AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then you’re an idiot. You don’t even know if your father is really your father,” his mother said. “Maybe you weren’t entitled to that money either.”
Sage sucked her breath in. He’d never thought his mother would stoop that low but shouldn’t be stunned by it. His mother always played dirty when she didn’t get what she wanted.
“Whether I was his biological son or not, he had a will. It’s what he did the minute he kicked you out. Everything was left to me or charities of his choice. And when it all came to me, I did the same damn thing. There is no way you’re getting any part of anything that was his. And just so you know, Iamhis kid. Do you think Dad wasn’t smart enough to find out? Get the fuck out of my house and don’t come back. You’re not getting a damn thing from me.”
He watched his mother grab her jacket and storm out of the house, the door slamming behind her.
“That was...interesting,” Sage said. “I’m not sure where to start.”
He looked at the woman he loved and all he saw was the sympathy in her eyes.
“I can explain,” he said.
“I expect you to, but first off, if that is what your father had to deal with or you’ve had to, then I should cut you some slack for not being more damaged.”
He snorted. “You have no idea. That was just a tiny glimpse of it all.”
“Then I’m sorry,” she said.
“Nothing for you to feel sorry about.”
“No. I get it,” she said. “I know you have trust issues and that is part of it. I should have been more honest about Henry and it does explain more with what your mom said. I mean why would she say that about you not being your father’s son?”
Knox shook his head. “I’m not sure if she didn’t know or not. I don’t believe that, but after what happened with Blaze, my father had me tested.”
“Oh,” she said. “That is horrible. It would make me feel bad about myself on top of it if I knew.”
“I think that was part of why I had issues with my father.” This was just one more secret he’d held in. “He didn’t tell me he was doing it or did it. I found the results once when I was visiting. It was like a knife to the heart.”
Nothing any teenage boy wants to ever see.
His world had been turned upside down.
His mother barely had time for him. His father, when he visited didn’t talk to him much. It’s like they never really got along all that well.
Then to find that, he wondered what was going to happen to him if it said he wasn’t his father’s son.
He’d found the envelope first. He knew exactly what it was and was terrified to open it up.
There was part of him that never wanted to know. That wondered if he wasn’t Dan Bradford’s kid and if that was why his father didn’t connect to him.
But he had to know for certain and remembered holding his breath as he read the results.
“Did you two ever talk about it?” she asked.
“No. He never brought it up and I didn’t either. Maybe he was ashamed he did it, but I guess if I’d been in his shoes I might want to know too.”
He saw her eyes get a little glossy. “When did things start to get better for the two of you?”
“Not until I was in my early twenties. I started to think my father didn’t know how to relate to me. But when I was at the age of the students he was teaching, it seemed easier. I don’t know. Could be when he gave me a place to live so I did not have to be reliant on going back to my mother’s.”
Sage nodded and moved closer to him, took his hand and pulled him to the couch.
“Talk to me,” she said. “There are things you want to say. I can see it. It’s your chance now. Get them off your chest. You told me not to hold anything against you and I’m not. But if it makes you feel better, then use this as a clear slate space. What we say here and now, stays in the here and now.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “You’re holding so much in and you don’t need to with me. I feel like I’ve been more open with you about things in my life and how I feel or felt. All but the one thing with Henry and you know why.”
