Page 105 of Wicked Promises
“Okay, Margo,” he says. “Ben, Josh Black, Phil Mardzen, and I were best friends in high school.”
“Wait,” Caleb interrupts. “You were best friends withCoach Mardzen?”
Dad smiles. “Is he coaching now?”
Caleb crosses his arms over his chest.
After a second, Dad shakes his head. “I moved away to go to college in Massachusetts, which is where I met your mother. When we moved back to Rose Hill, I was… significantly different. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one. Ben and Josh had split from Phil just after graduation. He wasn’t even in Rose Hill when I moved back. Ben and Lydia were dating, and things were pretty serious. Norah and Josh had gotten together, too. Everyone was shocked when I brought Amber home, newly engaged.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What about you being disowned?”
A laugh bursts out of Dad’s mouth. “Yes, that’s true. My mother was not happy with my pick of a wife.” He sobers quickly. “She died a few months after our wedding. I only found out about it after I was put in here.”
I sober, too. “I would’ve liked to have met her.”
He smiles sadly. “The last letter I sent her that she would’ve received was the one in which I told her Amber was pregnant with you. I sent more after that, pictures and stories, but… The letters were never returned to me, so I assumed she read them.”
“How was my parents’ relationship?” Caleb asks.
Dad levels him with a look. “The adult perspective?”
“They argued a lot,” Caleb says, attention fastened to the table, “late at night, when they thought I couldn’t hear them.”
“They had some trouble,” Dad allowed. “Obviously, Margo’s mother didn’t help the situation any.”
“You say it with such ease,” Caleb says, finally raising his head. He leans forward. “You say that your wife was cheating on you like it doesn’t even bother you, when in reality, you’re in here formurder.”
“Let it out, son.” Dad motions for Caleb to give him more.
“How do you live with it? I found Dad in his room—” Caleb sucks in a ragged breath. “When I look at you, all I can see is my father’s blood.”
My heart hurts for Caleb. That he was the one to find his father dead. That he’s had to live with it all this time,alone. His family warped his perception. My dad was the closest thing to a saving grace for us when we lived on Caleb’s family property. And his uncle and mother made sure those memories were forever tainted.
“We were friends,” Dad continues. “I never laid a hand on him, and I certainly didn’t kill him.”
It’s about as serious of an admission as… well, as admitting to murder. He’s already in prison. He doesn’t have anything to lose.
Caleb stares at the ceiling, blinking rapidly.
I hate that he’s so bothered by this.
“Dad, when did you first meet Tobias?”
“After I was arrested. Amber had just…” He shakes his head.
“Mom had justwhat?”
“We received a suspiciously large deposit in our shared bank account, so the police froze it. I had nothing after I was arrested. I met Hutchins after they read me the charges and I asked for a lawyer.”
“You hadn’t seen him… at the house?”
Dad squints at me. “What are you saying?”
“We’re definitely not accusing Lydia of paying him off, convincing you to get a shitty plea deal,right?” I lift my chin. “And we’d never insinuate that the person who hit me and Robert—and then abducted me—borrowed the vehicle from Tobias.”
Dad closes his eyes. “You cannot talk about this.”
“Why not?”