Page 103 of A Surefire Love
“Wait and see if being honest with them prompts them to be honest with me.”
“And if they had something to do with the fire?”
“I’ll help them with the consequences.”
The potato she’d been peeling slipped from her fingers. “Meaning what? You’d report them?”
“There’s an ongoing investigation.” A hint of incredulity rang in his tone. “Everyone needs answers. And I don’t like the hints they’ve been dropping about Eric. Depending on what they have to say when the whole story comes out, child services might have to get involved.”
She laid the last potato on the counter between them and braced her hands on the surface, keeping her face turned down and away. “I’m not sure I have so much faith in the system.”
She heard the rustle of him move, but he didn’t touch her. “Why not? I thought your experience in foster care was okay.”
“I was still separated from my mom, and I missed home every day. When Mom got me back, nothing much had changed except she made it very clear there were things we couldn’t talk about because we needed each other, but if people knew about our lives, they’d separate us.”
“She never should’ve put you in that position. It’s never good when an adult asks a kid to keep a secret.”
Her breath rushed out, and tears flushed her eyes. Had she become her mother after all?
“Hey.” Anson’s hand on her shoulder guided her away from the counter. His thumb skimmed her cheek before he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry for what you went through. I’m sorry you needed help and were left to fend for yourself. I really don’t want that for Carter and Dylan. I don’t know if there is a problem in their family, but if one of them started the fire—”
“I don’t want to lose Mercy. It’s my greatest fear.”
He stilled for a moment. His chest shifted as he leaned his head to see her face. “Why would you lose Mercy? You’redoing a great job with her. She’s happy and healthy and well-cared for.”
Was she, though? Blaze bit her trembling bottom lip. She had been trying for years to break the cycle of dysfunction. She thought turning her life over to Christ would do it. She thought obtaining diagnoses and treatment would release her. But what if it wasn’t about breaking the old cycle, but rather building a new one? One that rejected the old lies. One that followed Jesus’s lead as Anson had said? And following Jesus’s lead meant telling the truth regardless of the consequences, the way a scared little girl named Jenny had.
She took a deep breath, then straightened away from him. “When I got up—” Her lungs spasmed, but if she had to sob her way through this, she would.
She tried again. “When I got up the morning after the fire, Mercy was coming back in.”
His eyebrows dipped, but his gaze held hers.
“I had no idea she’d gone out. She said she was upset because she’d found the first draft of my testimony and then I didn’t check on her after our date. So when I went to bed, she snuck out. She was gone all night. She swears she didn’t go to the church and has never snuck out before, and I think I believe her, but it’s not like she has a perfect track record of honesty.” Blaze’s eyes slid shut, and two tears dropped to her cheeks.
She forced her eyes open. “She had just read my testimony. It might’ve given her ideas about starting a fire or about what would happen if she was honest. She might be lying, even to me, because she’s as scared as I am of the consequences.” She shuddered. All of that was speculation. She needed to own up to one last fact. “She was wearing herRooted hoodie when she came in. It looks so suspicious, I told her not to tell anyone, and I especially didn’t tell you.”
His mouth dropped open and he crossed his arms over his chest.
Unable to watch his anger replace his faith in her, Blaze lowered her face.
37
Anson felt the force of Blaze’s words and the aftershock as he replayed them. She’d said she’despeciallykept the truth from him. When she’d made him work to gain the promise of exclusivity, he suspected she’d withdrawn. Only now did he comprehend how far or why.
“Are you angry?” Her shoulders were as rigid as prison bars as she stared at the floor.
He was so much more than angry. Disappointment, pain, offense, and rejection all vied for control. He’d thought she prized honesty. He’d opened up to Carter and Dylan at her insistence. Meanwhile, she’d kept a secret. But before he could call her on the double standard, Coach’s voice came back to him.Responses trump reactions.He planted his feet, steadying himself against the onslaught of his tangled emotions.
“Are you going to report us?”
“Report you?”
“To the authorities.” Blaze looked up.
Stiff with shock, he could barely shake his head. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I don’t know where she was. Some of the details line up.”
