Page 69 of Grumpy Sunshine

By the time I was done, my head was once again spinning.

Plus, I was shivering and cold.

The man that had my eyes saw this and caught the blanket off my recliner, then gently draped it over my shoulders.

I clutched at the ends and stared.

“My arm!”Trini cried out.

The silent man walked away, and I heard what sounded like him upending the chair and situating her onto it.

Too bad.

I wouldn’t have minded her staying where she was.

“I remember one time in particular when I was sixteen, I’d fallen outside on the steps and broken my left arm.When I’d come inside, I’d told my mom, who happened to be there for once, and she’d told me to walk to the hospital,” I murmured.

That’d been the day that I’d decided that emancipated would be more agreeable than whatever the fuck I was doing with her.

“She did that?”the man with my eyes asked.

“Hush,” Chevy said.“Could you maybe go shut her into the bathroom so we can talk?”

Hush did what he was asked, and then the other man sat on the coffee table in front of me and completely changed my world.

“We’re still waiting on DNA results.”The man cleared his throat.“But I’m pretty sure you’re my daughter.”

I blinked.“Why are you sure?”

He grinned.“Other than the obvious right now?”He tapped the space beside his eyes.“Timelines fit.Things my ex-wife said as she was walking out the door.Things that your mom’s said and done.”

I slumped further into the couch, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me.

Maybe it was the flu, and I was hallucinating.

This was absolutely nuts.

But the evidence—his eyes—were right in front of me, making me understand on a cellular level that what he was saying was true.

The chair dragging into the bathroom pulled me out of the study of his eyes, and I said, “Any other time, I would have a million questions to ask you, but I feel like I’m about to pass out, and I really want a shower so I can warm up…and I don’t even know your name.”

“Paden Nobleman,” he responded.“And when you’re ready, you can come see me anytime.Chevy knows how to find me.”

He held out his hand, and I took it.

He helped me to my feet and said, “Can you get to the shower all right?”

I thought about it for a second and then said, “Not with my mother in there.”

There was a small pause and then he said, “I’ll get her out.”

“I need to get a truck here, first,” Hush said.“Can’t get her onto one of our bikes.”

“You can borrow my car,” I said.“The keys are somewhere.”

“On the floor by the door,” Chevy murmured quietly, sounding just as run down as I felt.

By the time I’d gotten to the bathroom, my mother had once again been moved out of the small area.

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