Page 105 of Mine
“She saw it and called to ask me about it,” Dad shrugged. “But I didn’t tell her anything.”
“She’s been calling me since last night. I thought it was about you being in the hospital at first, but now I think it's because of West.”
“Why?”
“Did you know that West is Trevor’s dad?” I blurted, using my nephew's name for the first time in my life. I hadn’t even met him, he wasn’t much younger than me, but I knew he was Brittany’s tool for exploiting my dad, which was enough to make me resent him.
Dad actually laughed. “West is not Trevor’s dad. Buddy Murphy is Trevor’s dad.”
“What?” I shot to my feet. “Does Brittany know that?”
“Of course she does. But she’s never wanted anything to do with him. Brittany was just as much trouble as your mom was, always trying to manipulate someone into loving her. The wrong guy knocked her up, though, because Buddy never gave a shit. So she and your mama ran for the hills.”
I was pacing, soaking in the information that Dad was laying on me and trying to line it up with everything I overheard at West’s office.
“Why do you laugh? Why are you not angry?”
“I’ve gotten over it,” he shrugged. “I was never enough for your mom and I knew it. Plus, I didn’t want her sticking around and poisoning the house you grew up in. You deserved one happy parent instead of two miserable ones.”
“Did you know what kind of debt they left us in?” My voice broke, rage spilling over. “Did you know how hard I’ve been working to climb out of the hole they dug?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, baffled.
“I found out after you got sick,” I choked, tears stinging my eyes. “They left us thousands of dollars in debt. In your name. In mine. Credit cards. Loans. They took everything. And I’ve been trying to make it right ever since, trying to make sure you didn’t have more stress than you could handle. That’s why I took West’s deal, Dad. Because I knew what Fiddlers could be worth if it was finally mine.”
His face went pale. His lips trembled as I stomped to my room and back, shoving the stack of paperwork into his hands. It was the evidence I’d been hiding under my mattress for years.
But the second it left my grip, regret shot through me like fire. I’d ripped his peace away.
“You should’ve told me,” he said sternly, like the father I hadn’t heard in years.
“You were sick,” I cried. “You had enough to worry about.”
“I’m losing the function of my muscles, not my brain,” he snapped. “I could’ve handled it. I could’ve taken better care of you if you hadn’t kept this from me.”
My chest collapsed under the weight of his disappointment. “It doesn’t matter,” I sobbed. “I thought it was finally over. And now it’s only getting worse.”
“How could it be worse?” His voice softened, though his eyes stayed sharp. “There’s nothing so bad it can’t be fixed.”
“I’m not taking the bar,” I blurted, tears streaking down my face. “I don’t want it.”
“Then don’t.” His hands flew up. “From what you’ve told me, the deal’s over anyway. He’s not getting what he wants either, right?”
I thought about it and realized he was right. West hadn’t gotten what he wanted, not really. The thought twisted in my chest, because I wasn’t sure anymore what had been real and what had been part of his game.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, bowing my head, shame burning through me. “I’m sorry I tried to fool you. I’m sorry I was the fool. And I’m sorry that while I was so busy making a mess, I wasn’t here when you needed me.”
“Nothing’s changed.” He rolled his wheelchair closer and grabbed my hand, his thumb brushing against mine. “These have still been the best weeks I’ve had in a long time. Whatever happened with you and West, whether you believe it or not, it felt real to me. And I loved seeing you happy. I loved seeing you free.”
“I’m not going to be able to afford Lisa without West,” I murmured.
Dad chuckled. “You’re not the only one who’s been on a whirlwind lately.”
I looked up, my jaw dropping, waiting for him to tell me he and Lisa had fallen in love. But he shook his head before I could even ask.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” he said, amused. “We’ve just become good friends. She lost her husband a couple years back. We clicked, that’s all. But even as a friend, I know she’ll be in my life. And that’s enough.”
We sat in silence for a while, me staring at my coffee, him at the window. My mind spun with everything I’d learned in the last twenty-four hours. Relief that West wasn’t Trevor’s father tangled with shock that Buddy Murphy was. And West had known my sister. She was his nightmare. That was why he’d left me standing there confused.
