The Secret (11 page)

“Don’t be, Baby,” he says quietly as he kisses the back of my head and squeezes my shoulder encouragingly.

After greeting Lucy and
my Aunt Deb, we join the others in the living room and begin making awkward small talk. My aunt is giving us an update on my cousins when my mom rudely interrupts her.

“…I think she’ll be back in town tomorrow, so we’ll get to have her home for Christ-”

“What is that on your hand, young lady?” she gasps, her tone causing me to jump as she takes in my impressive vintage engagement ring like it’s a tarantula.

“Ma’am?”
I say, startled.

“That!” she says, pointing accusingly at my ring. “What is it?”

“It’s an engagement ring,” Chase says evenly.

“Wel
l, I assumed
that
much,” she snaps rudely at him before returning her cold gaze to me. “I mean what are you doing wearing it, Sophia Paige? Were you even going to tell me you were getting married?”

“I…
Chase…” I struggle, suddenly feeling every eye on me.

Oh my God, this is a disaster.

“Speak clearly, Sophia Paige,” she scolds me, causing heat to fill my cheeks. “Ladies do
not stammer.”

“Yes ma’am,” I say quietly
, gathering myself. “I tried to tell you on the phone when…”

“You very well did not,” she accuses, cutting me off. “
I think I would remember you telling me you’d become engaged. Lord knows I remember it the
last
time,” she says, releasing a tired sigh.

“Maybe that’s why she didn’t want to tell you
this
time,” Jack mumbles, causing Drake to stifle a smirk.

“Excuse me?” she says, obviously offended at his remark.

“Mother, I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it sooner. It was unintentional and I apologize,” I say, attempting to avoid another awkward scene. “Chase proposed last month and I’ve accepted.”

“And what of your obligation to Mr. Walker?” she asks, disapprovingly raising her eyebrow in my direction.

“I can’t wait to hear this,” Ana says under her breath, shocking me.

“
Sophie has never been
obligated
to me,” Jack snaps at Ana before meeting my mother’s gaze. “She’s not obligated to anyone. Her happiness is what matters, not her decision.”

His words both warm and
destroy my heart.

“
It wasn’t an easy decision,” I say, meeting his gaze and ignoring everyone else’s eyes on us.

“I know,” he says with a sigh as he meets my eyes
with a forced smile for my benefit. “It’s okay, Soph.”

“No, it’s not,” my mother’s voice interjects.

“For once, we actually agree on something,” Ana snips.

“
Analise!” Drake hisses at the same time Jack scolds her. “Ana, drop it.”

“
Please excuse me. I need some air,” I manage weakly, standing and making my way to the front door.

“De
bbie,” I hear Lucy whisper to my aunt as I push the screen door open, pulling a full breath of cold air into my lungs. “You have to do something.”

“Sophia Paige,”
my mother continues as she follows me to the porch. “You have an obligation to the Ryan name, not to mention the Lord, to conduct yourself in a certain manner. A manner in which living a sinful life with two men at such a young age does
not
convey. I turned my head the first time because of certain
circumstances
. I’m just not sure I can do it again.”

“
Mom!” I turn in panic at her words. I know exactly what she’s talking about and I can’t face it right now. “Please don’t. Please don’t say anything else. I’m so sorry I didn’t talk to you about this and that I’ve disappointed you. Please don’t say anything more.”

Walking closer to me and seeing my panicked expression, she looks me over before speaking.

“Has my Sophia Paige been keeping secrets again?” she says quietly, giving me a small knowing smirk as she secures a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“Mother, please,” I beg
, tears rimming my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“H
e doesn’t know, does he?” she asks.

“
No, ma’am,” I admit, sniffing back my tears.

“
You know, the Lord knows all your secrets,” she arches her eyebrow in disapproval.

“Yes, ma’am,” I answer her. “I
know. I’m sorry.”

“Fine,” she says with a slight nod. “It’s suppertime, Sophia. Get your coat and say your goodbyes. We’re leaving.”

Chase

One look at my girl and I can tell something’s wrong. She’ll barely meet my eyes and makes her way directly to the bathroom without a word to anyone. As soon as she shut
s the door, Ana walks outside with Drake following closely behind her.

Although I can understand her being upset, I had no idea s
he was so livid with Sophie for deciding to stay with me. Based on the fact that Sophie hadn’t mentioned it to me, I have to assume she didn’t know either.

Drake and Ana are in the middle of a heated discussion outside w
hen Sophie emerges a few minutes later. She is a little more put together, but still obviously upset over whatever her mother said to her on the porch.

“You okay?” I ask
, feeling ridiculous that I’m even asking since the answer is so obvious.

“I’ll be fine,”
she answers me in a small voice I’m not used to hearing from her.

“Baby, please look at me,” I say quietly, nudging the bottom of her chin. “You don’t have to go over there if you don’t want to.”

“Yes, I do,” she sighs, resting her hand on my chest. “I’ll be okay, though. Don’t worry about me. Just try to have a good night.”

