Page 54 of Wrap Around (Forbidden Goals #7)

SILAS

I’ve been driving for over an hour, and I still haven’t found them.

The first place I went was the trailer, but no one was there. I circled the Shepherd property twice, ran halfway to the lake to look for any sign of them. I passed the church, the little house they used to hold Sabbath school in, the playground at the school. Nothing.

Now I’m crawling through downtown, eyes flicking from storefronts to alleys. It’s a quiet stretch of street, the kind where time feels slower and everything closes by six. There are only so many places they could be.

Then I see them. Or rather, I see bubbles. Floating across the narrow street, catching the sunlight in pink and blue sheens. I follow the trail of them to a small courtyard surrounded by small businesses.

My rental car lurches as I slam on the brakes.

The first person I see is Gideon. His shoulders are tight, jaw locked as he stomps across the square towards someone. I recognize the back of Lily, standing next to a man with brown hair, not much taller than her small frame. Whoever it is, I don’t recognize him, at least not from behind.

What I do notice is the way he doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch fast enough. Too quickly, Gideon’s fist connects with the poor guy’s face, and his head snaps back.

Throwing the car in park, I abandon it there in the middle of the street. I’m out and running before the car behind me can so much as honk.

Gideon is holding the guy up by the front of his shirt, otherwise he likely would have collapsed by the look of his weak knees.

I can only see him in profile, and I have no idea what he did to piss Gideon off, but I’m running at full speed to get to them.

Gideon’s other fist rises again, clenched and shaking with fury.

“Gideon! No!” I yell.

He doesn’t hear me. Doesn’t see me. He barely reacts when I grab his arm mid-swing and yank him back.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Gideon fights it at first, twisting hard like he means to throw me off, then he sees my face and he stops.

He drops the man like he’s forgotten he was holding him, turning towards me with wide, astonished eyes.

Lily is next to the man in a flash, dropping to her knees to check on him. He groans and pushes himself to sit upright, but I’m not paying attention to anyone but Gideon and the wild look in his eyes.

“Jesus,” I breathe. “What is happening here?”

My eyes flash quickly to the edge of the courtyard, where Addy is standing with her little hands fisted in her dress, crying. Her face is blotchy and panicked .

Like he’s been knocked out of a trance, Gideon turns towards the sound of his niece. All the tension drains out of him like a punctured tire. Without another word, he rushes over to her.

“I got her,” I say, jogging after him.

There’s no part of me that thinks Gideon would ever hurt Adaline, but I don’t want her to be afraid of what she just witnessed, either.

She doesn’t protest when he scoops her up, murmuring apologies into her hair and peppering her with kisses.

She sniffles against his shoulder, and after a moment, he hands her off to me.

I take her gently, heart pounding.

“Hey, baby girl. I missed you,” I say, holding her against my chest and squeezing gently. Her little heartbeat thrums against my sternum, twisting me up inside. And then Gideon wraps his arms around both of us.

“What are you doing here?” he asks into my shoulder.

I don't answer right away. I’m too busy trying to keep Addy calm. But when he pulls back, I meet his eyes. “What’s going on?”

His face hardens again. He jerks his head towards the scene behind us. “That bastar—,” he spits. “It was him. He did it. He’s the one who knocked her up. He’s Addy’s birth father.”

My stomach twists. I blink at him, then at the bleeding man still crouched next to Lily. “Wait– What?”

I walk towards them slowly, still holding Addy in my arms. There’s a pair of glasses on the ground, dirty and cracked. I crouch down to pick them up and attempt to brush them off on my grey suit pants.

Finally, I really look at the guy.

Zac?

The awkward kid with too-big glasses that made him look owlish who used to follow Lily around like a lost puppy. He’s got some scruff now, broader shoulders, but it’s him. He flinches a little when I crouch down.

“Hey, man,” I say, handing him the glasses. “Are you alright?”

He takes them with shaking fingers, nodding despite his split lip and the swelling that’s already started along his jaw.

“Sorry,” I add quietly.

His eyes dart to Gideon, who is practically growling. Keeping Addy’s cheek pressed to my neck, I look over to see him trembling with rage.

“You’re not seriously apologizing to him! After what he did to your wife?!”

Instead of responding, I look back at Zac. It’s probably offensive that I find it so surprising. He’s the last person I would have ever considered, but when I cut a glance at Lily and notice the way she’s worrying her bottom lip, I can see that it’s true.

