Page 32 of In All My Dreams

I roll my eyes, laughing silently. “She loves that stupid cat. He sleeps with her every night.”

His eyes scan the photo again, then they turn serious as they meet mine.

“When do you plan on telling that boy he’s her father?”

My blood stops cold, and my vision goes blurry. I stare at my father, opening and closing my mouth repeatedly as I try to come up with a lie.

But I’m tired of lying.

“How did you know?” I whisper, looking back at the door to make sure Ian hasn’t come back.

Dad lets out an offended snort. “I have eyes, Georgia. The boy puts all the stars in the sky for you. Always has. I also know that six years ago I told him to go find you,” he says matter-of-factly. “He came back even more broken than I was. I knew something horrible happened between the two of you, but I never knew what. Auden filled in some of those holes for me when the two of them came down to the lake the other morning. The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew. She was yours, but she was also his.”

Silent tears slip down my cheeks as my father rips my lies apart.

“Ian didn’t seem to know, though. Maybe he has an idea. But I don’t think so. Whatever lie you told him, he seems to believe. I can see that it’s eating him alive, wishing that he hadn’t messed up. Whatever he did, or you did. I don’t know. I don’t really care to know. I just want you to be happy, and I know that silly boy makes you shine brighter than all the constellations in the sky.” He squeezes my hand again, patting it with his other.

I wipe my tears away with my free hand. “I don’t know how to tell him. He’s going to hate me, Dad. There’s so much I’m hiding from him. So much I’m hiding from everyone.” I sniffle, taking a deep breath, grabbing my mom’s locket like it can keep me from sinking into the abyss.

“Georgia,” Dad says sternly. “Nothing that happened to Irene was your fault.”

I look up in shock. “What—how do you know about that?”

He gives me a sad smile before looking down at the locket. “Did you find her diary? I left it in her desk, along with that locket and Ian’s watch when Lydia said she was going to make that room up for you.”

“You knew about it?” I gasp. “You want me to read it?” My heart feels like it’s going to explode in my chest from all these new revelations.

“You need to read it, Bug. It has all the answers.”

The door opens behind me, and Ian walks in with a brown paper bag and a smile on his face. His expression falters when he sees the tears in my eyes, but I give him a reassuring smile.

“I managed to snag some bagels, cream cheese, and a cobb salad. I know it’s not the bacon burger you want, Link. But as a doctor, I can’t recommend that to someone who just had a heart attack,” Ian tells us as he brings the rolling desk over to the bedfor Dad, placing the bag on top before turning and flashing me another smile.

The door opens again a moment later, and we are all greeted by Nurse Olivia, who is already sporting a scowl. “Visiting hours are over. You need to leave so my patient can get some sleep.”

My father rolls his eyes dramatically, making Ian and I both chuckle. “You two go. I’ll be home soon. Give that granddaughter of mine a kiss for me. You can even give the demon cat an ear scratch or two.” I stand and lean over to give my dad a kiss on his cheek. “Read the diary, Georgia. It’s important,” he whispers. I nod, and Ian comes over to shake his hand. “Treat them well, son.”

“Always,” Ian responds.

The two men I dreaded coming back to see, shaking hands. This is the life we should have had. Ian, Auden, and I, a real family. My father, a doting grandfather. Lydia, a grandmother to a little girl who reminds us both so much of Irene, I know she would love Auden with her entire heart. Even the thought of Ian’s father being a part of Auden’s life doesn’t terrify me as much.

Ian and I walk hand in hand back to the car. He opens the door for me, making me feel silly until I look up at him and everything about him is screaming at me to tell him the truth.

The short drive back to the house is filled with silence, both of us lost in our thoughts again as Ian’s hand is on my lap.His fingers drum lightly against my thigh, sending all sorts of electric pulses throughout my body.

“Let’s go sit under the willow tree for a while,” I tell him as he puts the car into park behind the manor. “If that’s okay?”

His smile threatens to undo me. “That sounds perfect. I’ll go grab the quilt from the couch and some wine and meet you there in a few minutes. I’m pretty sure Mom made some banana bread today. Do you want some?”

“Mrs. Foster’s famous banana bread? Absolutely, yes. I just need to grab a few things from upstairs,” I tell him before following him into the dark kitchen. I’d like to check on Auden, and I need to grab my mother’s diary from my bedroom before Ian and I head to the willow tree.

I sneak through the house as quickly as I can so as not to wake Mrs. Foster, who is asleep on the sofa bed in the living room. I should buy her some flowers tomorrow for watching Auden. I told her that she could take Auden to their house near the back of the property, but she declined that idea quickly and offered to just stay here with her for the night.

As I’m walking up the stairs, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Someone, or something, is watching me.

I stop midstep, my breathing slowing as my heart races, my mind urging me to run while my body stands frozen.

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