Page 35 of Pretty Broken Things

“He is at the hospital, he said it was his mom. My dad showed up at the house, so they must have come back from wherever they’d fucked off to. He chose this minute to be a parent. I don’t even know what is going on, but I need to get to the hospital,” I speak in a rush.

“Take a breath, Tess. Why don’t you just drive there?”

“My dad tried to forbid me from leaving, and said he’d call the cops and report my car as stolen, so I threw my keys on the floor and walked out.”

He chuckles, but there’s tension in the sound. Shane has the ability to act the part of the carefree playboy, but that’s nothing more than smoke and mirrors. He’s so good at hiding in plain sight, I wonder when someone is going to see through his mirage to the man he is underneath.

“I knew there was a bad ass hiding under those preppy designer clothes,” he teases.

“Can you give me a ride? He didn’t sound like he’s doing very good.”

I hear his keys jingle in the background. “I’ll be there in ten. I’m still in Ocean Bluff, hanging out with Kaitlyn.”

He hangs up before I can say anything about what he’s doing. Probably for the best. The last thing I need to do is involve myself in the ongoing drama between him and Lydia. I never knew where they were at in the cycle of their on again off again relationship drama.

I walk down the driveway just in case my dad decides to actually be serious about parenting me for more than five minutes. Pretty fucking ironic that he decides to show up and make demands after I’m legally an adult. I got by for years here alone, constantly worried the state would find out there was never an adult around, and now that I no longer have to be concerned he comes back.

I hear the exhaust from Shane’s Mustang roar down the block before I see him. His tires squeal as he pulls to a stop next to me. He leans across the center console and throws open the door. I slide in and hold on tight to the handle while he floors it on the way to the hospital.

He pulls up to the front and I immediately see Ford sitting on a bench, hunched over, like he’s folding in on himself. For once Shane doesn’t try and deflect the seriousness of the moment with humor. “I’m going to take my time finding a place to park. Go take care of my boy. I’ll find you guys in the waiting room.”

I nod, not able to say anything else because of the knot of emotion clogging my throat. I open the door, and climb out. When Ford sees me he rushes over and pulls me into his arms. His hold is so tight it borders on uncomfortable. I won’t say anything though, because I can feel him breaking down.

“She was unconscious when I finally got to her. I thought she was dead at first.” His face is buried in my neck, and I could feel his breathing hitch every few seconds.

I run my fingers through his hair, and hold him. After a couple of minutes, he pulls back to look at me. That’s when I notice the red swollen skin by his eye that is darkening to an angry purple. I suck in air through my teeth. “Do you need to be seen too?”

He absently lifts his fingers to his face, as if he forgot he has a black eye, which he probably did. “Nah, it’s fine. Not the first time he’s given me a black eye. I knocked his ass out, so I hope it’ll be the last.”

“Should we go in and see if there’s any news about your mom?”

He shrugs. “I doubt there’s any news yet. Did you—is your dad going to show up here?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t say anything to him. I mean, he never introduced me to her. I saw them on accident, and never confronted him. Maybe it’s shitty of me to let him worry like that, but he wasn’t exactly inspiring loyalty.”

“What happened?” he asks, but I’m not sure he’s really ready to hear that my dad knows there’s been a guy staying at the house and seemed to have an issue with it.

“Don’t worry about it right now. I’m here for you, not to burden you with my petty drama.”

I know he’s distracted when he lets it go without a fight. He worries me even more when he lets me support him on the way to the waiting room. We sit in silence for a while until Shane comes in. He’s got years of experience with distracting Ford, and I let him. They chat about nothing in particular; cars, football, and college prospects based on which scouts have been coming to the games.

The entire time they talk Ford continues to keep contact with me. He’s either holding my hand, or playing with my hair. Shane might be able to keep his mind distracted, but I can see clearly that I’m his comfort.

Shane yawns loudly and Ford’s head keeps drooping down. With injuries like Ford described we could be here for several more hours before learning anything more. Not that I know where we can go, because with my dad showing up like he did we don’t really have anywhere to go.

“I’m going to go ask at the desk if there’s any news about your mom,” Shane offers.

“You should go home and get some sleep,” Ford says, but with the way he’s clutching my hand I know he doesn’t mean it.

I shake my head. “Nah, I’m here for you, no matter how long it takes.”

Shane comes back with a grave look on his face, and my heart sinks. I don’t want Ford to get any bad news. I haven’t met his mom formally. I’m not even sure if my dad knows that I know about him. I usually have to track him down at his office if I need him to sign something, or just to make sure he’s alive. I saw her leaving, looking happily disheveled. I put two and two together and the sex math equaled to them having an affair. It took me a couple of days to remember where I’d seen her before, a football game a couple of years ago when the school honored the parents of the players.

Now that he’s mine, I will admit to having more than a passing interest in Ford. I’ve filed away bits of information about him over the years. I did believe I wanted to talk to him to convince his mom to leave my dad, but I’m starting to think it might have just been an excuse to talk to him.

I remember that most of the players had both their parents attend the ceremony, but he only had his mom there. My body tenses while I wait for Ford to see Shane and come to the same conclusion I’m coming to.

Shane’s eyes are locked on me though, and I’m not sure what message he’s trying to send telepathically into my brain. Then I see him. My dad is a few steps behind, and due to exhaustion and stress I don’t disentangle myself from Ford. Warning bells go off in my mind, but I can’t logically figure out why he’d care. Yeah, he had a weird reaction to finding out I’d been having a guy around enough to leave a razor in my bathroom, but it’s not like my dad has been interested in being a dad for years.

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