Page 77 of Broken Secrets
We do. Same eyes, same stubborn chin, same slightly crooked smile. There’s no denying we’re related, even to a stranger looking at the photo.
“Will you send that to me?”
“Of course.” Jeremy’s fingers fly over his phone screen, and a moment later my phone buzzes with the photo. “First official father-daughter selfie.”
“Hopefully not the last.”
“Definitely not the last.”
As we drive back toward my house, I feel something settling in my chest that I haven’t felt before. Not the desperate longing for a father I never knew, but the quiet satisfaction of beginning a relationship with someone who wants to know me as I am now. There’s still a lot to figure out—logistics, boundaries, how to maintain relationships across distance—but for the first time, those feel like solvable problems rather than impossible obstacles.
Jeremy is right about one thing. I can’t change the past eighteen years, and neither can he. But we can decide what the next eighteen years look like. And sitting in this rental car, looking at a photo of us smiling together against the California coast, I think I’m ready to find out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Two weeksafter Jeremy and Emma’s departure, life has settled into a new rhythm. I still wake up to the smell of Robert’s weekend pancakes, still practice corner kicks during free periods, still get texts from Maya about increasingly elaborate plans for various social events. But now I also wake up to good morning messages from Emma, sharing photos of Michigan snow or complaints about her AP Literature teacher. Now Jeremy sends me articles about soccer scholarships and asks about my college application progress.
The addition of these new relationships doesn’t feel overwhelming anymore; it feels like expansion, like my world growing larger in ways that make sense.
“You seem happy,” Derek observes, walking beside me to the parking lot after school. “Settled, I guess. Like you’re not carrying around as much weight as you were a few weeks ago.”
“I feel lighter,” I say. “Nothing seems complicated anymore.”
“Speaking of complicated, how’s Emma handling things with her mom?”
“Lilly backed down from her ultimatum after my mom’s… intervention, so Emma doesn’t have to choose between having a relationship with me and keeping her college funding.”
“That’s good. Crisis averted?”
“For now. Emma’s still dealing with passive-aggressive comments about ‘family loyalty,’ but at least she’s not being financially blackmailed anymore.”
He unlocks his car and opens the passenger door for me, a habit he’s developed over the past few weeks. “What about your mom? How’s she adjusting to having Jeremy back in your life?”
“She’s coping better than I thought she would, but that’s with me around, not sure how she is when I’m not.”
“I wonder what she told Lilly.”
“Me too,” I sigh as I sit in the passenger seat. He closes the door and heads to the other side getting in.
As he starts the car, I look over at him with a smile.
“She wants to invite you for dinner this weekend.”
Derek’s eyebrows rise. “A ‘meet the parents’ dinner?”
“More like a ‘get to know the boyfriend’ dinner. You’ve been so supportive through all the family craziness, and Mom realizes she doesn’t really know you very well. She wants to fix that.”
“I’d love to have dinner with your family.”
“Even if Robert tells embarrassing stories about me and Mom asks you about your five-year plan?”
“Especially if Robert tells embarrassing stories about you. I need more ammunition for future teasing.”
“I’m reconsidering this invitation.”
“Too late. I’m already mentally preparing for interrogation and planning to charm your parents with my wit and maturity.”
“Your modesty, you mean.”
