Fractured Affections (The Affections Series Book 1) by Elizabeth Wills Page A

me work through all of this in my own way? I’m trying my best here. I did agree to go tonight, so that’s a start. Can we just not bring up the past? I need to move forward.”
    “Okay, baby, have fun tonight. I miss you badly. I can’t wait to hold you again and kiss those soft lips.”
    I kiss the tips of two fingers and press them over the camera of my phone. We both hang up with sad smiles. I’m not sure if seeing him helped or not. I only feel worried for him now. So he had a stomach bug, of course he’s going to look bad. It makes sense that he couldn’t talk last night, but why didn’t he just say that in his text?
    When he is unwell it calls to me. I feel the need to take care of him. If he were here, he could be tucked in our bed with me next to him, stroking his hair until he fell asleep, but he’s completely alone. He’s a grown man and fully capable of caring for himself, but I still feel like he needs me. I’m sinking into this feeling of worry that I know will stay with me until Dalton is doing better.

Chapter Nine
    Striker
    It’s late afternoon and I’m doing a walkthrough of a house that I took over for Dalton. I need to make sure that things are going completely on schedule and meet the expectations of the homeowners. Tomorrow the owners will be by to meet me and go over the progress, so I like to be prepared if they have any questions. After speaking with one of our contractors, I make my way out to the work truck so I can head home.
    Tonight will be a little tough on me, but I look forward to spending time with the three boys. They really are good kids, and I enjoy spending time with them. Ever since Dalton and Reagan moved out here, I would take a weekend, here and there, to come see him and the boys. A lot of the time we spent it out fishing on the pond. I know Dalton kept this from Rea. He would make a point of telling the boys that when we have a men’s weekend we keep it to ourselves and that their mommy didn’t need to know where they went and what they did.
    I can’t say I agree with keeping things from Rea. The little that Dalton would talk about with me, gave me the feeling that if she did know we were spending time together that it would end, and the only person I would be able to visit would be Dalton. In a way, I’m glad he gave me the opportunity to know his children. Now, I’m afraid she’ll find out and I’ll have to suffer her wrath instead of my cousin.
    My mind is racing from my earlier conversation with Dalton. I get the weird feeling that he is hiding something from me. Shit everything seems off. Why now? Why is he fighting for Rea and I to fix things? Why didn’t he fight hard for things to work out when I returned from the military? He pretty much kept me hidden from her, like a dirty little secret, and it’s been tough.
    I’ve had to live with the knowledge that my cousin, my best friend, my brother; married the girl that to this day has my heart in a death grip. I have never been able to move on from her. While I have fucked countless women, none of them have been able to break me from the chains that strangle me every day. I have survived, but I have not lived. Many times I have questioned my decision to move back to our hometown.
    After moving back, I bought a home not far from my aunt’s house. There are so many memories around town that the three of us created. Then there were the stolen moments that Reagan and I had together. Our woods haunted me the most. I couldn’t help but go back and visit them, just to feel close to her again. Why couldn’t I move on? I tortured myself by visiting all the places that meant something to us, over and over, throughout the years. Maybe if I hadn’t accepted the offer Dalton made me, about taking over the business, I would’ve never gone back.
    I’d like to think I would have had a life that I always pictured for myself. I wanted to create a home with a loving wife and the laughter of children. I wanted my family