Page 86 of Say I'm Yours
“I much preferred you naked.” I try to joke, but she isn’t budging. She gives me a quick look before sitting beside me.
“I need you to hear what I say and not stare at my boobs.”
Smart girl, but since she said it, I’m picturing them just fine.
She snaps her fingers in my face. “Hello, Trent.”
“Sorry.” I shrug and rest my hands behind my head. “I’m listenin’ to all the reasons you think I should go talk to them.”
Grace gives me a pointed glare, and I sit quiet. “When I left, your dad wasn’t responding well to the transfusion. He’s sick, and you and I both know he’s dyin’. You’re not going to get answers about who you are and why they’ve been lying by hiding out here.”
“What if I don’t want the answers?”
She shifts a little and sighs. “I don’t think that’s the case.”
When did she get so damn knowledgeable about me? I do want answers, but I’m too pissed. They lied, they hid things, and now I feel like everything I thought I knew—vanished. Just like that.
I lived in a house of cards that was built on a crumbling foundation.
“It’s better if I get my head straight first.”
Grace curls herself back into my side with her head on my shoulder. “There has to be a reason why they never told you. I don’t think your parents ever wanted to intentionally hurt you?”
“I don’t know what they were trying to do.”
“No, I don’t believe you think that. Your parents are good people. They love you and sure, you’re hurt, I get it, but they would never intentionally set out to destroy you.”
But that’s exactly what happened. If it weren’t for the blood test, I never would’ve found out. I would’ve gone through my entire life believing that I was the firstborn son of Rhett and Macie Hennington. Instead, I’m the bastard son of another man.
“My mom was seventeen when she had me,” I say, tangling my fingers in her long brown hair. “I always assumed my dad knocked her up when they were kids and then they got married. Turns out that I have no idea what happened. Did she have an affair? Did he think I was his until I broke a bone and they found out? Does my real father know I exist? Hell, is he even alive?”
So many fucking questions. I’m losing my mind.
“There’s only one person who has those answers,” Grace reminds me.
The phone rings again and Grace goes to move. I hold her in place, not wanting anyone to break this moment.
“I should check that,” she says, but I shake my head.
“I don’t give a shit right now. Let them call—”
“Listen, I get that you want to avoid all of this, but you can’t, Trent.”
Grace doesn’t give me a chance to say another word. She gets up and grabs her phone.
“Hello?” She walks around the stable, cleaning the mess I made. “I’m here with him now. Yes, he’s okay, but . . .” Her eyes shoot to mine. “He should tell you why. Because it’s not my place to say.” There is a stretch of silence before she speaks again. “Okay, is everything?” Her eyes fill with tears, and she grabs her chest. “We’re on our way!”
“What’s wrong?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“We have to get back.”
“He isn’t gonna make it?” Fear takes away my ability to talk.
She nods. “We should move fast.”
For the first time since I left, there’s no anger toward anyone but myself. Yes, I have a right to be pissed they never told me, but I was still selfish, just like she said. I throw on my clothes, and take Grace’s hand. All I want to do is get there.
I pray I can make it before it’s too late.