Gideon storms off in a rage, kicking over a trashcan on his way out of the small courtyard.

Lily murmurs something to Zac I can’t quite catch, but I’m pretty sure she’s checking to make sure he’s really alright.

“I’ll call you later,” she tells him. “I promise. We’ll talk about everything. Okay?” She squeezes his hand and helps pull him to his feet, then hugs him.

“Yeah, okay,” he replies, sounding dazed. He keeps staring at Addy, and I find myself tightening my arms around her a little more.

After righting the trashcan and cleaning up any mess left behind, we walk back to my rental car in silence. Thankfully, there isn’t much traffic in this small town, and everyone is just going around me, although I get a few scowls.

There’s a baby seat already strapped in the back. I always request one from the rental company when I know I’m going to see Lily and Addy, just in case.

It’s a quiet drive back to her parent’s property. Every house and landmark we drive by is another memory. In the distance, I can see the afternoon sun glinting off the lake.

Lily exhales sharply and brushes a tear away from her cheek.

“You okay?” I ask gently.

“I don’t know,” she says, voice thick. “Gideon might’ve just chased away the only friend I had left. And I–“

I glance over when her words cut off in a choked sob.

She stares out the window, eyes glassy. “I never planned on telling him.”

I reach across the console and take her hand.

She squeezes it once before letting go, folding her arms tight around her middle like she’s bracing for impact. “I realize you and Gideon think you’re protecting me, but I told you it wasn’t a bad situation. Just a stupid one.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” I don’t bother telling her I was against Gideon’s man hunt when he first mentioned it. Truth is, I did want to know, to make sure she truly wasn’t taken advantage of. I wanted to know who to protect Addy from, who might try to take her away from me some day.

We think that just because we escaped this place, that we’re more evolved and sensitive to prejudice.

We’ve told Lily we support her in all of her goals and have encouraged her to spread her wings and be her full authentic self.

But when it came down to it, we still treated her just like the church did—like she wasn’t smart or capable enough to make her own decisions.

Yes, she was woefully ignorant back then.

But she isn’t now, and we should have trusted her word.

Gideon will probably take a long time to come down, but he needs to realize this, too. We can’t grow and truly support each other otherwise.

When we pull up to the trailer, Gideon’s truck is already there, but he isn’t.

Something feels off.

I glance at Lily. She’s standing beside the car, Addy nestled against her shoulder. Her eyes scan the trailer, then settle on mine. She nods once, reassuring me that she and Addy will be fine.

It’s all I need.

I jog down the dirt path alongside the Shepherd’s house and up the porch steps to knock on the door.

It creaks open to reveal Sister Paula, who looks like she sucked a lemon just for the occasion.

Her face always had that pinched, holier-than-thou quality, but it got worse after Lily and I made our announcement.

I don’t suppose I could have expected any better after we left.

“Ma’am,” I say, polite on autopilot. “Is Gideon here?”

Her expression curdles. “If he’s got half a brain left in that defiled head of his, he’s at the church. Where the good pastor can set him straight.”

The door slams in my face before I can reply or ask any more questions.

I don’t like the sound of that. Not one damn bit.

The church isn’t far, but the midday heat is heavy and humid, and between the jet lag and adrenaline still buzzing in my veins, my lungs are burning by the time I get close. I slow down just as I hear shouting.

Stepping up to the main chapel doors, I push one open to look inside.

Gideon is standing halfway down the aisle, squared off with his father near the pulpit.

The room is full of simple wooden pews and sun, the rays like spotlights on the wooden floor.

It’s almost as hot in here as it is outside, and the air is thick with tension that reeks of desperation and rage.

Pastor Shepherd has a Bible raised like it’s a weapon. His voice booms through the rafters, righteous and terrifying. It’s a voice that has followed me throughout my life, just as much as my own father’s. It’s also the very voice that I know torments Gideon in his nightmares.

“You’ve been possessed by darkness! That’s why you ran. Why you gave your life to that… that godless pursuit!”

I pause in the doorway, chest heaving, sweat prickling down my back. I know this man. I know that tone. It could mean anything—professional sports, queerness, ambition in general. The man hates anything that doesn’t answer directly to him or his perception of God.

But Gideon isn’t on his knees.

Not this time.

He’s standing tall, trembling, but unyielding.