Page 168 of Stuck With You
“She said she wants to be with someone who does things together.” I drag my eyes to Carson’s. “I’ve never done that before.”
It feels ridiculous saying it out loud. I’m a grown-ass man, and I don’t know how to be a partner. But that’s what Sarah deserves, especially with everything she’s been through.
“Dude, that’s because you’ve never been one. You raised Krissy on your own. You had to be on top of everything and in charge at all times. You own this business, and we depend on you not to screw it up.” He leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. “But think about what it would be like to have someone like Sarah to help carry a bit of the load and who’ll walk through all the ups and downs with you. We need that.Youneed that.”
He shakes his head. “You’ve got to let her, though.”
I rest back in my chair, knowing he’s one hundred percent right. If I want Sarah, I have to let her in. She has to see I’m in thiswithher. All the way. Even when I mess up.
The metal door bangs closed, and Krissy appears in her scrubs. “I tried calling you.” Her eyes move to Carson and then back to me. “You all right?”
I nod. “Yeah. It’s. . .justbeen a shitty day.”
She steps into my office. “I uh. . .need to talk to you about something.”
“I’m gonna clean up and put my tools away.” Carson pushes out of the chair and slips past Krissy.
She stands on the other side of my desk. “Did you get your DNA results back yet?”
I shake my head. “Not yet.”
“I looked online to see if I could check the status.” She pulls a folded paper from her purse and lays it in front of me. “I did a little more research. You won’t believe it.” Her eyes grow wide with excitement. “Look!” She points to the paper.
I pick it up, running my eyes over it.
“There’s someone in their database that matches my genome.” Her eyes grow even wider as if she’s willing me to catch up. “It’s not exact, of course, but it means we have a half-sibling out there, I think. Who knows? Maybe more than one.”
Her words rush at me a million miles an hour, but they hit a wall and explode.
“Can you even believe it? We could find out who our father is. I’m going to message them.”
Our mom never told us who our father was, and once I found out, I understood why. It’s why I’ve never told Krissy. I close my eyes, bracing for the impending blast from the cost of trying to protect someone.
“You can’t do that,” I say softly.
“I can. That’s part of this. If they agree to put their information out there, you can contact them.”
My heart begins to pound, and I feel like I could hurl. “No. You can’t contact them.”
She frowns, her head falling to the side. She stares at me, blinking a few times.
The silence is like the calm before the storm, eerie and imminent. I have no idea how to prepare her.
I want to kick myself in the face for not seeing this possibility.
She crosses her arms loosely as if she’s shoring herself up. “Why can’t I contact them?” Her question is soft, but demanding.
I drag my eyes to hers.
She straightens. “Slade, why can’t I contact them?” Her tone hardens.
I lean forward, resting my arms on my desk as if somehow it will provide grounding. “It’s not a good idea. It could impact. . .people.”
“Like who?” she snaps, her arms wrapping tighter around herself.
“You, for one,” I say, praying she’ll let this go, but I know better.
Her eyes flick between mine. “Somehow, this feels like just the warning before the blow.” Her eyes fall to the paper and then lift back to me. “We had a deal we’d never lie to each other, remember?”
