Page 5 of The Life We Left Behind

Chelsea had told me not to talk to Trace about the baby when she found me weeping in the bathroom, trying to figure out how I was going to make this right. She thought the only solution was to talk to my father and figure a way out of this mess.

I knew what that meant.

But I didn’t know if that was what I wanted.

I needed to talk to Trace. This was his baby too, and he deserved to know about it, to play a part in any decisions that needed to be made.

My stomach rolled at the implication. Was it really a decision? I knew myself well enough to know I’d never be able tolive with myself afterward. But I was too young to deal with this. I just…IneededTrace.

It was easy enough to sneak out of the house after telling my father that I didn’t feel well and was having an early night. I’d sent Trace a text earlier telling him to meet me at our spot, but he didn’t respond. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d sneaked in through his bedroom window after he fell asleep. It was probably better this way. We had a lot to discuss, and I didn’t want the chance of us being caught in the rain to cut it short.

It was a walk I’d made so many times over the years. These fields and pastures used to calm my very soul, but now all I could feel was panic slowly rising in my stomach. Even Trace’s house coming into view didn’t help. It had never been a house filled with warmth and happiness, but now, seeing that grand mansion sitting in front of me, it felt like walking toward a mausoleum.

As the Farrington family house loomed in front of me, that hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach turned to dread. Could I go through with this? I’d known this boy for years. We’d fallen fast and hard and never looked back. But this was going to be a shock for him. Hell, it had been a shock for me. Yesterday, I’d have said there was nothing about Trace that I didn’t know. But now? Now, I didn’t know how he was going to react to all of this. I was still numb from the news myself, but all I could think about was the security I felt when he wrapped his arms around me. I needed that more than ever right now.

The old trellis that ran up the side of the house hadn’t had anything growing up it for the longest time. The creak it gave out when I was halfway up made me wonder if there was a reason for that. But as always, I was stepping onto the small porch roof below his window without any terrible accident along the way.

Trace’s window was cracked open slightly like it nearly always was, and I quietly slid it up before climbing through.His light was off, and even though it was dark inside, my eyes adjusted fairly quickly. Enough for me to realize that he wasn’t in bed.

But then the overhead light clicked on, and as I staggered backward, rubbing my eyes against the sudden flash of light, the room remained quiet. It was my first clue that something wasn’t right. Because Trace would never have walked into his bedroom and found me there without immediately pulling me into his arms.

There was no calming scent of the sandalwood cologne he always wore and no strong arms wrapping around me as I was crushed against his chest.

Blinking rapidly to clear my vision, it became all too apparent why that was.

Sitting in the chair at his desk was his mother, Regina Farrington. As soon as I saw the look on her face, I knew I was in trouble.

I’d never seen this woman smile, not once in all the years that I’d known her. Not even when she was talking to her own sons. She always had her hair pulled back so tightly that it gave me a headache just looking at it. But that was Regina all over. There was never a hair out of place, or a single crease in her clothes. She was always impossibly perfect, and she expected no less from her sons as well.

“Oh…Mrs. Farrington. Erm…I’m so sorry, I was just…I wanted to talk to Trace about something, and I…” The words rushed out of me, but none of the excuses that were forming in my mind would be enough because she’d never liked me in the first place.

The look on her face only hardened, and my mouth clacked shut for fear I was making the whole situation worse.

“I know about the baby.”

All the blood drained from my face, and I felt my head swim as her words echoed around my mind. This was not how I’d seen tonight going.

Mrs. Farrington drummed her fingernails against a large brown envelope on Trace’s desk. Her gaze felt like it was drilling into me as she waited for what I was going to say. There was only one way she could know, and the betrayal cut deep.

Chelsea had told someone, and news had made its way back to her.

There was no point denying it. Even if she did believe me now, it wouldn’t take long before she’d find out the truth.

“I should leave,” I whispered, deciding that escaping this tense situation was the only thing I could do right now.

She’d never liked me. My family wasn’t rich enough to make me worthy of Trace in her eyes. There was no way that she would become an ally for me right now.

“No. We need to deal with this…situation,and then you can leave my home,” she told me coldly. The ‘and never come back’ was strongly implied in her tone. “Trace came to me tonight with the news, asking for my help. We decided that it would be best for him to leave for a trip with his friends while I dealt with this situation on his behalf. He always thought so much better of you than this, Delaney. I warned him about girls like you, but he never believed you’d stoop this low to try to trap him in a relationship.”

Her words were like a slap in the face. I had done no such thing. I would never…and Trace knew me better than that.

“I—” I didn’t get any further before she was talking over me again.

“The Farrington name will not be dragged through the mud because of one little indiscretion. Clearly, the only way forward here is for you to terminate the pregnancy immediately.”

I was shaking my head now, and all it did was turn her hard, cold expression even more angry.

“I hope you’re not intending to ruin my son’s life by keeping that thing inside you.”

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