Page 49 of Beach B!tch
"I'm already sitting down, so why don't you spit it out," I teased him to get him to loosen up. He didn't return my smile.
A sense of dread settled in my stomach. Whatever this was, wasn't good. And I was just starting to get used to having good in my life. I should have guessed it wouldn't last.
Dean grabbed my hands in his and held on tight. "You know how I got called into work late two nights ago?"
I nodded.
"Well, there was a heated dispute out on the beach. Normally I wouldn't get called in to handle it, but Kai, the lifeguard on duty ended up having to call Jack, that police detective I told you about. And then Jack called me." Dean stopped and waited for me to follow what he was saying.
"Okay, so what happened?" I asked, keeping my voice low. Something so serious this early in the morning seemed to necessitate whispering.
"When I got there, I realized that it was John, your father, causing the disturbance. Jack calmed him down enough to get him talking. Apparently, he got in an argument with a woman, which then led to him grabbing her. People passing by flagged down Kai. By the time he got there, the lady had run away. John got belligerent and was obviously drunk, so Jack came and arrested him for being drunk and disorderly."
By this point, my face was flushed with embarrassment and my heart was thumping in my chest. I hated that man. I hated that he could still affect my life. I hated that he was now sullying my relationships with my friends here in HB.
Then it struck me that Dean knew all this yesterday when we spent most of the day and night together. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" I tried to keep any accusation out of my voice. I was thankful he was trying to help keep my father away from me, but I was curious why he kept this from me.
"Jack said he could only keep him locked down for one night. He said he would do some digging and also interrogate him in the morning when he'd sobered up to see if he could get anything out of him, about why he's here. He called me first thing yesterday while you were practicing with Autumn. He had nothing new, but was plugging in some things in his database and would keep me posted. I didn't think that was enough to bother you with since we're still waiting to see what your father will do. Then Jack called me again last night, which is why I had to leave. He's got information now." Dean quit talking and took a deep breath.
I felt like I was standing on the edge of a big cliff, waiting for Dean to push me over with his next words. He gripped my hands tighter and a line appeared between his eyes.
"Just say it, Dean," I whispered.
"I don't know how to say it to make it any easier so I'm just going to throw it all out there. Jack found out from the beach cams that the lady your father had an altercation with was a woman from Texas who's been looking for her missing daughter for twenty-six years. Jack can't prove it yet, but he had reason to believe you're her daughter."
I could swear a helicopter was taking off in my bedroom. I couldn't hear a damn thing after that, just a loud whooshing noise that filled my head and scrambled my thoughts. My mother? Texas? Missing daughter?
Next thing I knew, Dean was rubbing his hands up and down my arms, his face right in front of me, calling out my name over and over.
"Brin? You with me, sweetheart?" Concern etched across his face and I wanted to tell him I was okay, but honestly, I wasn't sure.
"What--? How did--?" I couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. Then a freight train of hope barreled into me and I focused back in on Dean. "Wait, I have a mother?"
Dean pulled back and tried to temper the hope I'm sure he saw building in every cell of my body like a tsunami. "Hold on, Brin. Before we jump to conclusions, we have to find this woman and we have to see if she'll do a DNA sample. We have to see what we're dealing with here."
I knew I should be cautious, but just to even have a slight chance of having a mother was too much for me to remain calm. "But if it's true, that means she didn't die when I was little, like my dad told me. And is my father really my father? If he is, then why did he lie to me? Is my name even Brinley? Am I from Texas? Oh my God, Dean. It's like I'm questioning everything I ever thought I knew about myself!"
By this point, I was up on my knees, grabbing Dean in my excitement. He was just looking at me like I was speaking a foreign language and if he stared hard enough, he'd figure me out.
"Why aren't you more excited for me?" I thought this was great news, and he was acting like it was terrible.
"I guess I just didn't know how you'd take the news you might have been lied to your whole life. Or that if your father hadn't taken you away, you could have had a perfectly good childhood with your mom. No abuse, no alcohol, friends. You know, a normal childhood."
Holy shit. He had a great point. I sat back down, my excitement deflating as I realized what he was saying. Anger bubbled up in its place. Flashbacks to all the abuse I endured floated through my brain as I tried to comprehend the scope of my father's lie.
"That bastard. That asshole stole me away from my mother, made me believe she was dead, and then terrorized my childhood. For what? Why'd he keep me? And why was he back now? Dean, I have more questions now than I did before!" My voice escalated in volume and pitch with each word out of my mouth.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up. I can't even imagine what's going through your head right now. Do you have time to go talk to Jack this afternoon after practice? Maybe he can provide more answers for you." Dean was back to stroking my arms, my back, anywhere he could touch me, to calm me down.
I nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's a great idea. I'll go see him after practice and at least get the name of my mother. Potential mother." I looked over at Dean, to make sure he knew I was keeping a level head about this whole thing. Until we had answers, I couldn't get my heart set on having a mother. This could just be another one of my father's cruel jokes.
Dean pulled me in for a tight hug, murmuring, "Talk to Jack, you and I can hash it out as long or as often as you want, and then get focused on your game. You can't change what your father may or may not have done, but what you can do is move forward with your life. The one you've made for yourself. Okay, sweetheart?"
I pulled back and kissed him sweetly on the mouth. "I got you. Thank you for talking me through this. I'm sure this wasn't an easy conversation to have. You're a good man, you know that?"
My heart was letting go of the angry and instead, was melting into a puddle, knowing this beautiful man in front of me was there for me, yet again. Maybe I went through years of hell with one man, to comprehend the unconditional love of this man.
Dean
