Page 196 of Choosing You

“No, that’s all Garret’s doing. He’s really into the hug thing.”

“He seems like a nice young man. But I didn’t like it when he wouldn’t talk to you for all those weeks.”

“I know. But we’re past that now. He’s a good guy, Frank. You don’t have to worry.”

From the way Frank is acting, I can tell he doesn’t remember what he told me earlier.

“Frank, I need to ask you something.” I sit next to him on the bed.

“Sure, honey. What is it?”

“I don’t know if you remember, but this morning Garret and I were visiting you in your room. You were kind of out of it from the drugs, but you said something.”

He half smiles. “What did I say? I hope I didn’t embarrass you in front of your boyfriend. If I did, I didn’t mean to.”

“No, it’s nothing like that. You said that, um. . .”

“Go ahead. Just tell me.”

“You said that Royce Sinclair is my father.”

As soon as the words are out, I see Frank’s heart rate monitor going off. I instantly regret saying it. What was I thinking? He’s sick! I can’t drop a bomb like that on a sick person!

He notices the monitor and takes a deep breath, calming himself. A nurse rushes in. “Everything okay in here?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine,” Frank says. She checks the monitor, which is back to normal, then leaves. I’m wondering why Ryan isn’t racing in. Garret must’ve taken him somewhere.

“Jade, I didn’t mean to say that.” Frank’s talking softly. I have to lean in just to hear him.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you did. And at first I didn’t believe you. But then I went home and saw that article you told me about that showed my mom at a speech with Sinclair.”

“I told you about the article? What the hell did they put in me? Truth serum?”

“Tell me what you know. I’m scared, Frank. I think this guy might come after me.”

“He has no reason to. You just need to get rid of that letter you have. Tear it up. Or burn it. And never mention this again. Tell Garret that I didn’t know what I was saying this morning. Tell him it was the meds.”

“The letter was stolen. It’s gone.” I proceed to tell Frank about the threatening phone calls and how my room was broken into. Then I tell him about the fundraiser and how I met Royce Sinclair and how Garret’s dad has been protective of me ever since.

“Jade! How could you keep all this from me!” He takes a few more deep breaths to keep his heart rate in line.

“I didn’t want to worry you. I thought I could handle it myself. And after the break-in, I thought I was safe. But I’m not so sure now.”

“So you’re saying that Garret’s father knows the truth about Sinclair and your mother?”

“I don’t know. But if he does, that doesn’t make sense. If Sinclair is so worried about people finding out the truth, why would he tell Garret’s dad? Maybe Mr. Kensington only knows part of the story.”

“Have you asked him about this?”

“No, because I know he won’t talk about it over the phone. I’ll have to wait until I get back to Connecticut.”

“This can’t wait. You need to talk to him right away. You need to go back there and find out what he knows.” Frank’s voice is urgent. It only confirms my fears.

“But I want to be here for Christmas with you and Ryan.”

“We’ll do Christmas later. You need to get this figured out, Jade. If you’re in danger you need to know. AndIneed to know.”

“You really think he’d harm his own daughter?”

---