Claire giggled. “I really like him.”
“I do, too.” I sighed. “More than I think I should.”
“What’s that mean?” Claire continued to stare at me as I watched Caleb.
“I don’t know. I just feel like I’m going to get my heart shattered. I keep waiting for him to start hating me again,” I whispered.
“Stop waiting for the bad, and enjoy the good.” She pushed against my shoulder, causing me to rock to the side. “He’s one of the good ones.”
“I know, and I’m trying.” I watched as Caleb dove under a wave. He surfaced on the other side, and shook his head, causing water to fly everywhere. I could watch him all day. The way the droplets trailed down his cut body. It was enough to drive anyone crazy, and I still had a hard time with the fact that he was mine.
Chapter 12
Caleb
When Brandon mentioned the bonfire to me the other day, I didn’t plan on coming. I didn’t think Riley would want to hang out with a bunch of people she didn’t know, and I knew we’d be doing something together. When she agreed to come tonight I kinda wondered if it had something to do with her tool of an ex-boyfriend.
“You comfortable?” I nudged her shoulder with my knee. We were sitting on a blanket by the fire. She was between my bent legs, and leaning against my thigh.
“Sure,” she murmured. I couldn’t see her face, but her body language and the tone of her voice told me she wasn’t as ok as she said.
“What’s wrong?” I nudged her again. “I know something’s on your mind.”
“I’m sorry. I got another email from the college about my records. Apparently, I need to get those in asap or I’ll lose my spot. I’ve been worrying about that, and then I can’t help but want to beat the crap out of him.” She nodded to where Dean was talking to some of the other guys. I found out through the grapevine that he was also accepted to BC, and knew Brandon from some baseball camp they attended a few years ago.
“We can leave if you want.” I sat up slightly and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. “I only want to be here if you do.” I pressed a kiss under her ear, and she sighed as her body started to sag against me.
“I don’t want to leave. I like being with you,” she murmured. “I just want to make him eat dirt. I’ve never had the desire to hit someone like I do with him. Is that wrong?” She turned slightly and her face glowed in the firelight.
“He was your first serious boyfriend. You had expectations of what that meant. It didn’t mean the same to him. I get it.” I shrugged slightly.
“You say that like you really understand.” She blinked and it looked as if she was ready to cry.
I released her, and slowly stood. “Come on.” I held my hand out. “Let’s take a walk.”
She stared at my hand for a moment before taking it. “Ok.”
“This way.” I led her in the opposite direction of where Dean was. “Do you know why I chose to go to BC?”
“I know what your mom told mine, but I’m sure your reason is better.” She stared straight ahead. The waves crashed beside us as we made our way farther and farther down the beach.
“Remember when you were about fifteen? I stopped hanging out with you at the gym. I came around less and less?” I worked to pull up details of a time I’ve spent over a year trying to forget.
“Yeah. I thought you hated me. I figured you’d gotten your license and could finally go places without your parents. That’s when we lost touch.” She began swinging our joined hands between us.
“I’ve never hated you, Princess. That’s really when I started to notice you, and by notice, I mean think of you as a girl and not a friend. You had a sassy little attitude and were starting to look like a woman.” I took a few deep breaths. “I got a job that summer and met this girl, Lisa. We got serious really fast, and I really liked her. We dated for two years.”
“But that means you’ve only been single since last fall.” She pursed her lips in thought.
“Yeah, well I didn’t think it would be that way. Senior year, we made plans to go to BC together. We were both going to major in business. We even went far enough as to take some of the same classes. Stupid, right?” I growled as I thought about how wrapped up in Lisa I’d gotten. “I thought she was the one. I thought we’d graduate and get married.”
“You don’t have to tell me this if you don’t want to,” Riley mumbled.
“It’s not that I do or don’t want to tell you, it’s that I want you to see that we’ve all had that one person who makes us want to break things, including their face. Lisa and I finished high school, and spent the summer together. At the end of the summer when we were getting ready to pack up and move to the dorms, she breaks things off. I found out that she had been dating me to get close to my dad, Carsen. She thought I was her ticket to getting an in with a professional athlete. I think she thought our life would be easy because I’m his son.” My free hand balled into a fist.
“Why did you stay?” she murmured. “I mean, if you wanted to go somewhere else, why didn’t you?”
“Because BC is a good school. I didn’t want a girl to dictate any of my life decisions, especially Lisa. She’d inadvertently made a lot of choices for me, and I wasn’t going to let her decide my fate anymore. Besides, if I didn’t go to BC, I might not be home this summer and I wouldn’t have run into you.” I smiled as I stopped us.
“So, what does all this even mean?” She turned to face me.
“It means, don’t let Dean get to you. You may want to hit him, I know I do, but he’s taken up enough of your energy. Save it for something else, and ignore him. Being happy… is the best punishment. Trust me on that.” I leaned down and placed a light kiss to her lips. She swayed closer to me and her eyes fluttered closed.
“How’d you get so smart?” She blinked as she looked up at me.
“I’m a college guy, remember?” I laughed.
“Alright, college guy. I think we better head back. I need to get home soon. It’s getting late.” She grinned as she lightly smacked my chest.
