“I’m sorry abour my dad.”
“No. You don’t have to be. He’s right.”
I scoff. “He’s not. He’s just trying to ruin this.”
She steps closer, forcing me to look at her. “It’s been more than a week now. I should go home now.”
My fingers curl into fists at the thought of letting her go inside that house. “They don’t want you.”
My words slash her a sword. Pain contorts her face, twisting her features in a way that I want to take back my words.
I reach for her but she steps back. “Rose. I didn’t mean it like that — ”
“No. You’re right,” she whispers.
“No! I’m not,” I grumble.
“That is the truth, isn't it?” She wraps her arms around herself. “They don’t want me. That’s why they kicked me out, and no one’s checked up on me.”
The secret buried inside me stabs like a knife. I know I need to tell her about the conversation I had with her mother. I just hope she doesn’t hate me for keeping it from her.
“I met your mother the day I went to get your stuff. Somehow, she knew I’d be coming,” I start.
Her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open.
I keep going. “She said the reason why she kicked you out was to protect you from that man. Not because she doesn’t love you. If anything, I feel like in her own twisted way, she loves you.”
She stares at me like a statue.
I move towards her and wrap my arms around her. A shiver runs through her body, and a gasp escapes her lips.
“She really said that?” she asks, sounding stronger than I expected her to be.
“She did.” I run my hand down her back and gently tuck her into my chest.
There are other things she told me, but if I share them, she might break and I can’t do that. What her mother said shook my core and made me upset. Rose would take it hard.
“I thought she hates me,” she says.
“She doesn’t.”
“What am I supposed to do now?”
I set my chin on the top of her head. “I don’t know, baby. But whatever you decide, I’ll support you.”
40
HOPE
“Areyou sure you want to do it?” Heath asks.
“Yes, but I’m nervous.”
“I can come with you.”
I quickly shake my head. “No. I don’t want them to see you.”
“Your mom already knows that you’re living with me. This information will be brand new only for that man.”
