Page 24 of Stick Around
“Not seriously, no.”
“Not seriously? What does that mean?” her father asked.
“It means she had a one-night stand with some dipshit.” Noah crossed his arm. “How could you be so stupid, Grace?”
Grace felt her face fill with heat.
Her mother shot Noah a stern eye before turning back to her. “Who’s the father?”
Here we go.
“Billy Miller is the father, Mom.”
“What?” Noah slammed both hands on the table, knocking over his water glass. It crashed against his plate, startling both Grace and her mother, and sending water and ice cubes spilling out over the table. “Billy Miller? Fucking, Billy Miller?”
“Hey,” their mother turned back to Noah. “Watch your language.”
“Watch my language?” Noah scoffed. “Little Miss Princess over there is getting screwed by BillyFuckingMiller, but I need to watch my language?”
Their mother looked across the table, sending their father a pleading expression. Noah and Grace turned to him as well, tension circling the table as they all waited for his reaction.
He stared at Grace, his lips drawn in a thin line, stretched tight across his mouth. His teeth must have been grinding, because Grace could see the muscles flexing in his cheeks. You could almost mistake him for being angry. Enraged, even. Until you looked into his eyes. His brows were turned down and pinched together. The inside corners of his eyes were lifted, while the outer corners crinkled softly. It wasn’t anger in his eyes. It was pain.
“Dad,” Grace tried, but he looked away—fixed his eyes on the floor for only a moment before bringing his hands to the arms of his chair and pushing back from the table. He stood up and walked away without saying a word.
Grace tried to speak, to say something to stop him from leaving, but her mouth hung open in useless, stunned silence.Dad, please don’t leave.She wanted to scream it after him. But there was no point. The truth was out, and she couldn’t take it back.He’s going to see me like this forever now, isn’t he?She wanted to cry and run into his arms, to tell him how scared she was and have him pat her head and tell her everything would be okay. Reassure her that nothing bad would happen because he was there to protect her. Instead, cold emptiness seeped through Grace’s chest. For the first time in her life, her parents wouldn’t be there when she needed them. She was on her own.
The sound of a sob seized Grace’s attention. She turned back to find her mother crying into her hands.
“Jesus Christ,” Noah muttered. “Way to go, Grace.” He rubbed his palms over his face before getting up from his chair to go comfort their mother. He knelt beside her and rubbed small circles on her back. “It’s gonna be okay, Mom. Don’t worry.” All the while, shooting daggers at Grace.
“It’s not going to be okay.” She pulled her hands from her face. “Do you have any idea how much work it is to raise a baby?”
Grace rubbed her brow.
“And who is supposed to pay for this baby? Billy Miller? Ha,” she scoffed.
Grace’s voice hardened. “Okay, Mom. I know you aren’t happy about this, and I get it, but Billy—“
“No, my dear. I am nothappyabout this.” She practically spit the word out on the table. “You had everything right there, Grace. Right in front of you. And you’ve thrown it all away.”
Grace looked away from her mother’s disappointed face, dipping her chin down and sinking into her chair. She picked at her cuticles.
“Can’t you see how this looks for our family? The entire town is going to know about this by coffee time tomorrow. Everywhere we go, people are going to whisper and give us those condescending looks of pity. I can’t believe you would be so selfish, Grace.”
Noah cleared his throat. “Mom, come on.” He took her elbow. “Let’s go cool off for a while.”
Mrs. Campbell sniffled and allowed her son to help her to her feet. Before she and Noah left the room, she stopped and turned back. Grace lifted her eyes, bracing herself for whatever her mother was about to say. But she only shook her head at Grace and broke into another sob before turning to walk away for good.
Grace closed her eyes and took a slow, deep inhale and exhale.Okay, it’s over. You never have to tell them again.She opened her eyes and surveyed the damage. Dirty plates and Noah’s spilled drink littered the table. The remaining lasagna sat in its dish, cold cheese congealing on the top. She picked another garlic bun from the bowl and tore off a large bite. Three empty chairs sat pushed back from the table.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket.
Billy:Hey. Did you tell your family? Are you okay?
Grace releasedthe sob strangling throat and allowed her tears to stream hot down her cheeks. In that empty room, with those three empty chairs, she clutched her phone to her chest. Her fear and grief gave way to a moment of hope.Maybe I’m not alone. Maybe it really could be me and Billy against the world.
10
