Page 47 of Tiny Precious Secrets (The Brothers of Calloway Creek The Montanas #4)

Asher

This weekend has been unusual. There’s been a lot more tension between Bug and Allie than normal. I thought they were getting along better, but the pointed stares between them, the downright evil glares Darla is giving Allie, and the stilted conversation all indicate otherwise.

I get to the breaking point Sunday morning during breakfast. “Did something happen last week when I was gone?”

I glance between the two of them. They look at each other as if sizing each other up, confirming my suspicions.

“You two have been dancing around each other since I got home on Friday. What’s going on?”

Allie taps her wrist as if tapping a watch, never losing eye contact with Bug. Bug shakes her head defiantly and puckers her lips.

I put down my fork. “Well, somebody better tell me something.”

Allie puts her plate in the sink—not bothering to wash it or anything else, which is very unlike her—and says, “I’ll be in the bedroom resting.”

Now I’m confused, and a little concerned. I know she tires easily, but we’ve only been up for an hour. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m also not the one you should be asking.” She nods to Bug then leaves.

My eyes rest back on my daughter, who hasn’t eaten much. She’s just pushed eggs from one side of her plate to the other.

“Okay, kiddo, what’s going on?”

She looks at the door Allie walked through as if she wants to spit fire at it. “As always, she’s making a way bigger deal out of it than she needs to.”

I cock my head. “Actually, I’ve never known Allie to make a big deal about anything . What is it?”

“It’s stupid. And she’s forcing me to tell you. Your girlfriend gave me an ultimatum. How’s that for good parenting?”

“Bug, quit dancing around it and just tell me. If Allie is concerned about something, I trust her gut.” When she hesitates, I think of all the things that could have happened. “Did you quit the soccer team? Did you quit school?” I rub my temples. “Did… something happen between you and Christian?”

Her head shakes, looking down at her lap. “None of that.”

“Then what?”

“Promise you won’t get mad?”

I push away from the table and stand up. She’s starting to piss me off, let alone scare the shit out of me.

“No, Bug, I can’t promise you that. I promise I’ll try to keep my cool.

But if you tell me you’re pregnant, all bets are off and I will hunt down whoever did it and pulverize him into the ground before locking you away for the rest of your young life.

” I scrub a hand across my jaw. “Jesus, you aren’t, are you? ”

“I’m not pregnant.” She rolls her eyes as if it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever said. Then she lowers her voice. “I just went to a party and had a few drinks is all. It’s not that big a deal.”

I step back, feeling like I’ve taken a punch to the gut. “You went to a party? And you drank ?”

“You promised you wouldn’t yell.”

I pace the kitchen, breathing in and out so I don’t take her by the shoulders and try and shake some sense into her.

“You’re thirteen fucking years old, Darla.”

Tears well in her eyes. She’s not used to me yelling at her like this. But all I can think about is my baby at a party with alcohol, maybe even drugs, and undoubtedly… boys.

She sniffs. “I’ll be fourteen soon.”

I laugh hysterically. “And that would make you getting drunk okay?”

Calm the fuck down, Asher. You’re scaring her. I turn my chair around and sit in it as if somehow the back of the chair is a buffer between us that will soften this blow.

“What the hell were you thinking?” I ask in a somewhat controlled tone.

“I was thinking that you’ve been on me to make friends. It’s all you ever talk about. So I made some.”

“And who are these… friends?”

“Just some girls from the soccer team.”

I close my eyes. The one good thing I thought she had going. “Great.”

“Noelle invited me. She’s the captain. The captain , Dad. She’s a senior. I had to go.”

“So the whole team was there? Where were Noelle’s parents?”

“Not the whole team. And it wasn’t exactly at her house. It was at her boyfriend’s.”

Both my heart and my brain want to explode. But I attempt to control my anger. “You went to a strange boy’s house. I suppose I don’t even have to ask if his parents were home.”

Her glance out the window tells me all I need to know.

“Did Allie know you were going to a party?”

She looks away, her head shaking.

“What did you tell her?”

“Dad, I had to go or I’d be an even bigger loser. I only had one drink, I swear.”

“Oh, you swear? A minute ago it was ‘a few drinks.’ Better get your story straight, because you do understand I’ll get to the bottom of this, don’t you? Allie obviously knows a lot more than she let on. Lying to me about the details will only get you in more trouble.”

“So I had a few drinks. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Darla, what did you tell Allie about where you were going?”

She picks at her napkin. “That I was spending the night at Aunt Marti’s.”

“Spending the night?” My chair falls over when I stand up too quickly. “As in you were planning on staying out all night?”

