Page 192 of Choosing You

“He’ll be asleep for a while, so I’m going to get some hours in at the lab. You guys can go do something. You don’t need to sit here all day. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Okay.” I give Ryan a hug. I don’t dare tell him what his dad said. It’s too strange. Plus, Ryan doesn’t know about the letter my mom wrote me, which means he knows nothing about the rape or the man who did it.

Garret and I go back to the car. We don’t talk on the drive to the hotel. I’m sure Garret wants to say something, but he can tell by my nervous leg tapping that now is not a good time.

When we’re back in the room, I’m finally able to talk. “What the hell was that? Royce Sinclair is my father? Why would Frank say something like that? I know he’s out of it, but still, how would he come up with something like that?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Garret’s pacing the floor, something I’ve never seen him do before. “I know he’s on meds, but like you said, where did he come up with a story like that?”

“Maybe he was watching TV and got confused. Sinclair is on the news all the time and Frank watches a lot of news.” I turn on the TV and start flipping through the channels. I stop at a news channel.

“Turn it up,” Garret says, pointing at the TV. “They just showed Sinclair.”

I up the volume on the TV. Two old guys are discussing each candidate. “Sinclair has now surpassed Myerson in the polls and if that continues, he could be one of the top two contenders on caucus day.” They cut to a clip of Sinclair at an event, shaking hands and smiling. I get closer to the screen.

“Garret, look at his face.”

The video ends and they put up a headshot of Sinclair as the news guys continue to talk. His smile almost does look like mine. Garret stares at me. I know he’s thinking the same thing. I smile just to show him.

“Holy shit,” he says, checking out Sinclair’s headshot again.

“He looks like me, doesn’t he? We have the same smile!”

Garret’s pacing again. “Well, a lot of people look alike. That doesn’t mean they’re related.”

“Why didn’t you notice this before? You know the guy!”

“Jade. Really? Why would I even look for something like that?” Garret goes to the window, checking out the line of satellite trucks down below. The national media is here covering all the caucus-related events, many of which take place downtown on the streets around this hotel. “Frank was really out of it. I’m sure he was just confused. Sinclair’s not your father. There’s no way that’s true.”

“But what if it is? That guy’s from a powerful family, just like the guy in my mom’s letter. And he’s been working in politics his whole life. He was probably here for the caucus that year.” I join Garret at the window. “Remember at the fundraiser how he kept staring at me? And when I went back inside to get Harper’s scarf, he came over and talked to me. Nobody else was around. Why would he do that, Garret? I’m nobody. Why would someone who’s running for president go out of his way to come over and talk to me?”

“I don’t know, but I think we’re reading too much into it. So the guy has your smile. That doesn’t prove anything.”

“The shoebox! Frank said there’s something in the shoebox. Get your coat. We’re going back to the house.”

When we arrive at Frank’s house, I run to my bedroom and open the shoebox, dumping it all over the desk. Garret is standing behind me. I pick up a newspaper clipping. There’s an article about a political speech and next to it is a photo. I look closer and see my mom standing in the crowd. And next to her is a younger version of Royce Sinclair.

I drop the clipping, sure that my legs are going to give out. I collapse on the bed before they do. Garret picks up the clipping.

“It’s him,” I say. “He’s standing next to my mom. Frank was right.”

“Shit! I can’t fucking believe this.” He looks closer at the photo. “Sinclair’s like 10 years older than your mom. He would’ve been married then. And his wife would’ve been—”

“Pregnant,” I say realizing it. “He did this when he was married with a child on the way. My half sister. Sadie! The girl you dated! You dated my half sister!”

“Okay, calm down.” He sets the clipping back in the box and sits next to me. “That’s the last thing you should be worried about right now. Tell me again what Sinclair said to you at my house. Anything strange?”

“When you were outside waiting for the car, he asked me to tell my parents to vote for him in the caucus. Like Ihadparents. So that was strange. And then he asked if I was interested in politics. He knew my mom was a poli-sci major in college so maybe he thought I was, too.”

“Well, none of that would’ve seemed strange before, but now it does. Anything else?”

“I told you how he kept staring at me, especially my face. He was probably trying to see if we looked alike, hoping nobody would notice the resemblance.” I think back to that night, replaying the interaction in my head. “I remember your dad was acting really strange, too. When we were talking to Sinclair, your dad seemed nervous and his forehead was sweating.”

Garret thinks for a moment. “Everything changed after that night. My dad changed. That’s when he started acting all protective over you. Remember how he reacted when you said you’d be alone on campus over Thanksgiving? It makes sense now. He wanted you at the house with all the security and the locked gate.”

“What are you saying, Garret? That this guy’s made threats against me? And your dad knows about this?”

He gets his phone out. “We need to talk to my dad.”

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