Page 76 of Surviving Lies

“Well, why don’t you tell me what’s been going on?” she said as we sat back down at the island.

“It was nice to meet you, Tim. Take care,” I said. Shaking hands with me, he left the yard where the three of us had spent the past hour talking and getting to know one another. Kelly was right – he was a good guy, and they seemed good for one another. And he loved to be around Savannah.

Kelly was gathering up all of Savannah’s toys, which meant she was planning on heading out as well. This was the hard part about our situation. I only had Savannah for occasional overnights when I made it home on the weekends; her leaving was always difficult.

“Ty, you will always be her dad.” Kelly’s hand was on mine as we packed up the baby bag. I looked at Savannah, who had fallen asleep on a pallet of blankets we made on the grass next to us. “You don’t have to worry about that. We will always make it work out somehow. OK?”

I nodded. But I wasn’t sure it would be as easy as she made it sound. Savannah was only five months old, and it already was getting complicated. If I was able to add Becca into the mix, who knew how things would work? But the advice given by my mom gave me hope I may be able to rectify the situation when I got back to school.

“I appreciate that, Kelly. Let’s get you two into your car. Can I carry her?” I asked.

“Of course.”

We walked around the side of the house. Her parents had left hours ago, giving us more time together. Savannah stirred awake on my shoulder in time for me to give her a proper goodbye. Lifting her in the air, I suspended her above me, smiling at her chubby cheeks as she stared down at me. And then she let out a big, from-the-gut laugh once again.

“Did you laugh at Daddy?” Kelly squealed.

“Daddy?” a voice in the distance said in horror.

Both mine and Kelly’s heads snapped to the sidewalk at the end of my driveway.

“Becca?” I whispered, almost to myself. But then louder, I said, “Becca! Wait!”

She was already running back to her car, which was parked down the road. I handed Savannah off to Kelly to reach Becca in time.

But it was no use.

Her car peeled out of its spot before I could even make it to the end of my driveway.

Chapter 22

Becca

What in the actual fuck?Daddy? Ty had ababy? A fuckingbaby?

Once I got down the street from Ty’s house, I drove in the opposite direction to what I should’ve, heading away from school. The need tonotsee him was so strong that I had to make sure he couldn’t find me. Plus, I was in no condition to drive. Pulling over in a nearby fast food parking lot gave me the time to calm down.

And to call Lanie.

“Hey, Bec, are you doing anything fun?” Lanie asked when she picked up the call.

I couldn’t even talk. The sobs streamed through the line.

“Becca, what’s wrong?” she asked with fear in her voice. “Honey, where are you? Are you safe?”

“Mmmhmm,” was all I could get out.

“OK, honey. Just breathe and let it out. I’m here.” She knew not to tell me to stop crying or calm down. She knew those words weren’t helpful at the lowest of lows. “When you’re ready, you tell me what you need to tell me. I’ll be here.” She just kept repeating that to me through the phone line, over and over. Her calm voice eventually helped me find my breaths. They evened out.

I felt as though I could form words, but I didn’t want to. If I put it into words, it would make it real.

“Bec, you still there?” Lanie asked.

“Yeah,” I whispered, “I’m still here.”

She waited a couple more minutes to see if I was going to offer anything else, but when I didn’t, she pushed for more.

“So, are you at the apartment? Are you alone?” she prodded.

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