AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I felt like I was walking a tightrope, and whatever he was about to tell me could be the wind that swept me off course.
* * *
The reflection of the moon bounced off Blake’s face as I stared at him with disbelief.
“I still can’t believe they found you,” I said, trying to wrap my head around what he’d told me. “After all that time.”
“Yeah. Apparently, I was one of the lucky ones.” He let out a bitter laugh I didn’t quite understand. “Uncle Anthony hadn’t spoken to my mom for years, so he didn’t even know I existed until he moved back to Columbus and hired a PI to search for her. His search led him to Lancaster, which led him to me.”
I closed my mouth trying to make sense of everything, but one thing still didn’t add up. “So he found you and petitioned the courts?”
Blake nodded.
“Okay, but why the sudden disappearance?” I asked, the thorns of betrayal coiling around my heart. “And why didn’t you know about any of this beforehand? Surely, someone should have told you that you had family who wanted you?”
“Uncle Ant knows a lot of the right people, and he pulled some strings to make it happen quickly. I wanted to say goodbye, Penny. Of course I did.” His solemn expression mirrored my own.
“So why didn’t you?” I whispered.
“I fought with them so hard, but they said it was for the best. I was confused and angry, and everything I thought I knew was flipped on its head.” Blake ran a hand over his jaw. “And as selfish as it was, a little part of me was relieved I was finally getting free from them. From that hell. I thought I’d get out, get my shit together, and come back for you.”
I understood that part, I did. But his honesty stirred something in me. For as much as I wanted to get the hell away from Derek and Marie, I couldn’t imagine ever leaving without him.
Not when he’d become the most important in my life.
I loved him—I’d loved Blake with everything that I was, and he left me in that place.
“You left me all alone in… in that awful place.” The dam broke and tears streamed down my face. “Do you know what it was like to come home that day and find you gone? To have Derek and Marie revel in the opportunity to hurt me even more than they already had? They wouldn’t tell me a word. No one would. You just disappeared into thin air, and I didn’t know why.”
The force of my sobs wracked my body, and I gripped the rickety bench to keep myself upright. I’d been a fool to let Blake’s earlier playfulness distract me.
Our past had been staring me in the face ever since I laid eyes on him because hewasmy past. A reminder of everything I’d gone through.
Everything I’d survived.
“Wait, what?” Blake’s head whipped up, and now, he was the one looking at me with utter despair.
I stared at him in disbelief. Surely, he didn’t expect me to bare myself like that again.
“They didn’t tell you?” he said quietly.
“Who?” I asked, confused.
“Derek and Marie? They didn’t give you my letter?”
Letter?
Realization dawned on Blake’s face, and he cursed something under his breath. “Of course, they didn’t. Fuck. Penny, I—”
“Can you please tell me what is going on?” I said, wiping the tears away with the back of my hand.
There was so much sadness in his eyes, so much heartache that, even though I had thought it impossible, another piece of my heart broke.
They say the eyes are a window to the soul, and sitting there in front of a lake just as we did in another time, Blake was baring his to me.
Lost in the pained look on his face, I missed his fingers inching closer to mine until our pinkies brushed. My eyes darted to where our hands rested between us, and slowly, carefully, Blake entwined his fingers with mine as if he thought I might shatter under his touch.
My heart began to pound in my chest, blood rushing in my ears. So hard I became lightheaded.
