Page 68 of Say Something
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“Wakey wakey,” Melissa’s voice was soft as she sat on the bed beside me.
How did I end up in my bed?
Last thing I remembered was being in the kitchen with the rum. Then Mikey took it away. And they tickled me, the little shits.
I cracked open one eye, then immediately shut it.
“Danny’s here,” Melissa said, and both of my eyes shot open.
“Why?” I glared at her.
“Are you serious? He was blowing up your phone last night and finally showed up after you passed out. He’s been here ever since. You’re mad at him? I thought you guys were past all that nonsense, Jess.”
“He has a kid, Melissa. A daughter. He didn’t tell me.”
Melissa reared back like I slapped her. “What?”
“He has a daughter, Mel. I saw him with her last night.”
The picture of the two of them under the parking lot lights last night flashed into my mind again, and my eyes filled with tears.
“Jess,” Melissa said, a look of realization dawning, “I think you need to talk to Danny. This isn’t what you think.”
“It’s exactly what I think,” I yelled. Why did I have to defend myself? “I know what I saw.”
“Sure, you know what you saw, Jess. But you interpreted it incorrectly. That’s not his daughter. It’s his niece.” With one last look at me, she walked out of the room.
His niece?
How could that be? Dean didn’t have any kids. I’d been in Oak River long enough that I would have run into them. Or he would have mentioned a daughter when he was working on my house. But wouldn’t he have mentioned a niece? Wouldn’t Danny had mentioned a niece?
Darcy.
It’s a shame what she put that family through over the years.Wasn’t that what Mrs. Blakeney had said in my office weeks ago?
I sat up in my bed, the quick motion making my head hurt.
Did Darcy have a child?
My bedroom door creaked open, and I looked up to see Danny standing in the doorway. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all, and he probably hadn’t.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain my behavior, but luckily I didn’t have to.
“The little girl you saw me with last night...that was my niece. Darcy’s daughter. She calls meDa-dabecause she can’t say Danny yet. She calls DeanDe-de.”
I closed my eyes, feeling like a complete asshole.
The bed sank under Danny’s weight, and I opened my eyes again. His were sad now. “What are we going to do about this, Jess? You can’t keep shutting down, shutting me out, whenever you freak out over something. Not to mention, how could you possibly think I’d keep something as big as having a child from you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I panicked. I immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion because how could there have been a more reasonable one? I couldn’t think of any better reason why you would have kept her from me unless the reason was one that would hurt me.”
“I hadn’t told you about Darcy and Chloe—that’s her name—because I wanted to see where your head was first. Chloe is my niece, and I love her, and I was afraid that my sister’s accidental pregnancy would make you hate her.”
My mouth dropped open. “I could never-”
“I didn’t know that, Jess. I remember conversations we had years ago when we were trying to get pregnant. I remember you saying it wasn’t fair that there were so many unplanned pregnancies, and we were two people who wanted a baby so badly, but couldn’t have one. That’s all I could think of from the moment I found out Darcy was pregnant.”
