He narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about, Samantha?"

My chest tightened and I jerked a shoulder up. "What do you care? You got paid to not care."

He took another step back, as if blown back by a sudden gust of wind. He blinked rapidly as he rubbed his jaw again. "I'm not following you. Wha—what are you talking about?"

"She. Paid. You. To. Stay. Away. From. Me."

"Honey—"

He reached for my arm, but I yanked it away. "Don't call me that," I seethed. My teeth were clenched together. "Don't ever call me that again."

"Samantha." His arm fell, as did his voice.

"Did she pay you to stay away?"

I needed to know this answer; I needed to know it so much. If she had, I didn't know how I would handle it.

"No."

I jerked back.

His eyes were steady on me. He was imploring me to hear him. "I was not paid to stay away from you. I stayed away from you because I feared for you. Your mother's not healthy. She's not been in a right frame of mind lately. She paid me to sign the divorce papers and not fight anything. I didn't fight any of it. I didn't even read them because I don't want anything from your mother. The only thing I ever cared about was you, but I worried what she would do." If she would harm you.

I stumbled as I heard those unspoken words. They flashed in my mind. I saw the same stricken look on him. He thought the same thing. A memory flared through me.

I was in the hospital room, in a nightgown. Analise had left, and I was crying. It hurt so much. Everything hurt. I couldn't breathe, but then David came in. He brushed my hair back and whispered as he kissed my forehead, "I will never leave you. I promise."

"You did leave me," I whispered.

He winced as if he'd been slapped. He nodded. Then he choked on a breath. "I'm sorry, Samantha. I really am. Your mother left me, and she took you with. I had no legal leg to stand on. I consulted with a lawyer, but I never adopted you. She was your mother, you were her daughter. I couldn't fight her, and then Garrett came into the picture. I didn't know what to think of him, if he was going to fight for you too. But you're seventeen."

"So?" I hissed at him.

"So." His shoulders drooped. "Any legal fight for you would've lasted a long time, possibly years. I didn't have years to fight. I didn't want to anger your mother. I didn't know what she would've done. I had no way of knowing what she could've said to you. She might've brainwashed you against me. I had no idea. All I could do was wait and hope that she wouldn't take you away from here."

"And if she had?"

His head jerked up. A fierce determination came over him. "Then I would've searched for you, and I would've fought for you. I wouldn't have given a damn what she had done or said, or how far she would've gone. I would've fought. But you are still here. You're still in town. You were still going to my school—not anymore, but you're here in town. You're still here. I can still see you, and you'll be 18 in a week."

"I moved out."

Surprise flared in his eyes. "You did?"

I nodded. "She threatened to leave James if Mason didn't stop seeing me; then she threatened to report him to the police because I'm still a minor. It was too much, all of it. And…" I shrugged and looked away. "It doesn't matter now. I moved out. I'm not moving back in." But even as I said it, I thought about Mason and Logan. They should live with their father. I was even thinking about James. He shouldn't lose his last few months with Mason before he went to college. And Logan, what about him? Where would we live in the next year? Nate would be gone. I wouldn't be able to live in his home, and Helen wouldn't approve of Logan being my only roommate if we rented an apartment.

The more I considered it, the more I realized that she would demand that Logan move in with her. That meant that he'd go to Los Angeles, or she would move back. But again, where would I go? She wouldn't let me live with them.

I glanced at David, but I knew I couldn't live with him. Too much had happened. There was too much distance between us.

My heart sank with that thought.

I would never get back the father that I had before.

He let out a breath of relief. "Well, that's good then. That's really good, Samantha. Would you—I mean—would you consider—where are you—" He struggled for words, but settled on, "What are you doing for your birthday?"

I waited, but when he finished with that question, I was dumbfounded. "What?"

"Your birthday is next weekend. I can imagine that Mason and Logan have a big party planned, but would you consider having dinner with me? We could go out? Or stay in? You could come back to the house." He nodded, so eager now. "We could make a homemade pizza, or no. I could order in. Chinese. You used to like Chinese. We could go to that restaurant you always liked when you were little."

"I…" I closed my mouth. I never considered my birthday plans. I'd been too consumed with the thought of being free from her, but that was done. And I was free now. So maybe dinner with David sounded like a good thing. That's what I'd been wanting, wasn't it? "Sure…"

My phone buzzed at that moment. It was a text from Mason. In the car.

"I'm, um, I'm going to go."

He nodded, a bright smile on his face. "Okay. That sounds good. I'm excited for your birthday, Samantha. I really am. I'm glad that there are boundaries with your relationship with Analise too. I've worried about you so much. You have no idea."

"I…" Again, I closed my mouth. I didn't know what to say to him anymore. Too much had happened. He wasn't my father anymore. Pain seared inside me. And what about Garrett? He was gone too. Both of them had abandoned me, maybe for good reasons, maybe not, but they were gone. I had survived my mother without them.

As I left, I didn't hear what else he said. I didn't care anymore. When I got into the car and shut the door, the shock was reeling inside of me. I didn't care anymore. I didn't care about David or Garrett. I had always cared, but not anymore.

"What's wrong?"

"I saw my dad."

"Garrett?" His eyebrows shot up.

"No." I shook my head. I was in a daze. "David. I saw him and…I don't care anymore."