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My jaw clenched.Paul must know; he knows everything. How could he keep it from me?
“Turn up the music,” Isabelle said to the driver.
The driver increased the volume, and dance music played the rest of the way to Southport.
At the dock, there was a stream of people boarding, and pop music filled the air. I cupped my hand over my eyes, scanning the pier for Ben. Isabelle took our bags while I checked my phone. Mom hadn’t returned my text.
“Come on, girl, time to go. You can wait for Ben on the deck or at least get me started with distributing the suits.” Isabelle tugged me, and I climbed up the ramp and stopped by the yacht’s railing.
“I’m not staying. Show me what you want me to hand out?” I grumbled.
Isabelle’s brows furrowed. “But you told me you’d come. I mean you’re already here. You can’t do anything about your parents. Just stay, please?”
“Izzy!” someone screamed.
“I’ll be right back.” She ran down the deck with our bags toward the crowd.
I called Paul.
“Nadia, we’re about to take off,” he said when he answered. “I’ll talk to you when I land—”
“Did you know my dad has cancer?”
Paul sighed, and I closed my eyes.He knew.
“Nadia, your parents asked me to let them tell you themselves. They didn’t want to worry you until they knew how aggressive the cancer was….”
My vision blurred, and my jaw clenched.“But I need to see my dad. Is this why they asked me not to come?”
“We’re not doing this over the phone.”
“Yes, we are.” My voice raised. “Do you know where they’re going today?”
“Nadia, calm down—”
“No. I’m not calming down.”
“Chemotherapy. It’s stage two…I’m sorry, baby.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I cried.
My parents must have pleaded with him.
“We’re taking off. We’ll talk about it in Nantucket.”
“You…you can’t come. You won’t want to see me.”
“What are you talking about, Nadia? Of course I want to see you.”
“I-I…missed taking some of my birth control pills.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“What?Nadia? What are you saying?”
“Lily sent my birth control pills when I returned to the Hudson. That’s when I realized I missed doses. I took a couple of tests, but they came back negative. I don’t know, I didn’t do it on purpose. Last time it was nothing—”
“You kept you took two pregnancy tests for two fucking weeks? How could you keep this from me, Nadia?” he demanded, his tone sharp.
“You kept my dad’s cancer from me. You can’t tell me about secrets.”