“If you want me to come and get you,” I start and before I can finish, she nods. “I mean it. I don’t want you miserable.”

“I’ll be alright,” she promises, offering me a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Go eat supper and get some rest. You’re coming with us to church in the morning, right?”

“Of course,” I promise
as I lightly stroke her cheek. “We’ve all been invited over for lunch afterwards, too, but I’ll be there in the morning for breakfast, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispers before reaching on her tiptoes to kiss me chastely on the lips.

After saying goodbye to Lucy and JT, she gives Jack a lingering hug. She says something that has him holding her tighter and whispering into her hair, but I can’t make it out.

“I love you,” she tells me, giving me a final goodbye kiss before making her way to Debbie’s car.

As I stand in front of the window, I feel a sinking feeling as the car pulls away. Letting out a long, deep breath, I decide I need a beer and turn to grab my coat, finding Jack behind me.

“She’ll be okay,” he says quietly.
I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or trying to reassure himself until he meets my eyes. “Unfortunately, she’s been through a lot tougher shit than Grace Ryan, awful as that woman is.”

“Yeah,” I agree, reaching for my keys as I rub my palms over my eyes.
Glancing out the window again, I see Drake and Ana still in the yard having it out and roll my eyes. “Jesus,” I say under my breath and shake my head as I grab my jacket. “I’m gonna head out,” I tell him. “Listen, thanks for standing up for her earlier.”

“I’ll
always
stand up for Sophie,” he says, immediately meeting my eyes. “No matter what.”

“Good,” I say holding his gaze. “
I’m glad we’ve got that in common.”

I signal to Drake as I get in my truck to let him know I’m leaving and head to the nearest gas station to pick up a twelve pack of beer. It’s never easy to meet a girl’s parents, but it’s even harder when her mother is Grace Ryan.

I thank God for the tenth time today that my mother is the wonderful, kindhearted person she is as I change into sweats and stretch out across the bed of our hotel room.

I’m halfway through my fourth beer and the second quarter of the game when I hear a knock on my door. Sophie’s got the extra key and has just texted that she’s getting in the shower, so I know it’s not her. Besides Drake, I can’t think
of anyone who’d even know I’m here, let alone come knocking on my door. As I pull the heavy door open, I’m surprised to find Jack standing in the doorway.

“
We need to talk,” he says.

Jack

“Yeah,” he nods as he takes a step back, allowing me to pass and enter the room. “I think you’re right.”

As we step into the room, Chase pulls the chair out away from the desk and glances over at me.

“Have a seat,” he says, pulling a t-shirt on over his head and reaching into the mini-fridge for a beer.
“Beer?”

“Sure,”
I say as I take it before sitting in the chair to face him.

“
So you wanna kick this off or should I?” he asks, muting the game after taking a long pull from his Budweiser.

The question catches me off guard for a second and I catch myself chuckling sarcastically as the bottle hovers in front of my mouth.

“You got shit you need to say to
me
?” I ask, surprised when he nods.

“
Yep. As a matter of fact, I got a couple things to say to you,” he admits easily as he leans against the headboard. “But you’re the guest.”

“Wow,” I say setting my beer down on the table and letting out a weak laugh. “
This I gotta fuckin’ hear. Please, you go first. Tell me what I could have possibly done to piss you off, you fiancé thieving asshole.”

“First of all,” he starts as he points in my direction with his bottle. “I didn’
t steal your fuckin’ girlfriend, so you can go ahead and get over that shit right now. If anyone, especially Sophie, had known there was even the slightest chance you were coming back, that girl would have never left this fuckin’ place and you and I both know it. Tell me I’m wrong.”

We sit silently, glaring at each other, both of us knowing he’s right.

“Second of all,” he continues. “The two of us need to come to an understanding for her sake. I’m guessing that’s part of why you’re here?”

“Yeah,” I confess.

“I know you and Sophie have been through a lot,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m trying to respect that and be cool about you being in her life now.”

“You don’t have a choice,” I cut him off. “Nothing, not even her marrying another man, will keep me from being a part of her life.”

“And nothing, not even her dead ex-boyfriend coming back from the grave will keep her from being a part of mine.”

We sit there, silently fuming over our beers at each other for a few minutes before
he breaks the silence.

“We need to air all this
bullshit out while she’s not around because she doesn’t need to hear it,” he says.

“Fine,” I agree. “I’ll respect your relationship with Sophie, but you’ve got to respect ours in return.”

“Deal,” he nods. “But if you
ever
hurt her…”

“I’
ll rip out your fucking spleen,” I say, causing another nod in agreement. “Yeah, back at ya.”

“Fair enough,” he says, finishing his beer and reaching for two more before handing me one. “One more thing and I’ll give you the floor.”

“Thanks,” I say with little conviction as I take the beer. “What’s that?”

“Thank you,” he says, causing me for a second time to hover the bottle in front of me.

“Excuse me?”

