Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
The tears that had built up in Nance’s eyes finally escaped and ran down her face.
“Nance didn’t realize it, but I overheard them talking in the kitchen. And when I approached them, they acted like nothing had happened. Kept up the act. And I had to play basketball with that bastard until he left again and never came back. Sorry, didn’t mean to curse.”
“Bastard is about the only word to describe that poor excuse for a man,” Nance added, surprising me with her repetition of my curse. It was one of the few times in my life I’d heard her swear.
She gulped, wiping at her eyes. “And you’ve known all this time?”
“Yeah. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Losing Crawford was hard enough on you and our family. I couldn’t imagine taking a second father from you. At least the idea of one.”
“No, he did a good enough job of that when he left and never came back.”
“It was one thing for you to think he was a jerk or didn’t care. It was another to think that he wanted to use you for… God, I don’t even want to say it.”
“Money, Mom. I know.”
“It wasn’t right.”
“No, it wasn’t. But didn’t I deserve to know? In your mind, did you think it was better for me to just wonder where he went?”
“Better than the alternative…I thought,” she admitted. “I just wanted to keep you safe.”
And it cut to my very core—to the heart of where my pain really lay.
“Well, now as you can see, all these years later, I can handle the truth. I’m strong enough to handle the truth. Because I’ve been doing that for most of my life. It sucks, but I’m fine. It didn’t kill or destroy me. What did you think it would have done to me that you felt you needed to protect me?”
Nance shook her head. “I just didn’t think that anyone deserved to feel that way toward a parent. You already had such a hard life, and I didn’t want that for you. I know it wasn’t right, but I really did feel I was doing the right thing, Keegan.”
“I know you thought that, Nance, but it’s the same as Jace always feeling like he needs to be there for me. I’m my own person. And I don’t need a hero to come rescue me, because I can rescue myself. I have feelings, and I get hurt, but you’re not going to crush me by hurting them.”
She nodded as a few more tears escaped her eyes. She took a deep breath. “Yes, yes, it’s true, and that was wrong of me. I did think you were…too young maybe. I thought one day I would tell you the truth, but then life went on, and I figured, why not bury it in the past where it belonged. I know you’re strong enough to handle it now…and maybe I just couldn’t bear the thought of watching you have to deal with it then. I wish I’d done it differently, but mostly, I guess I wish it never happened.”
I took her hand and gripped gently. “It’s okay. You’re apparently not the only one who thinks I’m too fragile to handle things.”
“I don’t believe that’s how Owen feels,” she insisted.
“Yes, he does. He said those words. It’s what prompted our fight. And really, it was clear that he…was breaking up with me.”
The sound of humming came from the back seat, a continuation of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Nance and I turned together to Serena, who had her iPhone light on as she assessed herself in a compact mirror. “Oh, were you two chatting? I could hardly hear anything, as I was finding new reasons to host a Botox party.”
Her gaze shifted from the mirror, and she winked at me, a slick smile sweeping across her face. Even Nance had to laugh at her trying to make light of the situation.
“What were we talking about again?” Serena went on. “Oh, yes. Your fight with Owen. Yes, nothing wrong with a little lovers’ spat.” She sighed as she closed her compact and returned it to her purse. “These things happen. Men…oh, men are so bad with communicating. Are you sure he meant what you’re thinking?”
“Yes, he said I couldn’t handle it.”
“Well, I don’t have any doubt that you can prove him wrong,” Nance said.
“I don’t either, but I thought he was different. I thought he saw me…who I really am.”
“Speaking as someone who has made the mistake of thinking you couldn’t handle something, Keegan, someone who loves you more than anything else in the world, someone who really does see and love you, I can say he deserves another chance as much as I do.”
She was right.
I had been so hard on both of them, yet clearly, as Nance sat beside me, it was impossible for me to deny that she loved and adored me. What she had done didn’t change that.