cheek.
    “Fine,” I spat back. “You’re not good enough for her anyway.”
    He whipped around and snatched the coffee cup and paper off the ground, then marched toward the house.
    Lindsey stared at me, uncertain. “For who?”
    “Never mind,” I said. Let his father tell him. Let no one tell him. I couldn’t care less. The last thing in the world I wanted after finding that David had turned into his dad was for him to be part of the upbringing of my precious daughter. Better for her to be raised by my father, half-present, than this pompous jerk.

Chapter Seven
    Naked Barbie dolls lay strewn across the coffee table beside a heap of miniature clothing. Isabella was nowhere in sight. I listened for her but heard only the distant hum of the ancient refrigerator. No laughter or pattering of feet. Curiously, the house was silent.
    My father’s Buick sat in the driveway and Mama Peg almost never left the house these days because of shortness of breath, which made me wonder if they’d taken to napping in the mornings.
    If my mother were still alive, I would be seeking her