Page 81 of The Secret
How could that be? Dan told me Benny wasn’t his. He lied to me?
Oh, Jesus.
Benny was born a year before he met me.
I close my eyes as the room swims. Nothing has been how he made it out to be. He disappeared in Zimbabwe, and I’ve only his word, and maybe Jed’s, for what happened. Now this. It couldn’t be more black-and-white than this. I’m so fuckingtrusting.
Dan’s whistling in the kitchen at the other side of the house reaches my ears again as I blink at the piece of paper in my hand. I pull my phone out of my pocket and snap a quick picture, putting the certificate back in the folder and placing the whole pile back in the drawer.
How can I ask Dan now? I’d have to tell him what Nathanial told me. And I’ve just gone snooping through his brother’s desk.I wasn’t really snooping. I was just interested in their business and looking at all the farm stuff and feeling sympathy for them and …Holy shit. Okay, I was snooping, but … Would it all get Nathanial into trouble or even fired? I guess it’s quite likely Jed would find out, and I don’t trust Jed as far as I can throw him. He’s clearly got a temper on him.
I look at the sun bleaching the world to white and straighten my spine. If I think about it logically,like Kate, everything Dan told meisridiculous.Who disappears because their father is shot?And fortwo years?It’s like some Cold War thriller.
And not being with anyone else? Do I believe that? I’ve met a lot of charming, convincing men. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but whatever it is, I need to go back to Congo and think without him persuading me into believing some other fairytale he might want to spin me.
36
LISS
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Staring out of the window of my office two days later, my phone vibrates on the desk. I’ve been avoiding Dan’s calls and messages ever since I got back to the DRC. I thought it would be better away from him, but of course it isn’t. What do Isay? My anger is getting worse, not better. Denying you have achild? I run a sweaty hand down my pants. Ugh. That’s a huge red flag, never mind all the other lying. I should have talked to him there, but I didn’t trust myself not to lose it. Or embarrass myself. Or even give in. I groan.Is every prince destined to be a frog?
I pick up my phone to look at the message, and a photo of a hand sporting a huge diamond ring is sitting in my WhatsApp. Followed by a picture of my sister in tears being hugged into a broad chest.Shit. I press the call button.
“Oh my God, Lauren!”
David laughs in the background as my sister hiccups in my ear.
“Oh, Liss …” she garbles.
“He proposed? Oh, congratulations, honey!”
A shaky breath whispers across my ear, and David murmurs, “You okay?” before his chuckling fades away.
“He left clues all over the house!” she chokes out, snuffling.
I lean back in my chair. “He did?”
I grin up at the ceiling.David, you star.And I love having this to think about: I want a blow-by-blow account.
“Oh, Liss! I love him so much.”
“I know you do, you sap. Now fill me in already.”
She sighs. “There was a bit of paper attached to the front door when I got home and it said, ‘Follow the clues.’ When I opened the door, the little rabbit he gave me on our first date was sitting at the bottom of the stairs with a note.”
God, I love these guys. Who brings a toy rabbit to their first date? David, that’s who. I knew David was a keeper from day one. And he’s only gotten kinder and more protective of my sister since then.
“How did he find the rabbit? I haven’t seen it in years.” She hiccups quietly. “Although I do have a system for organizing all my souvenirs.”
Of course she does. “What was next?”
“A ticket from the first basketball game of his I went to at college. Oh my God, Liss. He was so handsome and so determined when he played! I think I lost my heart then.”
“Has he worked out that you fell for him then?”
“No! He put the ticket in because it was the first time he kissed me.”
