Page 59 of Hidden Truths

It was not ugly!

Jo

You really don’t want to know what happened to it.

Well, now I do.

Kai

I kind of want to know too.

Mav

My naked ass went through it.

Willa

You were right, Jo. We didn’t want to know.

I laugh and toss my phone in a cup holder.

“Is it weird that I still want more details on what happened to that coffee table?” Harlow asks. I grab her hand and kiss her knuckles, keeping my eyes on the road as we head home.

“Da-dammm!” Cora says from the backseat.

“You’re right, Cora girl. Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Da!” Cora replies, sounding serious.

“Don’t worry. Your dad doesn’t want to know either.”

I smile to myself. These two have some sort of language all to themselves. I admit, I was jealous when I first noticed it, but now it fills me with a warmth I wasn’t expecting. I love how much they love each other.

I suddenly have this little family that I never expected, but I’m so grateful for it.

twenty-three

HARLOW

“Did she just say damn?”Willa asks, breaking the silence we’ve been sitting in while we wait for my dad. Cora is supposed to be napping, but all her favorite people got here before we could put her down. Now there’s no way she’s going to go to sleep.

“Da-da,” Cal says, trying to get Cora to stop saying her new favorite word.

“Da-dammm,” Cora responds, giggling and clapping when Kai barks out a laugh he was trying to contain.

“Not helping, Uncle Kai,” Cal says sternly, which just causes everyone else to laugh.

“Alright, let's make this quick because you’re about to have bigger problems,” my dad says, coming into the room followed closely by Jason. I do a double take. I’ve never seen Cal’s dad look so distraught.

“What do you mean?” Cal asks, sending a questioning look to his dad, who just shakes his head. Jason heads straight for the kitchen, not even greeting anyone.

My dad takes a seat next to me on the couch. Cal is on my other side with Belle and Kai taking up the loveseat. Willa is on the floor with Cora and Mav is pacing. Jo quietly watches himfrom where she’s leaning on the wall. I know she feels like she’s intruding on private moments with these meetings, just like I do. But they’ve all assured us that they want us here. Cal’s hand on my thigh reassures me.

“As I’ve mentioned,” my dad says, getting right into it and not telling us what the bigger problem is. We all focus on him without speaking up, wanting to know what information he has just as much. “Ezra’s phone was erased, but that’s not as permanent as people think. I have a guy that’s able to get the information back.”

“You have a guy?” I ask before I can stop myself. I’m barely able to contain my snort. My dad is making himself seem like some sort of mob boss.

My dad shoots me a look telling me to shut up, but he answers anyway. “He was a kid I brought in when I was still a cop. He was hacking into his school’s system to change his grades and the grades of all his friends. I talked the school out of pressing charges since he was only sixteen and it would’ve ruined his life.” My dad shrugs. “Now he helps me out.”

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