When he faces me again, the pink hue in his eyes is the answer I seek.
“Was it a one-time thing?” I ask, still holding hope. Through everything that happened, my devotion to her never wavered. When the world turned on her and called her a thief, I stuck up for her. I loved her. I wanted to be like her. My entire life has been built on a single foundation.What would Sarah do?has been my mantra. She was my hero. I don’t want to believe she’s nothing but the liar everyone says she is.
“I loved your mama with everything I had and everything I was. I wanted to marry her. She took my heart, my ring, and my baby.”
My finger tingles under the dainty band wrapped around it. I lift my hand. “You mean this?”
He blanches. “She actually kept it.” He steps toward me and rests his dirty hand under mine to get a closer look. “After she told me about you, I gathered up all the money I had to buy this ring. The night I slipped it on her hand was the best night of my life. The wedding was planned. The food, the flowers, the bridesmaids in their pretty pink dresses—we threw it together quick because …” His gaze drops to my belly, then back up. “Well, you know. I stood in that church with all our friends and family waiting for her to walk down that aisle and be my wife, but she never came.”
Slush fills my veins. This stupid ring that meant so much to me was riddled with deceit. Why had she kept this from me? Why the secrets and the lies? Why was she so ashamed of where she came from? WhereIcame from? All I wanted to do was get to know her better. Turns out, I didn’t know her at all. My own mother may as well have been a stranger.
The tears I’d been holding begin to fall. I close my lids hoping to keep them in, but it’s pointless. Once they’ve broached the dam, there’s no turning back. My heart pounds, the fury rushing through me like a freight train. It moves through my limbs as I grab my bike and race toward the place I’ve called home for the past several months.
I barrel into the house full force, yelling Cindy’s name. When she steps out from her room, I explode. “Why didn't you tell me?”
She cocks her head. “Tell you what?”
Did she tell you the story behind this?Her cryptic question slides across my memory as I lift my hand. Cindy knew this entire time. She could have told me who my father was, yet felt the need to keep my mother’s secret. “Dusty Coltrane.”
Her expression hardens. “It wasn’t my story to tell.”
I narrow my gaze. “That’s bullshit. All this time, you knew, and you kept it from me. Why would you do that?” The sight of her swims in my liquid gaze. I jam the butts of my palms into my sockets to quell the salty rainfall as I try to make sense of this newfound information.
“Your mother,” she starts, taking me by the arms. “She knew marryin’ Dusty meant she’d never get outta Texas. She’d end up raisin’ five kids in a trailer park, and she wanted more than that. She wanted more foryou.”
I stare at Cindy’s sweet face. Her loyalty runs deep, down to a fault. I shrug from her grip. “I can’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth.”
With that, I find myself back on my bike. I don’t know where I’m going. I just know I’m leaving it behind. I pedal until my legs ache and my head is numb. When I finally stop, I’m looking up in the angry snarl of Mad Dog’s MMA.
I burst into the building, my wild gaze searching over the handful of guys to find Jace. When I do, my rage zeros in on him. “Did you know?” I snap, stopping over to the ring.
He pulls his gaze away from his opponent seconds before a fist lands hard on his cheek. He hits the mat like a sack of bricks.I hope it hurts, you son of a bitch.
“Dusty Coltrane,” I repeat the same announcement I did to Cindy, yet Jace’s expression lacks the same response.
“What about him?”
“Did you know he’s my dad?”
He turns his head without taking his eyes off me. “Gimme a second, guys.” He ducks through the doorway and sits on the outside edge of the mat. “Dusty Coltrane is your dad?” he parrots.
“So you’re saying you didn’t know this whole time.”
His lip curls, then falls straight. “I had no idea.”
“I can’t handle another lie, Jace.” Another round of emotion swells within.
He slips off the edge, holding my gaze in his. “I swear I didn’t know.”
His promise makes my knees give out. I crumple into his arms as they come up to catch me. Our recent history feels insignificant now. I bury my face in his chest, wetting his shirt with my tears. “Why did she lie to me my entire life?”
“I don’t have an answer to that.”
The deep baritone rumbles against my cheek. His fingers comb through my hair until my hysterics wane to tiny gasps. “Tell me everything you know about him.” I take a step back, untangling myself from his embrace. I need to know every detail. Is he married? Do I have siblings? Jace is my only hope for a sliver of truth. I know he won’t pull punches. He’ll tell me straight up, regardless of my feelings.
He rolls his eyes. “Lemme get cleaned up, and we’ll go somewhere an’ talk, alright?”
A few minutes feels like days. By the time he emerges, my salty skin is tight and dry. He loads my bike into the back of his truck and begins to drive. As we pass through the city, I rattle off the whole story, starting with the broken tire and ending with the confrontation with his mom. He doesn’t interject or ask any questions. He simply listens until I’m finished.