Page 53 of Rainwater
“N-no,” she stammered, crying as if her world had suddenly caved in on her.
“Ellie, please,” he begged, “tell me.”
“H-he’s my father,” she said in barely a whisper.
“Braxton?”
“Yes. I saw a picture of him a long time ago before Mom destroyed them all. She never told me his name, but I heard her and Grandpa talking about him one time. His name was in the paper, so I cut out the clipping and saved it. I wanted to meet him one day. I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of him. I never… I felt... Oh, God, he’s repulsive. He’s awful. I hate him.” She cried harder, and Corey didn’t know what to do. He just held her and rocked her.
He knew how she felt. He’d seen a dream die before. He’d hated as she hated right now. He knew what it meant to be disillusioned by a father. He knew what it was like to hate a father.
“What did you want to tell him?”
She swallowed and wiped at her face. Taking the handkerchief he offered, she blew her red, swollen nose. “I wanted to tell him that he was a fool to leave us. That we were the best things to ever happen to him, and he threw us away like garbage. I wanted to show him how wonderful I turned out. I wanted him to know what he was missing.”
And she wanted to know why he’d left. She wanted his love.
He pulled her tighter. “He is a fool, Ellie. A big, sorry fool.”
That started her crying again, and his words were thick with understanding. “I know how you feel. He’s not worthy of your precious tears, but somehow you can’t help caring. Can you, little darlin’?”
At those words, her jaw hardened and anger blazed in her eyes. “Yes, I care, but you’re right. He isn’t worthy. And I have a championship to win.”
Corey smiled. “That’s right. Let’s go get Limelight saddled up and make Molly Duncan really anxious.”
Corey was relieved to see that sly look back on her face, even though beneath it, he knew she still reeled from the shock of finding out what a bastard her father was.
“Let’s,” she agreed.
Hours later,he drove up the long winding driveway of the Triple X. He could feel Ellie’s nervousness.
She searched out the first sight of the house. Pleasure was on her face, and Corey envied her the sheer joy of knowing what it felt like to come home. But then her expression turned serious. “Corey, I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention that run-in with my father. I’ll tell Mom in my own way.”
“Sure, little darlin’,” he replied.
He could almost pretend that this was real. That he and Ellie were returning to Jennifer as a family. He could see his life spread before him.
But it was a dream. Jennifer could never be his wife, Ellie could never be his daughter, and this wonderful place full of warmth and love could never be his home.
“I can’t wait to see Two Tone. I bet he missed me. Do you think Mom missed us?”
Corey felt his body tighten and heat. He knew that he’d missed her. He wanted his mouth on hers, her whimpering cries like sustenance. The woman had gotten under his skin, into his soul, embedded in his heart.
He looked over at Ellie, watching the pleasure on her face flare and blossom as she caught the first glimpse of her home. This little girl had gotten to him, too. He reached out and pulled on her braid.
“Corey?” she asked, her big serious eyes turning to him, her hand landing on his forearm. He clenched the wheel tighter, knowing that what was coming was going to be painful for him.
“Yeah, sweetheart,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion.
“Thanks for, you know, being there at the hospital, for not leaving me alone with those people.” A tremor touched her smooth pink lips.
“I promised your mom I’d look out for you. No one was going to make me leave when you wanted me to stay.”
“I was scared, and it hurt,” she said, keeping her features deceptively composed, but her eyes said all he needed to know.
“You were so brave, I was wondering when you were going to admit that.” He chucked her under the chin and smiled warmly again.
“I want to thank you for agreeing not to tell Mom about seeing my father and how it made me feel.” She bit her lip, looking as if she might start crying again.
