Page 3 of Remade

I clutched my stomach with one arm and bit at a cuticle.

Fuck, I was so nervous.

My stomach wouldn’t settle, and I still wanted to run far, far away. But when push came to shove, I knew—if they agreed to get to know me—that whatever memories they shared of Dad would be worth so much more than the stories my mom had concocted to comfort me.

Meeting Beckett had made me want something real.

I was ready to let go of my threadbare security blanket.

I exhaled shakily.

Less than a minute passed before I heard voices coming closer. I heard Beckett say something that made Ryan chuckle. And then they were close enough.

“Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad,” Ryan replied.

Fuck, I hoped not.

“Nope, definitely not bad,” Beckett said.

I quickly wiped my hand over my face once more, and I hoped I wasn’t too blotchy and red.

Where was the camo face paint when you needed it?

Ryan eyed me with a curious expression, and Beckett came up to stand next to me.

I swallowed nervously.

“You want me to run an intro?” Beckett murmured.

I nodded, unable to form words.

“All right.” He cleared his throat and turned to Ryan. “First time I met Leighton, he came into Hillcroft because he was looking for his dad, who might’ve applied for a job there. This was about…six years ago?”

I nodded again.

“Right. So, Leighton was eighteen. He’d just lost his mom to cancer. And you could say he was a bit lost.”

“Or a lot,” I mumbled.

“Or a lot,” Beckett echoed. “Thing is, he had very few leads and had no idea how to find his dad. They’ve never met. What he did have was an old Hillcroft business card with my name scribbled on it. But I figured out pretty quickly that it must’ve been my old man. His name was Bo too.”

Ryan shifted where he stood, and he folded his arms over his chest.

“Don’t worry, it’s not you, buddy,” Beckett chuckled.

I did a double take at him, then looked at Ryan, but he just smirked slightly.

Beckett continued. “Leighton’s dad had a name too, of course, but at the time, it didn’t ring any bells for me. All I could do was give him a place where he could potentially get some information.” He draped an arm around my shoulders and glanced down at me. “You ready to take over?”

Ugh. Not at all, but I supposed I should.

I coughed and cleared my throat, and I wrung my hands awkwardly.

Beckett had started me off well enough, but I felt the need to go back further.

“Um. In short, my mom had a fling with someone she didn’t know well,” I admitted. Worst voice ever. A deaf person could pick up I’d been crying. “But later on, uh… I, um… After she died, I learned my dad had died in combat in Afghanistan.”

I chanced a glance at Ryan, and he went very still.

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