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CHAPTER 36
Cash
Ichecked my phone for the fifth time to see if Cheyenne had made it to the airport. Her flight left in less than an hour and she promised she’d text me before she boarded.
It felt so wrong sending her off alone after all the time we’d spent together over the past week, but I knew she was right. I had things that I needed to deal with here.
The doorbell rang and it looked like there was no time like the present. I’d invited Marissa and Amelia over so that I could meet my daughter.
My daughter.
I still couldn’t quite believe that was my reality. I’d always wanted to have kids, but I’d never imagined that I would have them like this. I had no idea what my role was going to look like, but I wanted to be as involved as I possibly could. Which I assumed would be okay since Marissa didn’t have to come and talk to me or tell me anything.
When I opened the door, I looked down expecting to see a stroller but instead I saw work boots. I looked up and saw that Billy was standing in front of me. And he did not look happy.
“This isn’t a good time.”
“Too bad.” He pushed his way inside. “What’s going on with you and Cheyenne? And don’t lie to me.”
I shut the door. “Billy, I’m not trying to avoid this conversation but I’m telling you this is not the time. I’m dealing with something right now.”
“I know that something is going on. Don’t try to deny it. Is it serious? No wait, you don’t take anything seriously. If anything gets close to a serious commitment you run the other way.”
“I just found out I’m a father,” I blurted out.
“You can’t just…” he said over me at the same time but then stopped talking when he heard what I’d said. “What?”
“I’m a father. Marissa, the woman that came in to leave me a message. She had a baby last year and we just did the DNA test and I’m the dad.”
Billy shook his head. “I thought that Isabella was getting a test for that guy Oscar and Cheyenne.”
“She did. We both got tests done.”
“So did Cheyenne find out if Oscar is her father?”
“He is.” I nodded. I didn’t think it was a secret.
“How come you know and I don’t?” he asked in frustration.
“I’m sure she was going to tell you, but something came up and she had to go out of town.”
“What came up? Where did she go?”
It felt odd to be the one to tell Billy that his grandmother was in the hospital. “Her…or, your grandmother is in the hospital.” I knew that Billy didn’t consider his maternal grandparents family, but they were still blood.
“She is? What happened?”
“They don’t know. Apparently the house manager found her unconscious in the bathtub. I’m not sure how serious it is, but Cheyenne is flying up there.”
Billy stared at me and I could tell he wanted to hit me. We’d only ever gotten in one physical fight. It was a few months after his mom passed. He wanted to break into the Gas N Go and steal candy and smash up the place with his baseball bat and I wouldn’t let him. I’d known he was just doing it because he was angry about losing not only his mom but also Cheyenne.
At the time he didn’t appreciate me stopping him, and I ended up with a black eye, he walked away with a split lip. Later, when we were adults, he thanked me for stopping him from doing something that could’ve gotten him in trouble with the police.
Last time we came to blows, I’d known what we were fighting about. This time, I honestly didn’t.
“Look, I have no idea what is going on between Cheyenne and me, that’s the God’s honest truth. But I love her, Billy. I’m in love with her. I always have been. And if you have a problem with that, I’m sorry. I would never hurt your sister, and the fact that you don’t know that, shows me exactly how little you know me and what you actually think of me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
