Take a Chance (Chance, #1; Rosemary Beach #7)(35)

That sounded as if he knew something. I didn’t like him being so secretive. It was only making me nervous. “Okay. I should be there in just a few minutes,” I replied, when I wanted to demand he tell me now what it was he knew.

“See you in a few, kid,” he said before he hung up.

I held the phone in my hand and stared at it a moment.

“You forgot to tell Dean you brought his other son with you,” Mase drawled.

I glared at him and Grant just chuckled. I was glad Mase wasn’t getting to Grant. That wasn’t something I wanted to think about right now. I was afraid I had a much bigger problem. The foreboding sound in Dean’s voice was all I could focus on at the moment. Something was wrong. He would tell me if something had happened to my daddy . . . wouldn’t he? I dropped the phone to my lap and placed a hand over my stomach. He had to be okay. He had to.

?

When we arrived at the Hard Rock, we were sent right up to the penthouse that Dean and Kiro always used. The rest of the band stayed in another one. Dean opened the door, a frown creasing his forehead. I studied him closely. He didn’t look like someone who was about to tell me my dad was dead. He just looked concerned.

“We need to talk,” he told me. I nodded, because I already knew this. I hadn’t said anything to Mase and Grant in the car because I wasn’t sure I could without choking up. I was scared. I hated to admit it but I was scared of losing Kiro.

Grant’s hand was suddenly in mine and Mase was at my other side, his hand holding my arm as if I needed support to stand.

“Is he alive?” Mase asked, and I realized he knew nothing but was reading the tension in the room, just like I was. Whatever it was, Dean needed to tell me, even if he didn’t want to.

Dean’s eyebrows shot up and then he realized how his words had sounded and an apologetic look crossed his face. “Hell, yes, he’s alive. I’m sorry, Harlow, I didn’t mean to scare you, sweetheart. Normally, when he does this and I know where he is, I don’t call you. I just deal with it. But when he ran this time I decided it was time you knew. You’re not a child anymore. Kiro still treats you like one but he needs you more than he realizes.” Dean paused and started pacing back and forth in front of us. He fisted and unfisted his hands at his side and stared at the floor.

Although I knew Dad was alive, I was now dealing with the fear of this big secret. Could he be sick? Was he hiding something like that from me?

“I don’t want to be the one to tell you—hell, he should have told you years ago. This isn’t right. But you need to know. I need you to know. I can’t deal with him anymore. I need help. You’re the only one that can help him, I’m afraid. It’s getting harder and harder to make him leave once he’s there.” Dean’s ramblings made no sense. He continued to pace the floor as if he could walk a hole through it to sink into. Whatever this secret was, it was bad. My knees started to feel weak.

Dean motioned to the sofa and waved his hand at it before running a hand through his hair. “You need to sit down,” he said.

Different scenarios began running through my head. My dad was in rehab, or he had a secret family I didn’t know about, or he was terminally ill. I let go of Grant’s hand and walked over to the sofa and sat down, never taking my eyes off Dean. Grant was right beside me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted anyone near me now. I started to feel smothered. Or my nerves were just making it hard for me to breathe.

“Didn’t expect to see you, Grant,” Dean said, acknowledging Grant.

I could see the look in Dean’s eyes, and I realized he knew exactly what had happened with those phone calls I never received. He didn’t approve of me and Grant, and that surprised me.

“Tell her whatever it is, Dean. She needs to hear it,” Grant replied.

Dean started to sit down then stood back up and ran his hands through his hair. “Damn, this ain’t gonna be easy,” he muttered and looked over at Mase.

“Get to it, Dean,” Mase demanded, taking a seat across from me. I was thankful he hadn’t sat down on the other side of me. I was having a hard time getting air.

Dean nodded, then looked at me. “You know the story of how your mother was in a car accident when you were a baby?”

I nodded. It was how she died. She had left me with Dad and gone to the store. A truck had run a red light and hit her. She died instantly. My grandmama had told me the story one day when I was old enough to ask. She never wanted to talk about it, though. She wouldn’t even look at me when she told me. I knew it was because losing her daughter had to hurt her. So I never asked her again. The fact that he was asking about my mother only made my anxiety worse. I gripped the edge of the sofa and tried to calm myself.

“She didn’t die in that car accident, honey. She was in a coma. For five years. Your dad refused to take her off life support, and one day she woke up. Except she didn’t remember anything. Not you, Kiro, or even her own name. She also couldn’t eat or drink or speak. And . . . she was paralyzed. The doctors soon realized she hadn’t just suffered memory loss; her brain was traumatized. She was no longer mentally complete. She would never be able to relearn simple things again. She would be stuck in this state for the rest of her life. She got very agitated when your dad tried to bring her home, and the doctors warned him that if he did take her the trauma could send her back into a coma, and she might never wake up. So he had to leave her there.”