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“This is too much,” I collapsed onto one of the stools as Avery washed her bowl and wiped down the counters. “My brain’s already on overload with the whole Derek and Aaron thing, plus what happened with Trace last night, and now this? I don’t have time to worry about your brother seducing my mom.” I crossed my arms on the countertop and dejectedly laid my head on top.
Avery began laughing and I couldn’t help but join in.
Wiping tears away, she giggled, “This is nuts!”
“You’re telling me! It’s my life!” I laughed hysterically.
“Am I interrupting something?” My mom asked, stepping into the kitchen.
“No,” I wiped my face dry with the backs of my hands. “You ready?”
She nodded in reply.
I pulled my car keys out of my pocket and left through the garage.
“Oh! Wait!” Avery called over the roaring of the garage door. She scurried down the garage steps and opened one of drawers in the built in cabinets along the wall. “Here,” she tossed a black rectangular device my way.
“What’s this?” I looked down at it stupidly. I quickly realized what it was but Avery was already answering.
“It’s a garage opener,” she replied. “This way, you don’t have to worry about me or Nick being home, and you don’t have to get out and enter the code like you did this morning. We have a security system but it’s turned off right now.”
“Okay,” I flipped the device over in my hands, “thanks.”
“Not a problem. I’ll see you guys later. And Mrs. Owens,” she called out to my mom. “Watch out for my brother.”
A bunch of gibberish came out of her mouth, which made Avery and me laugh.
???
“I’m not mad at you,” I stated, drenching my waffle in syrup. “I want you to know that.”
My mom looked up from her plate of food, studying my face. When she found that I was telling the truth, she let out a sigh of relief.
“I know I should have told you the truth a long time ago…it never seemed like the right time though,” she shrugged and took a bite of her egg sandwich.
After a lengthy discussion about where to eat for lunch, we ended up deciding on Waffle House.
“I’m glad you waited to tell me. I don’t think I would’ve handled it well if you told me sooner. It’s been hard to process now, it would’ve been even worse if I was younger.” My eyes strayed to my purse where I had placed the pictures of Derek. I wanted to keep them with me at all times. I think I was afraid that if they were separated from me for too long, they’d disappear. “Can you tell me more about him?”
I hadn’t wanted to listen when she first told me, but now, I was ready to know more about my real dad.
“I don’t know where to start,” she took a sip of water.
“Start wherever you want,” I told her.
She grew quiet as she thought. “He loved to be outside,” she smiled, her eyes far away. “I can’t begin to tell you how many times I found him outside the library, stretched out on one of those small benches, with a book in his hand. He was a serious student, but he was funny, the kind of guy that was always cracking a joke. He loved his family and friends, to the point that he was almost loyal to a fault. But I loved that about him. He would have been the greatest father to you, Liv, and I’m so sorry,” her eyes watered and she reached for my hand, “that you missed out on that, sweetie.”
I swallowed thickly, wondering if I would have made Derek Wynn proud. Would I have been enough for him?
“Do you think Aaron will try to find you?” I whispered.
She released my hand and sat back, staring out the window at the traffic going by. “I honestly don’t know. He’s…unpredictable.”
I really didn’t think Aaron would try to find her, but I still worried.
“Please, if he finds you, don’t let him take you from me, again,” I begged.
“Never,” she answered fiercely. “I’ll never go back to that, Liv. I would rather have nothing than live with that man. I wish I would’ve left sooner, but I didn’t think I could. I was scared. But now that I’m gone, nothing will ever send me back. I can promise you that.”
