Page 14 of Paved Paradise
This time, I'm not able to stop the sob as it racks my body, and I give in. I sob loudly, barely feeling the truck veer as he pulls over to the side of the road and pulls me into his arms. I want to be strong and pull away, but I can't. This is the only place I’ve wanted to be since they arrested me. Now that he’s holding me, I can feel my heart calming. The panic recedes, and I know I need answers. I won't be able to leave this town, leave him without knowing the truth. Knowing if he was with some other girl while I was behind those bars.
“I’m so damn sorry, baby. I know I should have been there.”
“Where were you?” I ask, turning my head and looking up at him through my lashes. “Were you with Grace?”
I hold my breath as he goes still, then looks down at me with his brows drawn in.
“How did you know?”
At his question, I try to sit up and pull away from him. How can he admit right to my face he was with another woman while I’m sitting right here in his arms? How could I have been so stupid?
“Let me go,” I seethe.
“Woah, Frankie. What's going on? Who told you about my sister?”
“Sister?” I nearly breathe out as my heart slowly beats in my chest. Grace is his sister? “Your sister's name is Grace?”
“Okay, you're starting to freak me out here a bit. Please tell me what the hell is going on in your fascinating head so that I can fix the tangles that seem to be weaving in and out.” He tried to joke, but with the sadness in his eyes, I can tell this situation has taken a toll on him just as big as it's taken on me.
“The Rookie, when I told him I was trying to call you, all he would tell me was that you and some girl named Grace were always attached at the hip. Then when you didn't answer….”
“Shit, you thought I was playing you. Baby, look at me,” he whispers as he uses his finger to lift my chin. When I meet his eyes, I see the pain in them.
“You can check the records. Hell, call my parents and ask them. Or the hospital. I can give you her doctor's name. I was with my sister at the hospital all last night. There is no other girl that isn’t related even close to me, and never has been. Over the last few weeks, has it not been clear how fucking insanely obsessed I am with you?” he asks, giving me a small smirk. There's my Beck.
“I know, but do you know how many times I’ve been chosen, then just tossed aside when the shine wore off? I thought maybe that's what I was… something shiny.” I cry again as Beck once again pulls me close.
“You are shiny… but just call me baby, baby. Because I will never be able to look away or toss you aside. I promise to polish you up every single day like the treasure you are. You are my light when there's only ever been darkness. Please believe me.”
I laugh through the tears at his words and look up into his face, only seeing the truth, and I swear my heart is overflowing with love for this man. Then my head clears, and I realize how absolutely selfish I have been all night and all day.
“Oh my gosh, what happened to your sister? Why are you here instead of with her? I'm so sorry for being unreasonably selfish.” I start to go on, but he leans in and silences me with a deep kiss. When he pulls back, the smile lighting his face erases the entire night, and I take a deep breath for the first time.
“I just got a call right before I pulled up to the station and saw you trying to run from me,” he laughs. However, I can still detect the hint of panic. “They are trying some new trial drug that will hopefully keep the seizures down.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” I breathe a sigh of relief for his family.
“There is just one more thing left to do,” he says and I raise my brow in question.
“I want you to meet them…”
Queue, for the second time today, freakout.
Ten
Beck
“Is the table set? Did you use the fine china? What about the meal? You didn't burn the cookies, did you? What if she gets lost? I should have picked her up, it's her first time coming here. I should….”
“Oh, for heaven's sake, you are being so dramatic,” I hear my mother laugh through my panic.
I’ve been pacing back and forth in the kitchen of my home while my mother looks on, amused at my nerves, but I can't help it. This night has to go absolutely perfect. I’ve already been too close to losing her once. If that were to happen again…
“Beck, you have to calm down. Everything is going to be fine. I’m sure she's even more nervous than you are,” myy mom tells me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“What if she hates it here? She could leave again, or what if she gets too nervous? You can't ask a million questions, okay? We have to make sure…”
“BECK!” my mom shouts to get my attention. Automatically, I straighten and shut up, looking at her. No one, and I mean no one, can ignore the mom voice. Well, they don't if they're smart. “That's better. Now, like I was saying. She’s probably just as nervous, actually probably more so. Do you realize she's never had parents? She's not going to know what to do with meeting the rents?”