More Than Lies (More Than #1)(111)

I’m about to sit up and ask them if I can sleep upstairs tonight when a car’s lights flash through the window in the living room. It catches Bill’s attention too. He stands, and then walks to the door.

It strikes me strange when he grabs his keys from a table near the door and shoves them into his pocket. Bill opens the door.

“She’s in there with Pam.” He nods his head behind him then his palm flies up. “You and I are going for a drive.”

“Not until I see Tara.” Shawn’s voice makes me shoot up from Pam’s lap. I see him standing in the door, but his dad won’t allow him inside. Shawn looks toward me, and when our eyes lock, tears pool in my eyes.

“Later. First, you and I are going to talk.” Bill pushes Shawn backwards. That’s when I see my dad walk through the door. What’s he doing here? And with Shawn, too. That doesn’t add up.

“Daddy?” I stand from my seated position on the couch. Looking at my dad, I wait for him to explain why he is here. Did Bill or Pam call him while I was changing? No way. They wouldn’t. What would be the point?

When he walks closer, I take in his disheveled suit, and worry starts to form in the pit of my stomach. His tie is missing and a few buttons from his white shirt are unbuttoned. His jacket is a wrinkled mess. Even his hair is all jacked up like he’s been running his hands through it all night. His eyes shock me the most. They’re glossy and blood-shot, like . . .

“Dad, what’s wrong?” He’s actually been crying and he looks like he might be close to doing it again. This cannot be good.

When he stops in front of me, he pulls me to his chest where he wraps his arms around me and squeezes so tight it’s tough to inhale or even exhale. I feel his body physically relax after a long minute of him holding onto me.

“Jacob?” Pam’s voice is also etched with the same concern that fills me.

My dad pulls back but doesn’t fully release me. His hands go to my face where he cups my cheeks.

“Tonight, I thought I lost you forever, too.” A tear falls from his eye, but I can’t process what he means. Lost me? Lost me how? Pam beats me to my question.

“Jacob, what do you mean?”

He glances in her direction and then his eyes come back to mine. That’s when he lays everything out. Jared crashed his motorcycle and a girl ended up being killed in the crash. Apparently, everyone thought that girl was me until my dad showed up to identify the body that wasn’t me. Jared was badly hurt and unconscious, so he couldn’t tell anyone the identity of the girl.

Other things from tonight are starting to become clearer. Shawn thought I was dead. That’s why he trashed my room . . . and then when he saw me was so shocked and overwhelmed that he wouldn’t let me go. I almost feel bad for kneeing him in the balls now. Almost. The jackass still severed my heart from my body.

Jared. Oh, my heart goes out to him. And a woman died tonight. It could have been me. Jared asked me to stay with him. I couldn’t. I couldn’t use him as a crutch or as anything to ease the heart Shawn smashed. I wanted to be alone, so I had Jared take me to Mac’s. I don’t know where he went after leaving me.

“Oh, my God, Jacob. I can’t imagine what you went through, tonight. Shawn and the boys either.” Pam’s eyes drop to the ground as if she’s in thought. She’s probably thinking about Shawn.

He thought I was dead continues to boom inside my head.

“I’m going to leave you two alone.” Pam goes to leave, but my dad reaches out and stops her, wrapping his hand around her wrist. They look at each other. It’s almost like they are having a silent conversation. It’s weird; then he speaks and confuses me more.

“I’m going to tell her.” His eyes come back to mine for a brief moment, then he turns back to Pam. “Do you have any pictures?” Pam nods, and I’m stuck wondering what’s going on.

“Jacob, I’m not sure tonight is the best time to do that.”

“Pam, please, I have to get this out. I have to tell her. It’s clawing at me.” He shakes his head. “I should never have kept it from her. And tonight,” He sucks in a large gulp of air. “Tonight I thought I’d never have the chance to tell her about . . .” He doesn’t finish.

“I’ll get them.” She walks off, but before she does the look in her eyes has me worried.

“Dad?”

“Sit down, Taralynn.” He lets go of me for the first time since grabbing onto me when he arrived half an hour ago.

I sit, and he settles down next to me on the couch. I’m turned, facing him as he leans all the way against the back of the soft material.

“I told myself the night you were born that I’d tell you the truth one day. I guess that day is today.”

“Tell me what?” He’s scaring me. Does he realize how freaked out what he just said has made me? I don’t know what to expect. I feel like he’s about to drop a bomb on me. I don’t know how much more I can handle tonight.

Pam re-enters the room. She’s holding a picture frame. It’s turned so the only thing I see is the back. She hands it to my dad and leaves again. When I look back at my dad, he’s staring at the photo inside the frame. There is a look of longing in his eyes that causes my heart to hurt. His eyes are filled with what I think is sadness and pain, but I don’t know why. I don’t know who’s in the photo, so I ask.