Page 26 of Until Kendal

My heart pounded as I rocked in my seat. I asked her to retell the old story of Hope’s birth mother and the reasons Ellie had moved here years ago. “Hope’s birth mom was Bonnie?”

She sounded so calm. “Why?”

I cringed. I couldn’t imagine Joel involved with anything like what I remembered of Ellie’s reasons for moving here. “When you came to town, your mom had tried to sell you into the sex slave business?”

“You’re scaring me, Kendal.”

I was scared too. Tears formed in my eyes as I asked, “Did you know anyone named Joel?”

“Wait… Where are you?”

My life was a disaster, but good things never happened for a reason. “At the Carriage Inn, with him.”

“We’re on our way,” she said.

Maybe Joel wasn’t the answer to my problems. I would have to wait for Ellie and Jax, so I couldn’t run for the door. Besides, I needed my mom and my car.

He’d been so amazing, though. I'd wished and hoped we would be different, but then I knew better than to imagine a future.

ChapterEighteen

Kendal

I remembered the story of how both my bosses fell in love with the Maysons, then they bought the salon when the original owner wanted to retire. I was washing hair and doing whatever I could to earn money then while finishing high school, so I heard the stories without being told directly.

However, inside the salon, they’d always made me feel important to the team. They were why I’d gotten my license and started cutting hair. Belonging wasn’t something that came easy to me, and there I was.

Joel came out of his separate bedroom with a huge smile on his face. “Sorry that took so long. Did you look over the contract?”

I shoved the photograph into his hand. “Who are you, Joel?”

My body trembled as I searched his face for answers. My heart whispered that he wasn’t anything like the person Ellie had known before moving here.

“Wait.” He tilted his head. “Do you know Hope?”

I rocked on my feet, but I raised my eyebrow. I needed to know if everything was some fantasy with him. “The question is, how do you?”

Right then, there was a knock at the door. He tilted his head to ask, but I hugged my waist. “Get it. It’s Ellie and Jax.”

He tensed, but he left my side and opened the door. He waved them both in. “You didn’t remember me yesterday, Ellie.”

“I wasn’t sure. It was like seeing a ghost.” She nodded. “This is my husband, Jax. Hope is with her grandmother.”

Joel picked up the two boxes then brought it to the both of them. He handed a birth certificate to Jax. “Right, well, my plan was to leave these on your door once I found your exact address, so you saved me the trouble.”

Ellie wiped her face like she wanted to cry. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but as I stared at Joel, I saw pain on his face too.

“Our lives were fucked-up, Joel," she said. "What happened to you?”

“You got Hope, and I’m not arguing. From all accounts, she’s happy with you.” His shoulders slumped, but he said, “When Bonnie died, my father had no interest in raising me. My sister was all I had, and I was fourteen, with no one left. However, if you ever saw the movieAnnie, then I can save you the details of what happened to me next.”

Annie was taken into unlimited wealth. Mrs. Norouzi had seemed well put together. From everything he'd said, his life truly was a fairy tale.

Ellie hugged him like they were friends. “You were always talented. I’m glad you were adopted and turned out okay. Your sister loved you.”

“And she loved your brother.” For a second, Joel didn’t move at all, but then he closed his eyes and hugged her back. “A week ago, I got the call my birth father had died, so I took a few days off to head to Tennessee and bulldoze that house. Then I saw these in the backroom and thought you might need or want these.”

My mind put everything together. Joel must be related to Hope’s birth mother, which meant he was her uncle. And I had no idea how bulldozing an old house was therapeutic, but I understood the pain my father had caused me.

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