“Come on, Princess, we don’t want you turning into a pumpkin.” I grabbed her hand once again, and started back the way we came.
ooooooooo
Riley
When we arrived back at my house, Caleb carried our things from the beach over to Mom’s car. After placing them in the back, we said our goodbyes, and he left.
When I reached the front door, it opened all by itself. My dad was standing there in shorts and tee, and his hair was sticking up all over. “Were you spying on me?” I tipped my head to the side as I narrowed my eyes.
“No.” He was lying. He had that look that all parents get when their kid busts them. “I came down to the kitchen for a snack, and I heard noise out here. I was coming out to check it out.” He made a point of looking around before turning to go back inside.
“Nice try. I know you were spying,” I grumbled. “I’m eighteen, Dad. When are you going to stop worrying?” I followed him into the kitchen.
“Never.” His face was stoic as he stared at me. “You’ll get it when you have kids.” He shook his head before opening the fridge and pulling out what looked like a pie. “Want some?”
“Sure.” I stepped around him, and pulled two plates down from a cabinet. After grabbing forks, I moved opposite of him and pulled out a barstool.
“Your mom makes the best pies.” He cut us each a piece and plated them. “I could live off her pies.” He groaned as he pulled the fork from his lips and slowly chewed.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “You’re going to be grumbling about this tomorrow when you’re hitting the cardio. I know you love running.” I licked the whipped cream from my lips as Dad’s face fell.
“Why you gotta ruin it, Rils?” He pouted, and he looked just like Easton when he doesn’t get his way.
“I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Spy.” I lobbed it right back.
“Touché, Rils. Touché.” He shook his head as
he scooped another bite onto his fork. “I’m gonna miss this stuff, ya know. Sneaking down here to eat sweets after your mom’s gone to bed. You won’t be here to help me hide it from her.” There was a melancholy sound to his voice.
“I’ll be back to visit so much, you won’t know I left.” I laughed, but he was right. I knew it wouldn’t take long for me to fit right in at college, and coming home would feel weird.
“Maybe.” He looked off into the darkness. “I’ll clean this up. You go ahead up to bed.” He grabbed my plate.
“Hey, Dad? Where are all my records? I need to send a copy of my immunizations to school. They lost the other ones, I think.”
“As far as I know, your mom has all of that in a drawer in the home office. It should be labeled, but I can help you look if you want.” He went to washing the plates, and placed them in the dishwasher.
“It’s ok. I got it, but thanks for the pie.” I started up the stairs, planning to head to the office on my way to my room, but decided that I’d just do it in the morning. I was tired, and my bed was calling me loud and clear.
ooooooooo
I’ve never been the one to put things off until morning, so when I woke up, and the sun was just rising, I rushed to my mom’s office. I wanted to get those records, make a copy, and mail them. I knew I could drive to the library and then drop them in the mail when I finished.
I grabbed some shorts and tee, ran a brush through my hair, and then practically ran down the hall. Everyone was still sleeping, so I made quick work of my task. I opened the file drawer, grabbed the entire folder labeled Riley, and tucked it under my arm. I rushed downstairs, left a quick note on the bar in the kitchen letting my parents know where I went, grabbed Mom’s keys and then ran outside. I wasn’t really paying attention to anything. I wanted to get this taken care of as soon as I could so I could forget about it. The idea that I might lose my spot at school was driving me nuts.
It was only a short drive to the library. Once I parked, I picked up the folder from where I’d tossed it on the seat. It wasn’t very thick. I began to leaf through the pages looking for the vaccination record from my pediatrician. I didn’t get that far before I found something that I don’t think I was supposed to ever see. The first paper in the folder was a birth certificate. It had my name listed at the top, and then my parents’ names. The one thing I didn’t understand was it stated that it was a reissue. The next sheet of paper was another birth certificate. I thought maybe it was a reprint. I know my parents have ordered copies of things that they thought they lost only to find originals after the copy is sent.
I started reading through the paper, and that’s when I saw it. Under the part where my parents’ names are supposed to be listed, they weren’t. Well, my mom’s name was there, but not Dad’s. I looked at the two copies again. The reissue said “father- Weston McKay” the original said “father- Alexander Bishop”. My head started to spin as the world I knew was about to change forever.
Chapter 13
Riley
I was on autopilot at this point. I don’t remember getting out of the car. I don’t remember going into the library, or making copies. When my head finally started to catch up to my movements, I was driving back home. I’d dropped my copies in the mail for the college, and then headed straight home. I needed answers, and the only people who could give me those were my parents, and I was beginning to wonder if they would even tell me the truth.
I pulled up in the driveway, grabbed the file folder, and marched toward the door. As I reached out, my hand started trembling. I was angry, but also scared. The next several moments could change everything. I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself. Just as I reached out a second time, the door opened.
“What are you doing out here?” Dad glanced around like he was looking for someone else to be with me.
“I went to the library.” I forced the words out. Confusion spread over his face as I attempted to step around him.
Mom was cooking breakfast when I came into the kitchen. Seeing her smile at me brought all the anger back. “Want some breakfast?” She glanced over at where I was standing by the island, and then went back to the stove.
