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“I’m fine, Dad,” I tell him again, this time with a smile.
I will be. I just need time. Until then, I don’t want my father to worry about me.
“Sure? Because it seems to me that you haven’t been the same since you came back from London.”
My eyebrows arch. He noticed?
“You haven’t said a word about Dax, either,” my dad adds. “What happened to him?”
He put two and two together, huh?
I shake my head. “You don’t have to worry about it, Dad.”
“But I am worried. You’ve been sighing all the time lately.”
I frown. “Not all the time.”
“Well, every night.”
He’s noticed that, too?
He sighs. “Besides, I liked that man. I know he brought you a bit of trouble, but he’s a good man. I can tell.”
And I believe him, which only makes me feel worse that Dax and I can’t get back together.
I sit beside him and place my hand on his thigh. “I know, Dad.”
“So…” He looks at me. “What happened?”
I purse my lips. I want to tell him. I do. But if I tell him the reason Dax and I broke up, I’ll have to tell him I spoke to Walt Willard, who Mom had an affair with. And I still don’t know if he knows.
I look away. “It’s… complicated, Dad.”
He nods. “Yeah, and I know I’m not good with complicated stuff. You always went to your mom for that.”
“Dad, I didn’t mean that.”
“Well, it’s true. But she’s not here anymore. Believe me, I wish she was. But she isn’t. And I am. So it’s up to me to take care of our baby girl.”
“And you’re doing a good job, Dad.” I squeeze his hand. “No one could ask more of a father.”
He smiles. Even so, I see the sadness behind his eyes.
“I’d like to do more, though.” He puts his hand over mine. “Tell me. What’s going on with you, baby girl?”
He hasn’t called me that in ages.
“Dad…”
Suddenly, my phone vibrates on the coffee table. I pick it up. Emily’s name is on the screen.
I don’t want to make her angry again like I did before I left for London, so I answer it.
“What is it, Em?”
“It’s on the internet, Jen,” she answers.
I’m confused. “What is?”
“The news about you and Dax being half siblings.”
I gasp. What?
“I saw it just now. I thought you should know.”
I frown. I thought there wouldn’t be any more of these malicious stories, but I guess I was wrong. And this one may just be the worst because it’s not just malicious. It’s true.
How on earth did this writer get this information? Only Emily and I know about it. Well, and Walt, but I can’t see how he’d be behind this. He didn’t seem to like knowing he had a daughter. Why would he want the whole world to know it?
But I guess thanks to this article, everyone does know now. Including Dax.
Shit.
“I’m sorry,” Emily says.
I shake my head. “Not your fault, Emily. Thanks for telling me.”
“I wish I could have told you something better.”
“Still, thanks for always looking out for me,” I tell her.
“No problem.”
“Bye.”
“Bye,” Emily echoes.
After I hear the click on the line, I put my phone down and clasp my hands over my nose and mouth. I rock myself back and forth.
Great. Just when I think things are bad enough, they get worse.
“Jenna?” My father touches my shoulder.
I look at him. “It’s okay, Dad. Just another article.”
He frowns. “What about?”
“Just… you know, bad stuff.”
“Like?”
I shake my head. “You don’t want to hear it, Dad.”
“But I do, especially since you seem worried about this one. Not upset like you are when people tell lies about you. Worried.”
I glance at him. When did he become so perceptive?
I pat his thigh. “It’s nothing, Dad.”
I stand up to leave, but he grips my wrist and gives me a pleading look. “Jenna.”
I let out a sigh. Oh well. Now that it’s online, he’s bound to find out anyway. I might as well be the one to explain things to him. It would be better if I did. But darn, this is hard. Even harder than talking to Walt.
I sit down. “Okay, Dad.”
I take a deep breath.
“They’re saying that Dax and I are half siblings.”
“Oh.” He frowns. “That’s not nice.”
“And I wish that it wasn’t true, but when I went to London, I – ”
“London,” my dad says. “Do you know that your mother used to live there?”
My eyebrows arch. My dad knows? Wait. What does he know?
“Yes. I found that out recently from Dax’s father…” I draw another deep breath. “Walt Willard.”
My father’s eyes grow wide. “Walt Willard is Dax’s father?”
And the name rings a bell.
I nod. “But he wasn’t married to his mother, either, and they kind of don’t get along.”
I don’t want my dad to think Dax isn’t a good man anymore just because he happens to be the son of the man who slept with his wife. In spite of everything, I’m still defending him. Well, he is my brother.