“Sophie told me a lot about her time with you, Jack,” he says. “I don’t know everything and I’m sure I never will, but
from what she did tell me, I know you weren’t a dick to her. You know better than I do the kind of mother she grew up with,” he shakes his head. “There are a lot of guys that would have totally fucked her over, taken advantage of her, but you didn’t, so thank you.”

“Well, no n
eed to thank me. It’s not like I was paving the way for you, asshole.”

“Well, no shit,” he says sarcastically, causing us both to let out involuntary chuckles.
Damn it. I refuse to fuckin’ like this guy.
“Anyway, not only that, but you inadvertently saved my life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I guess Sophie and Ana haven’t told you yet,” he starts, peeling the label from his bottle. “But a couple months ago, Sophie saved me and your sisters lives.”

“What
the hell are you talking about?”

“Yep,” he says, meeting my eyes and shaking his head in disbelief. “She, Ana and a friend of theirs all went to this bar one night. They’d been drinking and having a good time and this guy ca
me over, starting hitting on Sophie. She told him she wasn’t interested, but they guy… he uh… wasn’t really interested in hearing the word no…”

“Oh my God,” I interrupt in horror
, my blood running cold. “He didn’t…?”

“No,” he says immediately, settling my worst fear. “No,
he was going to. He used Ana as leverage. Told Sophie if she didn’t do what he said, he’d hurt your sister, threatened to kill her… I think we both know, she’d do just about anything to make sure that didn’t happen.”

“Holy shit,” I choke out.

As I fight the nausea rolling through me, I can’t believe this is the first time I’m hearing about this.

“Sophie stalled, went to the bathroom and Ana sent me and Drake a text to come up. When we got there, she was only a couple steps away from his car. She knew
exactly what was going to happen to her if she got in that car with him and she went to save your sister,” he continues, lost in the memory before clearing his throat. “Anyway, so Drake made sure Ana was okay and got Sophie out of the way. Once I knew she was alright, I nearly beat the guy to death.”

“Why didn’t you?”
I ask, unable to keep the judgment from my voice.

“Sophie,
” he admits. “She begged me not to. She said it wasn’t worth going to prison over, that she was okay. She didn’t look as though he’d physically hurt her, but she was a wreck so against my best judgment, I stopped. He was unconscious and I turned my back to make sure he hadn’t hurt her. The next thing I knew, she pushed me away from her and started screaming. He had a knife and was about to stab me, but she stepped in the way and he got her in the shoulder,” he says in a low voice, shaking his head regretfully. “I didn’t even know she owned a gun, let alone had the fuckin’ thing on her, but the next thing I knew she shot him.”

“What the fuck?
Sophie shot someone?”

“Yeah man!” he says through glassy eyes. “
She emptied the fuckin’ clip on him!”

“Holy shit!”

“I know, dude! That girl doesn’t fuckin’ play!” he says, causing me to chuckle morbidly at the story.

We sit there silently thinking over what he’s just said for a while before he breaks the silence again.

“Anyway,” he says. “She told me you taught her to shoot?”

“Yeah,” I say, still reeling from the story. “I taught her a few years ago and bought her a gun. Probably the same one she’s got now.”

“Well,” he says. “Thank you for teaching her. I know I’m not the reason you taught her, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I’m glad to know she can take care of herself.”

“Sophie’s a tough girl,” I tell him. “It sounds like she’s gotten tougher, too.”

“Yeah, she’s definitely a fighter,” he says with a sigh. “So, hit me. What’s your deal with me?”

“I think we pretty much covered it,” I admit. “You fuck her
over, I fuck you over, plain and simple. I want it to be clear that the
only
reason I’m not putting up a fight is because her happiness means more to me than my own. As long as you don’t give her shit about me being around and you can make her happy, that’s what I care about. I mean it though, man,” I continue, holding his eyes. “You fuck up
one time
and this agreement we have is over. You will never see that girl again, you got that?”

“As long as you understand the same thing goes for you,” he
says, the same threat in his voice. “We have a deal.”

W
e both nod our agreement and fall into a comfortable silence, finally feeling like we’re as okay as we can be given the circumstances.

“You know,” he says after a few minutes. “I
gotta be honest with you, man. Sophie’s told me a lot about her relationship with you and there’s just something I can’t wrap my head around.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t mean this in a judgmental way at all. I totally appreciate the military and everything y’all do and it’s probably none of my business,” he says, meeting my eyes. “But how the fuck do you walk away from a girl like that?”

“I never walked away,” I argue.

I still haven’t walked away
.

“She
told me she begged you not to reenlist,” he counters, causing me to nod. “Why the hell would you do it anyway?”

“I wanted to give her the best life I could and I knew the military was a good way to do that.”

“Still,” he says, shaking his head. “I just… I don’t think I could ever say no to a second with that girl.”

“I was thinking about our
future,” I say defensively.

“Yeah,” he says, trailing off.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he starts, earning himself a questioning look. “It’s just that the futures good to think about
and all, but all you really have is now, you know? No disrespect, but I just couldn’t give up the guarantee of having her now for a chance with her later, I guess. It just doesn’t really seem worth the risk to me.”