Page 39 of Day Break

Both men were frowning at me now.

“You’re what? In your late twenties?” George asked.

“Twenty-six,” I told them, not wanting to let on that I wasn’t even sure of my age. I had no proof of a birthday. No real way to tell just when I’d been born or even who my biological parents were.

The room was silent for a moment.

“I suppose, living in a city, most people wouldn’t need one,” George said, turning his eyes out to the dark windows. “There’s that storm we’re supposed to get.” He motioned.

I glanced over, thankful for the change in conversation, and saw several bolts of lightning flash in the distance.

“Well, I’m going to head up,” George said, standing. Byron jumped up from his spot, where he’d been fast asleep. George stopped in the doorway. “Thank you for a wonderful meal and dessert.” Then he disappeared down the hallway towards the stairs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen my grandfather move so fast in my entire life,” Lane joked. I stood up and started cleaning the table. “He didn’t mean to pry,” Lane added.

I glanced over and nodded. “I know.” I turned and started washing the dishes.

“There is a dishwasher,” Lane pointed out.

“I like cleaning them by hand. It gives me time to think.”

Lane set his dishes on the counter beside the sink and leaned against it, his eyes running over me.

“Why have you never had a driver’s license?” he asked.

“I never had a reason to drive,” I answered, truthfully.

Lane was quiet for a moment. “Do you have a birth certificate?”

I swallowed and felt a dish almost slip from my hands. “I… have documentation of my baptism,” I answered, skirting the conversation.

“Chloe.” Lane took my shoulders and turned me slightly until we faced one another. My soapy hands dripped between us. I’d never felt anything like I felt being close to him. My heart was pounding so fast, I could hardly hear his next words. “Why? What are you hiding?”

I took a deep breath and then blurted out, “I was raised by and married into very religious families.” Maybe being so close to him was causing my mind to shut down. The hold I’d been so careful to place over my past was slowly slipping away around him. Being around George had been a lot easier.

“Okay, but everyone has a birth certificate,” he said, slowly.

“I don’t. I have a baptism certificate.”

Lane’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Is that all?”

I closed my eyes and was about to nod, but then I remembered the document that had been sent to my new email several months ago. One of the great things Lucy had convinced me to do was file for divorce. Even though the courts couldn’t find Elliott, I had received a default judgment from the courts. She’d even helped me set up an email account, something I’d never had before.

“And a divorce certificate,” I added.

Lane was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. “I’ll get my laptop while you finish up here. Then we can print both documents for you to take to the bank Monday.”

He released me and stepped away.

I turned back to the task of washing the dishes and was thankful for something to occupy my hands while I thought.

I had never been around someone so… manly before. Elliott had been a great deal older. Even though he’d been physically powerful, far more than I had been, he had never been emotionally strong enough not to hurt me.

When Lane talked to me, his words weren’t like tiny knives striking out. His eyes were filled with questions and kindness. Like George’s were.

All my life I had feared men. But with George and Lane, it was different. Something told me they wouldn’t use their physical strength against me. Which is why I hadn’t been reduced to a puddle at Lane’s feet just now.

I heard Lane return and glanced over my shoulder as he set up his laptop at the kitchen table. I wanted to delay what was going to come next, but all the dishes had already been dried and put away.