“I’m not really hungry.” The words came out clipped.
“Ok.” She shrugged.
I took a few more deep breaths, willed myself not to cry, and slapped the folder on the island. “Does Dad know?” My lips trembled.
“Know what?” Mom put down the spatula and turned to face me. Her eyes went from my face to the folder and widened. That’s right Mom, your secret’s out.
“That I’m not his,” I snapped. It was in the moment that Dad came around the corner. His eyes went between Mom and me. “Did you?” I was almost screaming at this point.
“Did I what?” He moved closer to me, and I stepped back.
“Who’s Alexander Bishop?” My eyes went back to the folder on the island.
“Riley, let’s talk about this.” Mom’s voice was calm, too calm.
“Why didn’t we talk about it years ago? Were you in on this too?” I turned my wrath on Dad.
“Calm down, pumpkin.” Dad held his hands up in surrender.
“No. Does my real dad know who I am?” The tears came no matter how much I tried to stop them; they came pouring out. “Has he tried to come see me?”
“Riley.” Mom turned the stove off and stepped around the island to where I was standing. “This is your dad.” She pointed in Dad’s direction. “He’s loved you since before you were born. He’s the only dad you need to be concerned about. He’s raised you, given you his name, loved you, and supported you. Biology doesn’t make a dad, unconditional love does.”
“That’s not what I asked.” The anger flared again. “Am I the only one who didn’t know?”
“Rils.” Mom stepped closer, but I kept the distance firmly between us. “This wasn’t to hurt you.”
“Then what was it?” The tears came, full force, cascading down my cheeks.
“Alex was a guy I dated after college. He cheated on me. I never told him about you. When I came back here, your dad and I fell in love. He promised to love you, and be your dad, and he’s done that every day since.” I could tell by her expression that something was off. Was she afraid? Was it fear I was sensing?
My eyes swung between my parents. Dad looked lost, and Mom looked hurt. How dare they hide this from me. I had a right to know as soon as I was old enough. “I can’t talk to you right now.” I stepped around Mom and rushed up to my room, slamming the door behind me.
I could hear footsteps shortly after, and then a knock. “Riley?” Dad’s voice was soft.
“Go away,” I begged. I did not want to do this. I still didn’t know how much of this he was a part of. I couldn’t believe that the man I’d seen as my father would hide something like this from me. It felt wrong, and not like him at all.
“I’ll leave you alone, but if you want to talk about it, I’m here.” His voice was muffled through the door, and then I heard his soft footsteps as he walked away.
ooooooooo
I spent most of the day in my room. Mom tried to talk just like Dad did, but I refused to let her in. I called Claire, but got her voicemail. Around lunchtime, I snuck downstairs and grabbed some food. It was then that I decided on a plan. It was much better in my head, but I wasn’t really thinking straight at the moment. Too many thoughts were telling me that there was more to this story. Did this Alex guy really not know about me? What if he did, and Mom just kept me away? What if the reason we moved out here wasn’t for Dad’s training, but to hide me? Why wouldn’t Mom want me to know about him, and why was she acting like it wasn’t a big deal? Why wasn’t Dad more upset? The questions just kept coming, and I didn’t know how to stop them.
I grabbed my laptop, and started a rudimentary search. I typed in Alexander Bishop first. A bunch of guys popped up. I went back and narrowed my search to Alexander Bishops between the ages of 40 and 50. This cut my results in half, but I
still didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. I knew Mom went to Boston College just like Dad, but I also knew that she moved away. Mom lived in San Diego before she moved back home. With a few more searches, I found the man who I think is my father. There’s an Alexander Bishop living in San Diego that’s 46 years old. There’s no picture, but I bet there’s something about him that looks like me. I look a lot like my mom, but nothing like my dad. I know why now. I’m not his. A single tear rolled down my cheek when that thought entered my head. I’m not his. How many times has he lied to me over the years when I’ve asked him why I don’t look like him? How many times has he told himself that I’m not his when he’s looked at me? That thought alone makes me want to puke.
I stared at my laptop screen for most of the afternoon before I made the decision to not only find him, but meet him. I knew my parents would never agree, so I called the only person I could think of who would help me, Caleb. He answered on the first ring, “Hey, babe.”
I took a deep breath. “I need your help.” My voice shook as I forced the words out. I’d never done something like this, and my parents were probably going to kill me when they found out.
“Sure.” I could hear him moving around.
“Can you come pick me up tonight, like around midnight?” I chewed my lip, hoping he’d agree. I wasn’t sure how serious we were, but this was sure going to test his feelings.
“Princess, what’s going on?” A door closed in the background and then he sighed.
“Where are you?” I glanced back at my computer screen.
“My room at home. I closed the door. What’s up? You’re scaring me.”
“Did you know?” I started crying all over again.
“Know what?” He sounded genuinely confused, and I knew I wasn’t making much sense.
“I’ll tell you tonight. Come and get me at midnight. I’ll wait at the end of the driveway. Don’t tell your mom about this, and pack a bag with some stuff.” The words were rushed, and I was trying to keep quiet. The last thing I needed was Easton or my mom hearing me.
Broken Promises: The Broken Series Second Generation Page 7