Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Brax: “Wow. That’s really rough. I’m sorry, Ava. I can be there as soon as I’m off work.”
Gray: “I’m not surprised by the hypocrisy, but I am shocked that it’s your mom, if that makes sense. I can come over too, or we can all hang at my place if you want.”
“Thanks,” I answer both of them. “Getting together would be good. Let’s make plans later.” I need to zone out for a little while longer.
I don’t get the chance, though. My phone pings with a text, and I assume it’s one of the men, but when I check, it’s from an unknown number. I thought I was past any further shock, but the text proves me wrong.
“Come to this address tonight at 7 if you want to know what your father’s up to.”
Pressing a hand to my mouth, I show Erik my phone. He frowns. “I wonder who sent that?”
I fire off another group text with the new information. After a few moments, Gray responds, “I think we should all go with you, if you’re going to go.”
“I think I have to,” I answer. “It might just be a cruel prank, but I need to know.”
“Everyone will fit in my truck,” Brax says. “Let’s meet up at your place after I get off work.”
“When are you off?” Erik asks. “We can have dinner waiting if it’s early enough before 7.”
I don’t think I can eat anything, but certainly the men need to be fed. I let Erik make the arrangements while I huddle on the couch, heartsick.
Maybe it’s something else. Maybe my dad isn’t really cheating too. Although I suppose if it’s something else, it might be even worse.
My brain is too good at coming up with terrible possibilities, so I do my best to focus on my crocheting and the show on the tv. The rest of the afternoon seems to crawl, but then Brax and Gray and our food all arrive at the same time.
I don’t eat, which makes all the men concerned, but I promise them I’ll have something later. I don’t say how much later. At this point, it feels like I won’t be able to stomach anything for days.
We get to the address a few minutes early and find a parking spot across the street and down a couple of houses, where we have a good view. It’s a smallish house in an ordinary older neighborhood, with a porch light already shining into the dusk.
Right at 7, the door opens and my father comes out, followed by a woman. As I watch, they embrace and he kisses her. It hurts to see, way down deep inside.
He walks away down a sidewalk; a minute later, I see taillights and a car pulls away from the curb. From a distance, in the growing darkness, it looks like my dad’s car, but it doesn’t matter; I saw him clearly in the light from the porch.
My sadness and sense of betrayal are still there, but now I’m remembering that my father recently demanded that I marry a man of his choosing. I owe him no duty of obedience at all, especially in light of his hypocrisy.
AVA
Both of my parents are committing adultery, and neither situation looks at all like a one-time slip-up. I feel like I’m in an upside-down world.
I was too stunned for words when I spotted my father, but I did have the presence of mind to snap a few pictures, which I now send to my brother. They’re not the clearest, but you can see my father’s face, and the position of his hand on the strange woman’s hip is unmistakably intimate.
“Ava, are you okay?” Erik’s arm goes around me, and his body turns as if to shield me from the scene we just witnessed.
I’m surprised no tears are coming; I must be too angry for that. “Please drive away,” I tell Brax. “I want to get out of here.”
My message to Aaron updates to “Read” status. I wait another minute while Erik rubs my back and Gray caresses my knee, but no response comes from my brother.
“Also, Mom and Pastor Williams are having an affair,” I type. Maybe I should soften the blow of this news, but something dark inside me wants him to be as shocked as I was, so I send the message as is.
Now he answers. “That’s a lie. Who told you that?”
“I found them together when I went to the church to drop off things for the orphanage.”
He goes silent again.
Through this, I’m vaguely aware of Gray leaning forward to talk to Brax, and I realize we’re headed to Gray’s place, which is perfect, because I don’t want to be alone right now.
“It’ll be okay,” Erik says, cradling me against his chest when I put my phone down. “Everything will be okay.” He and Gray continue to comfort me, and when we arrive at Gray’s, Brax takes my hand, giving it a steady squeeze as Erik keeps me sheltered under his arm.