Page 44 of Where You Belong

The first two weeks after she told me, I mourned the loss of the man I never knew. I cried over the father I never got the chance to meet and all the important milestones in life he’d miss out on.

I asked her once if she’d take me to visit his grave, and she promised me one day she’d take me there, but that day never came.

Staring back at her now, I recognize the disappointment shrouding her eyes. Her shoulders slouch forward, resigning to the defeat she’s fought against for too long.

All this time, she’s been feeding me a lie. She knows what’s coming, and it’s time she tells me the truth.

Huxton stares up at me, nodding his head before he wraps his arms around my waist.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll come say bye to you before I leave. We just need a couple of minutes. Okay?”

He nods before taking off toward his playroom. Chipper, my mom’s puppy, barrels down the hall after him. Only the sound of his paws on the floor mixed with Huxton’s left behind.

“I guess we should probably sit down for this, huh?”

I drop Huxton’s overnight bag by the door and toe off my shoes.

I wasn’t planning on staying long, but I wanted the truth, and then I needed time away to reconcile it all.

She lets out a heavy sigh as she takes a seat in her recliner, and I follow, choosing to sit across from her on the couch. She picks up the remote and turns off the television, her eyes staring at the worn carpet.

My heart thumps wildly. I can practically hear the pounding in my ears.

“Haelynn, you should know everything I’ve ever done was to protect you, to keep you safe. I’m not perfect. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, but it was always to protect you.”

I nodded. Whatever reasons she had for keeping the truth from me, I knew I had to put myself in her shoes and consider why she did it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Huxton to keep him safe. It’s the very reason I got us out when I did.

We sat there in silence for God knows how long. I almost wonder if she’s not sure how to break the ice and come out and tell me, so I do us both the favor and cut to the chase.

“Is my father… is his name Marc Krate?”

She squeezes her eyes shut and lets out a heavy exhale. “Yes.”

My heart clenches in my chest. I’ve read so much about this man since Gage confronted me. I wanted to know everything about him and understand who he was before I came here.

“Is it true?” I ask, glancing up at her. “Did he do what they say he did?”

She nods again, a tear leaking from her eye and streaming down her cheek.

“Your father, when we first met, was a sweet and loving man. He would’ve given up anything for me. In a way, he did. He got mixed up with the wrong crowd. His cousin too. It didn’t take me long to figure out he was using drugs. When I gave him an ultimatum, forcing him to choose between me or that life, he did what I had hoped he would.”

You could hear the hurt in her words. It made my heart ache for her.

“He told me everything I wanted to hear. He made promise after promise to walk away from that life, to get sober and be a better man.”

I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of those empty promises and to hope they’ll follow through with them.

“Things were good for a short time until they weren’t. He started disappearing. I’d call him, and his phone would be turned off. He’d be gone for days at a time. This was right before I found out I was pregnant with you.”

“I heard about the accident on the news. I grew up with Gage Shaw. We went to the same school. I was in the same grade as his cousin Graham. They were good people. Hardworking.”

“It was all over the news when it happened. Everyone knew the make and model of the car they believed ran Gage off the road. His car flipped several times before landing upside down, killing him instantly. It was a similar car to the one your uncle Isaac drove. He didn’t get it out often. It was an old classic. When I confronted your dad, he lost it. He called me every name in the book and told me whoever filled my head full of lies would pay for it.”

Her chin trembles. She cups her hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes before the dam breaks, and they flow freely down her face.

I want to go to her and hold her. When I attempt to move, she holds her hand up and releases a deep breath.

“I’m okay. I’ll be fine. I just need to get through this.”

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