Blinding Trust (Mitchell Family, #7)(37)

“Sounds good,” I sniffled through my words.

“Try to not get yourself too upset until we have the next results. This could still be nothing to worry about.”

We said our goodbyes and I grabbed the paperwork, while still crying.

Once I got to the car is when my bawling became uncontrolled. I was petrified. Everyone thinks that it can’t happen to them. The truth is, it could happen to any of us.

I needed to call Colt, but he was with Noah, who would never forgive me if I ruined their trip. Colt would want to come home and be with me through all of this.

I had to do it alone.

I don’t remember dialing the number, but Miranda’s name filled my screen.

The voice on the other line was not the person I wanted to talk to.

Cocksucker’s Anonymous, how may I direct your call?

Ty, can I talk to Miranda?

Are you crying?

No!

Stop lying. I can hear it in your voice.

Is she there or not?

She left her phone home. Stop changing the subject. Did Colt hook up with a groupie? He did, didn’t he?”

No! I have to go.

I hung up the phone before he could say anything else. The last thing I needed was Ty’s two cents.

The phone rang again, but I hit the silent button. By the time I got a mile down the road, he’d rang my phone constantly.

What?

Do you really think that I’m just going to be okay with you hanging up on me when clearly you need to talk to someone?

You are the last person on the earth that I can talk to this about.

You got warts?

I hung up on him again.

He called my phone non-stop the entire ride home. The worst part was that once I got driving, my Bluetooth connected to my SUV and it rang louder than a regular phone. At least I could hit ignore from my steering wheel.

When I pulled down our long dirt driveway, he was still calling. I’d realized that his shenanigans had actually forced me to stop crying, since I was so annoyed.

I picked up the phone one last time to tell him where he could stick it.

If you don’t stop calling me..

How long have we known each other?

Since we were kids, why?

Talk to me, Van. I’ll listen, I promise.

I can’t talk about this, Ty. It’s personal.

I know you. What gives? What could be that bad that you don’t want anyone to know? Are you having an affair?

No! Oh my God, you would think that!

Are you pregnant?

I wish it was something like that, Ty.

Is it your health?

I shouldn’t have even called Miranda. I don’t want the family knowing this. Please just forget I called. Don’t tell your wife, Ty. It’s best if I keep this to myself.

If you hang up on me, I’m driving out there. You’re making me worry, now. Please, Van, just tell me you’re going to be alright?

Don’t come here, Ty. I’m going to be fine.



Except, I wasn’t going to be fine.



Once I got back in the house, I crawled into bed and had a sob fest. It wasn’t unusual for me to get emotional about things. It was how I was wired, I guess. The unusual part was this was legitimately a good reason to be breaking down.

A little while later my mother in-law called and asked if she could take my mother and the girls to some doll convention that was a few towns over. Since she was footing the bill and already had them excited, I knew I had to say yes.

I lied and told her I wasn’t home, so that they could come and pack some clothes. Without even putting shoes on, I grabbed my keys and moved my SUV into the garage so they wouldn’t see my car. Like a little kid, I hid in the office with the door locked, so they wouldn’t find me.

I knew that if I saw my two beautiful little girls and my two mothers, I would lose it and the cat would be out of the bag.

They took forever getting their things together for the overnight trip. I could hear the excitement in their voices and I wished that I hadn’t been so selfish so that I could kiss them each goodbye. I love my little princesses so much. Family was always the most important thing in my life.

When the house got quiet, I knew I was in the clear. They had turned on every single light, even though it was daytime. While walking through the house, turning them all back out, I stopped and looked at the pictures on the wall. They were all such happy times that we’d shared together. I imagined them all getting on without me and it crushed my heart even more.

Without considering the time of the day, I put on one of Colt’s t-shirts and climbed into my bed, alone.

After being overwhelmed with anxiety, sleep came fast and I didn’t fight it. I woke to knocking on the front door and looked over at the clock. It said that it was after ten. I’d been asleep for a good eight hours. Just to be proper, I threw on a pair of shorts before walking downstairs.

When I opened up the door and saw who was standing there, I couldn’t believe it was real. I had to be dreaming.





Chapter 16


Colt


I missed my wife and girls, but I had to admit that I was having a pretty darn good time. Noah was in heaven. After we’d spent the weekend sightseeing and visiting all of Zeke’s favorite places, we spent the next two days lounging around the house.

Zeke and Noah were getting to know each other and it wasn’t half as bad as Savanna and I had imagined.