“I… I don’t know. I guess it was stupid.”

I scoff. “Ya think?” I right my chair and sit back down, dreading the answer to my next question. “And where did you end up sleeping?”

“Here. I slept here.”

“And how did that come about?”

“I called Allie to pick me up.”

She called Allie? For a moment, I’m happy that she felt she could trust Allie enough to call her. But that happiness turns to disgust when I think of all the things that could have led to her calling the one person I’m one hundred percent sure she didn’t want to have to call.

“What happened at the party that made you call her? Did a boy do something—”

“Nobody did anything. It just got crazy. Some of the kids started playing strip poker.”

“So Allie picked you up? What time?”

She shrugs. “I can’t remember. After midnight I think.”

“How much did you drink?”

She shrugs again.

“How much, Darla? Did you get sick?”

She nods.

“A lot?”

She nods.

“Good. Maybe you’ll think twice about doing it again.”

“Am I in trouble?”

I throw my hands up in frustration. “Yes, you’re in trouble. Jesus, Bug.”

She glances over at the doorway. “It’s all her fault.”

“Allie? You think this is Allie’s fault?

Grow the hell up. I’m so goddamn tired of you blaming her for everything bad in your life.

It’s not her fault she got pregnant. It’s not her fault I love her so much I want to marry her.

It’s not her fault you and Mel live across the country from each other.

And it’s definitely not her fault that you chose to lie to her, put yourself in danger, and then presumably try to convince her not to tell me.

Do you realize the position you put her in? ”

“She’s not my mother. She never will be.”

She stomps off toward her room.

“We’re not done here!” I follow her up, pressing my foot in the door before she can close it.

She falls onto her bed, crying. “Why does she have to go and ruin everything? Everything was perfect before her.”

Torn between consoling her and yelling at her, I sit on the edge of her bed. “Everything wasn’t perfect, honey. Mel was still moving. You still wanted to go to a different school.”

“It’s so not about that.” She sobs into a pillow.

“Bug, talk to me. I know this has been a hard adjustment for you. But it would have been hard if we’d stayed in Orlando. Surely you understand that.”

She shakes her head, still face down on the pillow. Her words come out muffled. “At least there it would have been just us.”

I brush her hair aside to try and see her face. “Sweetie, even if it weren’t Allie, I would have met someone else I wanted to be with. This was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“But why? We were happy just the two of us. We don’t need anyone else to come into our lives just so they can…” She buries her head even deeper into the pillow.

“Just so they can what?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

I roll her over so she has no choice but to look at me. “Bug, just so they can what?”

She swallows. It looks almost painful. “Leave, okay? Just so they can leave.” She rips herself out of my arms and turns away.

My heart is lodged in my throat. Allie was right all along. This isn’t about me having a woman in my life, it’s about Bug’s insecurities over women leaving her .

I try to console her but she just cries harder. “Nobody wants me because I’m such a freak.”

“That’s not true.”

“My mother didn’t want me. My own mother, who gave birth to me, just gave me up with one scribble of her signature. Has she ever once tried to find me? Asked how I was doing? Sent me a freaking birthday card?”

“But it’s not because she knew you and thought poorly of you. She was young. She didn’t want to be a mother. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing. Right. And Stella?”

“Oh, baby, Stella left because she was sad over not being able to have a child.”

“B-but she had m-me. I was her child. And she left. She didn’t even bother to say goodbye. She just decided I was too much trouble. What happens when…” She looks over at the door. “When she decides I’m too much trouble?”

It all comes together and hits me like a Mack truck. Her behavior around women I’ve dated. Her aversion to Allie. Her overall attitude since we moved. She’s being difficult on purpose, perhaps in an attempt to push Allie away before she becomes too attached to her.

“That’s never going to happen,” Allie says from the doorway, holding a plate of food. She cringes, looking guilty. “Sorry, I saw she didn’t eat anything. I didn’t want her going hungry.” She holds out the plate to Bug. “I thought you might want this.”

“You thought wrong,” Darla bites. “And you shouldn’t eavesdrop on private conversations.”

“Asher, do you think I could have a minute with her?”

I’m hesitant to leave. But I feel maybe they need to hash this thing out after Darla finally spoke her fears.

“Dad, don’t,” Bug says when I get up.

“This is between the two of you more than it is anyone else. Listen to her, Bug. For me.”

She rolls over, turning her back to us. “I’m done talking.”

Allie gives me a sad smile and nods to the door, letting me know she still wants to do this. I leave knowing this could very well be the moment that defines their entire relationship. I leave praying it won’t be the moment that completely destroys it.