Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(33)

I looked at the barn, the place where we’d shared so many fun times. He was inside, by himself and in shambles.

He'd gone in there to be alone, and I wasn't sure if she'd followed him out of curiosity or because she wanted to confront him.

As much as I wanted to be in there beside him, I could only make it to the barn door before her words made me freeze in place. She asked him if he was her father.

After a brief pause, Ty told her the truth.

I felt the life escaping my body as I clung onto any kind of hope that she'd even be able to begin to understand how hard this was for him to do.

I knew Bella was hurt, but we'd done it for her own good, even if she couldn't begin to understand why. I placed my back against the wooden building and heard them both sniffling.

"I know you don't understand this, Iz, but to me you've always been mine."

"I'm eleven, not five. I asked for the truth before. A part of me always wondered why I never looked like you. Now I guess I know." Bella was being so cold. I knew it was killing Ty to hear her talking to him like that. I was even surprised at how grown up she was acting.

"I don't care what a blood test proves or who you look like. No matter what, I'm your father. You are my daughter, you always have been and you always will be. My name is on your birth certificate for a reason. I've raised you and given you the best life. I've loved you more than anyone else ever could, Iz. You know it's true. Finding this out doesn't have to change what we mean to each other. Nobody has to know about it."

"You and Mom say lyin' is bad, but now you want me to do it."

"It was to protect you." I couldn't stand there listening to her treat him like that. He wasn't going to be a little broken girls punching bag, no matter how guilty he felt. I walked into the open area and they both looked up.

"Young lady, you need to watch your tongue. I don't care how upset you are. You will not talk to your father that way. Do you hear me? "

She wouldn't answer. Instead, she put her hands up and covered her face, then began to sob. I tried to sit down next to her, to comfort her, to alleviate some of the shock she was experiencing, but she jerked away from me and stood up. "I hate you! I hate you both!"

Ty grabbed Bella by the arm before I could even react. He forced her to sit on the couch and held her arms at her sides. "Iz, I get that you're mad, but don't you ever say that to your mother again." She refused to look up at him, even when he grabbed her chin and moved it up. Bella's defiance was only making me angrier. She didn't understand how difficult this was for Ty. She had no idea what he was going through and her actions proved that she didn't care. I had never seen her acting so vindictive and I didn't like it one bit.

“Why should I make promises to two liars?” She kept at it, lashing out like I’d never seen her do before.

I smacked her on the cheek and felt the life run out of me. She grabbed her face and started to run off. Ty grabbed her by the shirt and me by the arm. “Please, stop it. I can’t have this happening between all of us. Look at us, Iz. Is this how you want it to be? You want to walk away from the two people that love you the most in the world? You want to sneak behind our backs and look into things that you have no business doing?”

“I just wanted to know the truth.” She was crying and I knew I was to blame for it. I’d never laid a hand on my daughter and I felt horrible about it.

“Bella, we would have told you the truth, when you were ready to hear it.”

“I was ready.”

“No!” Ty was adamant. “You weren’t. You don’t know half of the truth. Do you honestly think that a couple pictures can explain what really happened? You have no idea what you’re asking for, sweetie.”

“I read that he was in jail before. Is that what you’re talkin’ about?”

Apparently eleven year olds think they know everything and that they’re adults. In this case, Bella may as well have been her brother’s age. The more she pushed, the more frustrated me and Ty were becoming. “It’s way worse than that, Bella. There’s so much that I want to tell you.”

“So tell me.” She sniffled. Her pouty face made it hard to not sit down and tell her what an awful person Tucker was.

“I can’t.” I began to sob again, thinking back to him hitting me while I was pregnant, or hearing him say how much he wanted me to get rid of the baby. He may have been in one picture at the hospital, but after five minutes he was gone. Tucker was a cheater, liar, thief, woman beater and probably more. I hated that she knew about him. “This isn’t happenin’.”

Ty pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

He must have pointed to the couch. “Sit your little ass down, right now.”

I opened my glossy eyes to see her following his directions. When our eyes met, all I saw was hate. She resented us. I knew it would happen, but I hated the way it made me feel. I wanted to be there when she was sad, but this time, it was all because of me.

“You keep thinking that we lied to you and you’re right. There were things we lied to you about. The thing is, there are so many truths as well. This man standing here with us brought you into this world. He held my hand and was there for me when I was in labor. He rode with me to the hospital and was the first man to ever hold you. I saw him fall in love with you that day, Bella.”