“Does he have to?”
“Yes. You both need to talk, and he probably needs to hear how you view him, because I can guarantee that he won’t be going anywhere. So unless you face this head on now, you may never do so.”
“I know. But I just don’t like him,” I said, folding my legs underneath me.
“And why is that, do you think?”
“He may be my biological father, but if he knew where I was and didn’t do anything about it…well, that goes for Ace too, I guess. But…” I trailed off, not sure how to word what I was trying to say.
“Do you view him as your dad?”
I shook my head.
“Does he know that?”
I shrugged, because I really had no idea.
“Okay, I guess that will be the first thing we’ll clear the air with, then. Are you ready for Ace to come join us?”
“Yeah,” I guess so. Why not, right?
“If at any time you need a break, just let me know. I don’t have a session for another two hours, so we can take some time to get through this.”
“Kay.”
Moments later, Ace sat on the far end of the couch. Dr. Mayes took her seat again and I stiffened, pulling myself into a small ball where I sat.
“Like I told Scarlett,” Dr. Mayes said, “If she needs a break, we’ll take one. This is a safe room, and I want everyone who enters to be as comfortable as possible. Over the past few weeks, we’ve made quite a bit of progress, along with gaining some new friends, too.”
“Yes, I met one of them yesterday. She seems like a nice young lady.”
“Sawyer?” Dr. Mayes asked.
“Yeah,” I said around a breath. “Sawyer is determined to be my friend.”
“You need a friend in your corner, nipotina,” Ace said.
“At one of the first sessions we had,” Dr. Mayes said as she took control of the room, “I had Scarlett write down her life story. I didn’t read everything, but I did skim the pages before I gave them back to her. In them, she mentioned that you knew where she was for years.”
“Yes and no,” Ace said as he turned towards me. “I had an idea, but I couldn’t be sure. Lisa was my key in finding you. She was one of the people who was out looking for you shortly after you disappeared. Your mom and her hit it off. As is my understanding, Lisa had lost her own child a few years before that in a drowning accident, so they were able to bond over the loss of a child.
“When Lisa came to me about three years after you were declared missing and possibly dead, I was sure she knew more than what she was giving me. She kept secrets from all of us, but I never thought she’d keep you away from us if she really knew where you were.”
“Her letter…” I whispered.
“I read it. She knew exactly who you were the moment she met you. I have to wonder if she had an alternative motive, but I’ll never know. It wasn’t until the last three months before you were found when Lisa actually started giving out more information. She knew the school you went to, and she would send me pictures of you. I didn’t know if it really was you or just a random kid. I may have started to threaten Lisa because of whatever she was holding on to.”
“Lisa was like a mom to me.”
“That may be,” Ace said, his voice softening, “but she wasn’t all she claimed to be. There are reasons she kept you to herself. If she really knew what Alan was doing, wouldn’t you have thought she’d get you out of there sooner?”
“I don’t know…”
“I watched you from afar, and after getting a DNA test done on you and confirming exactly who you were, I ran into you on purpose, just to see with my own two eyes. I may be selfish sometimes, but most of the time, you seemed like a normal moody teenager so I didn’t think anything of how your home life was with Alan. I thought maybe if Lisa and Alan were a couple, and if you were happy, I’d leave it alone. I’d deal with the two adults after you finished high school, then I’d track you down and tell you the truth. I didn't want to risk the chance of making life any harder than it was for you at that time. But if I had truly known what you were going through, then I wouldn’t have stood back and let fate take control.”
“When did you find out about Alan?”
“That last time I saw you at the park. The life was beaten out of you. I knew I couldn’t just stand back and watch anymore. I told Lisa the week before that I wanted to meet you face to face with her and see how you acted. She was willing to set something up. But then, she never returned my calls. And you know the rest.”
