Page 71 of Sticking Out

Oh, Jesus no.

I take a step forward. “Dani, wait.”

She doesn’t wait. Instead, she pulls onto the road and steps on the gas, zinging past us and barely stopping at the stop sign on the corner.

“Oh no,” Summer whimpers, as she scoops Tyler up. “She’s going to think…”

Panicked, I take the stairs to the walkway two at a time. “I know what she’s going to think.” For a brief second, I consider letting her think that. At least that way she’d never have to know the depths of Alec’s betrayal—my betrayal. Hell, not only have I kept his secrets, the man is dead because of me.

“You better go find her.”

I turn back to Tyler. “We’ll get ice cream another day, okay?”

He just stares at me with those big, sweet eyes, and smiles, his big cheeks puffing out. “See you, kiddo.” I ruffle his hair and take in Summer’s worried eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” I tell her even though I’m not so sure of that myself. “We’ll work this out, and no one is going to hate you.” They might not hate her, but Dani and maybe even my parents will hate me when they find out what I’d done.

I hurry across the street to my car and jump in. The first place I go to is my house, only to find the driveway empty. I drive to her place, and see the bus, but not her car. I tug my phone from my pocket and call her. It goes straight to voicemail. “Fuck.” I shoot off a text, telling her we need to talk. Maybe I should have told her what was going on long before this. I just didn’t want to hurt her.

I wait for her to text back. “Come on, Dani.” I run my hands through my hair and sit a bit longer. I give up and decide she must have gone to the Airbnb. Seeing the dogs always puts her in a good mood. I back out of her driveway and head across town. I pull into the Airbnb parking lot, and even though her vehicle is nowhere to be found, I hurry from my car and run inside. I find Marley at the receptionist counter talking with Tanya, and they both lift their heads when they see me storming inside.

“Hey,” Marley says, and comes around the counter. “Are you okay?”

Breathless, with my throat so dry it’s hard to talk, I begin. “Is Dani here?”

“No, she took the day off,” Marley explains, her eyes narrowed in concern. “She was spending it with her sister and the kids.” I nod. “Is everything okay?”

“No.” She opens her mouth, but I cut her off. “If you see her, can you tell her I’m looking for her.”

She nods, and I glance at Tanya who’s reaching for her phone, no doubt about to call Dani to see what’s going on. I meet her gaze. “Please ask her to meet me at home.”

She gives a small, tight nod, and I turn and head back out the door. I consider texting Brighton, or Gina or one of the girls. Although, I’m not sure she’d run to any of them. How could she possibly tell anyone that I had a family behind her back, when we were trying to make a baby together? Yeah, she’s not going to open up to anyone other than family about that. Family. Shit. She must be at Rylee’s.

I get back in my car and check my phone one more time before I start back across town to her sister’s house. I try not to drive fast or erratic, but it’s damn hard. Relief washes over me when I see Dani’s car, and I park quickly and run to the front door. I try the knob but it’s locked. I knock, and when it goes unanswered, I circle the house to see if they’re out back, only to find it empty.

Back at the front door, I knock again. “Dani, come to the door.” I pound harder, and note the neighbors glancing my way. “Dani, please.” The door creeps open and I come face to face with Jared. “Where is she?” I try to see past his shoulders but he’s tall like me.

“She’s upstairs with Rylee. She doesn’t want to see you.”

“Come on, Jared. Ask her to come down.”

He folds his arms, and squares off against me. “Not going to do it, man.”

“Fuck, Jared, can you please tell her it’s not what she thinks.”

“No, what is it then? What should she think?” he asks, his eyes hard as he protects his sister-in-law, and I respect him for that. It’s good Dani has people like him in her life. I don’t readily answer and he presses, “What is it, Conner?”

Christ, if I admit that Alec was having an affair, and had a child after Dani lost hers, and is having trouble conceiving, it will absolutely destroy her. I can’t do that. I won’t.

He lifts himself up a little taller. “Well…”

“I…can’t.”

“You better figure your shit out, Conner.” He slams the door so hard, it nearly hits me in the face. I back up and lift my head to see the upstairs window. A shadow moves past, and I’m about to shout. But what the hell am I going to say to her? I don’t know, but I do know there are two people I also need to talk to. Maybe they can help me make sense of this and figure out my next move. I just pray that what I’m about to tell them, doesn’t destroy them…or us.

It's dinner time by the time I reach Mom and Dad’s place and I pull in behind Dad’s car. Since their life is very routine, I know I’ll be catching them eating, but if I wait, I fear I won’t have the courage to do what needs to be done, what should probably have been done a long time ago.

I knock instead of entering, just to give myself a second to pull it together. Mom opens the door and her smile dissolves when she sets eyes on me.

“Conner, what is it?” At the sound of my name, Dad comes to the door and stands behind Mom.

---