Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(48)

"I've noticed. He hates me." I shivered.

"Which is funny because he loves to…you know…with women, but he loathes them outside of the bedroom."

I marveled at how careless he sounded. He was talking about his father. Who talked about their dad like that? I didn't even know my dad.

"Um…did your dad ever know my mom?"

Kid snorted and turned to watch the pharmacist. "Probably. My dad seems to know every female around these parts."

"No, I mean…has he ever talked about my mom or anything?" I hated how I couldn't even ask a simple question. Then I did a very Viola-like thing and cursed under my breath.

Kid glanced at me. "Did you just swear?"

"No," I lied, wide eyed.

"It's okay. You can curse, you know. I mean, you're in love with Brady. Do you know who Brady is?"

I froze in place and couldn't look away from Kid's teasing eyes nor could I meet them. "What did you just say?"

I couldn't breathe.

Kid laughed again and threw an arm around my shoulder. He jerked me against his side. "I'm teasing, Rayna, but you are best friends with the douche. He swears all the time. Actually, thinking about it, he's not that bad when you're around." His hip bumped mine. "Good job, Janke. What other powers do you have?"

"I don't have powers."

"I'm kidding. I just meant…nevermind." He moved slightly away and scratched at his arm.

"You keep itching yourself. Do you have a rash?"

"Oh. No. I just do that sometimes when I'm around my dad. He has that power over me."

I stared, nonplussed, and narrowed my eyes. So your dad's never spoken about my mom?"

"Nah, but who knows. He gets around. He likes to chase skirts, but I don't know why. It's only caused him to become a bitter old man. I don't know about hating you, but he really hates your grandmother. My dad's messed up. Does your mom live around here? Isn't she in Florida or something?"

I swallowed painfully. "She moved to Florida before I was born."

"Oh. So you were born down there? I thought you lived up here all your life."

"I have. My mom thought my grandparents would do a better job raising me so they took me in when I was a baby."

"Oh." Kid shifted on his feet, uncomfortable. Then he relinquished, "My dad did the same thing. Or, well…I guess he didn't give me up, but he let my mom raise me. He didn't fight her about it. They divorced when she found out she was pregnant with me. My mom told me that she didn't want me to be raised with my dad as a role model. He was always having affairs, but after they got divorced, he went nuts. Or so I've heard. Some woman in the grocery store told me how he had an affair with a new woman every week when my mom divorced him."

I did the math and realized, "That must've been when my mom left for Florida. She'd been down there six months before I was conceived."

"Really?"

"My grandma told me that when I asked who my dad was. She said it isn't anyone around here because, 'Your momma'd been gone half a year before you were put in her belly'. I was little back then. I didn't understand that my dad was someone I'll never know. My grandma still gets weird when I ask about him."

Kid turned and stared at me directly. "So you don't know who your dad is? Your mom never said anything?"

"I've spoken to my mother six times in my life and they're always awkward phone conversations. She came once for Christmas, but Grandma wouldn't let her stay at the house so the dinner was really uncomfortable. She left an hour later."

"Why'd your mom give you up?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. That's something else my grandma won't talk to me about, but I've always felt it's because my mom has problems with men. Like she sleeps with them all the time. My mom caused problems for this town. She didn't want me being raised around that environment."

"Huh," Kid grunted, still perplexed. "At least your mom did the right thing and let your grandparents raise you. Sounds like she was trying to do what was best for you. My dad is never at the house when I've been around. He's either traveling for business or off with 'some secretary.' I think my mom had enough of it and just moved away."

"Yeah. That was when…" …when we'd started to get close. I remembered those days. Kid had been Brady's best friend and I'd always been left behind. Then something changed and Kid started teasing me. He asked me to hang out with them. We'd even gone to the movies once without Brady. I'd felt guilty at the time and felt even more now.

Kid coughed. "That was back then. Things are sure different now."

Yeah…

"Rayna Janke?" The pharmacist waved from the cash register.

After I paid, it felt weird knowing that I had birth control in my pocket. When I looked towards the waiting lounge, I saw Brady with his head still in a magazine. Viola should've been there. I would've gone through that moment in my life holding my grandmother's hand. Then I looked at Frank Stephens, who sat stiffly and regally in his chair. His hands seemed to be resting on the sides of his chair with his fingers curled inwards towards the wood. He didn't fool anyone. He didn't want to be there and he looked down his nose at everyone around him. Even the clerk noticed it.