“Reading it now,” I replied.
Her silence scared me the most.
I tried to read, but really I ended up only skimming because I knew exactly what I was looking for.
Adoption.
There it was. The story of how seventeen-year-old me put a baby up for adoption. They’d used my story to paint a picture that couldn’t be further from the truth. They used words likeselfish,irresponsible, and my favorite:failed bride looking for her next groom.
“How did they—” Tears welled in my eyes, building quickly before spilling over in a constant stream.
“I don’t know, Scar. But they did. And they dug until they found exactly what they were looking for. I’m guessing Stetson has no idea about any of this.”
“No,” I snapped. “And Maggie, you don’t even know how bad this is. Especially after last night and with everything he’s told me over the last couple of weeks… And the new album and all the good shit he’s trying to do. He can’t have this kind of negative publicity. It’s exactly the shit he’s trying to move on from.” I shuddered. “Shit.”
“Last night? What happened last night?” she asked.
Ruby’s innocent face flashed into view.
“I… I don’t have time to get into it right now,” I rushed out as my eyes scoped out the apartment, taking a mental note of all my stuff. “I need to pack up my shit and get out of here before Stetson wakes up. I’ve gotta figure out what I’m going to do, but I can’t do that here. I’ll call you when I get home.”
“Okay. Be safe, Scar. I love you. We’ll figure this out.”
“Love you too,” I said, quickly clicking off my phone.
I dropped my head into my hands, sinking to the floor with my back pushed against the wall. The tears hadn’t stopped. I was so angry. Angry at the low life who wrote this, angry at anyone whogave them information, but mostly angry at myself for having this secret in the first place.
I knew everyone kept telling me I deserved happiness, but how could that be true when every time I thought I’d been given the opportunity to be happy, life kept proving me wrong?
My shit was everywhere, but I did my best to grab it all and get the hell out of dodge. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I couldn’t face Stetson.
Not now.
Fortunately, Stetson had scheduled the plane to take me back home around noon, so when I showed up at the airport and got out of my Uber a little past ten, Harry was already there.
“Hey, Harry, would you mind leaving a bit earlier than scheduled? Something came up and I need to get back to Quincey Falls.” My heart pounded as I waited for his response, knowing that if we delayed this too long, Stetson was bound to show up.
“Um, sure. Of course, Ms. Carson. Let me just finish getting the plane ready and we can be out of here in about ten minutes,” he responded.
Thank god.
“Perfect, thank you.”
The flight was short, and thankfully so, because the uneasiness I had sloshing around my stomach almost forced me to run to the bathroom.
By the time I got home and parked my car outside of my apartment, Maggie’s old Bronco was already stationed in the spot next to mine.
My head fell to the steering wheel. “What a fucking mess.”
I trudged up the stairs and rounded the corner to see Maggie standing with my door wide open, waiting for me. I stopped, dropping my bags and immediately finding myself in the comfort of her arms, tears barreling down my face.
“This absolutely sucks,” I said, pushing my face into her shoulder.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it’s about to get worse before it gets better…”
“What do you mean?” I asked, pulling myself from her grasp.
“I mean that I got ahold of the reporter whose name was on the article, and I know who told them about the adoption.”
