“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Gator gave my dad a journal my mom wrote. He’s known all this time.”
“Grace, he didn’t know who I was. She never told him; she only said if your father ever came looking?—”
“But he had the journal. He had the answers I needed.”
Suddenly, Grace’s tears were gone. She looked around the room, for what I wasn’t sure, but then her eyes landed on Romeo.
“You Cajun son of a bitch!”
Romeo’s old lady turned toward Grace, her eyes wide, then she turned back to Romeo. “Jasper, what did you do?”
“I didn’t do shit. I swear.” Romeo held his hands up in surrender as Grace stomped across the room.
“Did you know my mother gave your fucking cousin a journal?” Grace yelled.
“Grace, baby.” My daughter spun around on King and snapped, “Don’tbabyme right now. That Cajun motherfucker kept secrets from me.”
Grace pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at me. “We will discuss the fact that you have had this for six months and said nothing later. Right now, go talk to Trudy!”
“You’re okay with me pursuing her?”
Grace’s shoulders slumped as she walked back over to me. “I am more than okay with it. I love Trudy. The whole town does.”
“I love you, baby girl.”
“I love you too, Dad.” She kissed my cheek and then placed the phone to her ear as she walked away. As she left the room, I heard her growl, “Devlyn, you tell that Cajun bastard I’m going to kick his lying ass as soon as this baby is born.”
King pointed a finger at Romeo and said, “That fucker is a dead man.” Then he left the room, following Grace.
“Fuck,” I cursed as I ran my hands over my face.
“Trudy, huh?” Romeo asked, pulling his old lady into his arms. “Think you could put in a good word for me?”
“Why do you need a good word, Jasper?” His old lady pulled out of his arms and turned to face him. She placed her hands on her hips and waited for his answer.
I slipped away, not wanting to get caught in the middle of a brother and his old lady.
The night air hit me as I stepped outside, cool and sharp. My bike sat in the lot, chrome gleaming under the security lights. I swung my leg over and fired up the engine, the familiar rumble grounding me.
The road stretched out ahead of me, dark and empty. I knew where she lived, had driven past her house more times than I cared to admit over the past six months. A small place on the edge of town, neat and tidy, with flower boxes in the windows and a porch light that stayed on until late.
She might slam the door in my face.
The thought made me grin despite myself. She probably would. And I’d stand there and take it, because that was Trudy. She didn’t make anything easy.
I thought about Harold as I rode. The man who had her and let her go. The fool who’d chosen his children’s approval over the woman he claimed to love. I’d seen the way Trudy had looked when she talked about him, the hurt buried under layers of sarcasm and deflection.
Harold had broken something in her. Made her believe she wasn’t worth fighting for.
Fuck that.
I’d spent twenty years searching for Grace. Twenty years of dead ends and false leads and the crushing weight of not knowing where my daughter was. I’d lost that time. Lost her childhood. Lost the chance to be there when she needed me.
I wasn’t losing again.
Not Trudy. Not this.
