Page 31 of Tru Blue
Chapter Ten
GEMMA THOUGHT HER father’s suicide was the worst thing she’d ever have to face. She thought the worst thing a person could do was choose to leave their loved ones behind. But this? Truman being thrust into such tragic surroundings, having no choice but to rescue his mother and brother from the horrific situation she brought into their home? And his mother not only turning her back on the son who put his own life in jeopardy to save her, but also sending him to prison? She couldn’t wrap her mind around such a dreadful scenario, much less what his upbringing must have been like. She was trembling all over, breathing hard, tears raining down her cheeks, and when she finally found the courage to look at him, Truman was still standing with his back to her. His shoulders rounded forward, as if all the air had deflated from his chest.
A chill spread through her as she tried to grasp what he’d told her. He had killed a man.
Killed.
He had taken a knife and ended a man’s life.
To save his family.
How does a person process that information? She had a million questions—and about as many fears. Would he do it again? Was he unstable? Was he telling her the truth?
Breathe in. Breathe out. That was about as much as she could handle.
Lincoln’s whimpers came through the baby monitor. Truman turned slowly. His gaze never came near her as he walked into the house, as if on autopilot, and disappeared into the bedroom.
She exhaled a long breath and gripped the edge of her seat, trying to make sense of the overwhelming pieces of his past he’d just revealed.
When Truman returned to the deck, she stood on wobbly legs, trying to reconcile the man she’d come to know with the person he’d just admitted to being. It was all too much, his painful expression, the ache in her heart, the weight of his confession.
“I didn’t expect you to still be here,” he said solemnly.
Her eyes filled with more tears and her hand flew to her mouth, untrusting of what might come out. Emotions bubbled up inside her as her thoughts swam—his bravery, his loyalty, his crime. Hearing his confession didn’t wipe away what she felt for him. The words weren’t delete buttons; they were painful, heavy truths, each one landing like lead on the good she saw in him, weighing it down, driving it deeper into a sea of unknowns. At the same time, all the goodness that had drawn her to him since the get-go and magnified with every moment they spent together refused to sink. They flailed beneath the negative weight, trying to win, trying to rise above the darkness, leaving her gasping for air.
He nodded silently, a look of resigned acceptance in his eyes. He picked up the baby monitor and turned to go inside.
“Truman—” His name flew desperately from her lips, and when he turned, her heart cracked open. She knew what devastation looked like. She’d seen it in her mother’s eyes after her father took his life, and she’d seen it in her own reflection in the mirror in the weeks that followed, when their world crumbled down around them and her mother became even colder, losing herself in anything but caring for her daughter.
“I don’t…I can’t…” Too overcome with emotions, she took a step back and pressed her hand to the railing to stabilize herself from the spinning world around her.
“It’s okay, Gemma,” he reassured her. “That’s why I stopped us from going any further.”
You stopped us. Even amid all that passion, you were thinking of me. She didn’t think as she touched his hand, needing the connection despite her confused state. His fingers were shaking as much as hers were. “It’s…” She gulped a breath to try to calm her nerves. “It’s a lot to take in.”
He nodded solemnly. “I couldn’t mislead you.”
“Did you…? How long were you…?” She couldn’t even say the words. Saying them made it even more real.
“I served six years of an eight-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter, and I’ve been out for six months. Every Thursday morning I call and check in with the parole office, and I’ll continue to do that until the full term of my sentence is complete. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about that man. I wanted to save my mother and protect Quincy, but no part of me wanted to kill him. I wanted to stop him. I needed to stop him.”
