I gave her a hug. “I’m sorry, Tina. He may need time, but I’m afraid this is one instance where time may not heal all wounds.” The sound of a horn grabbed my attention. “That’s my ride. Thank you so much for accepting me, even though you didn’t know who I was.”
I hurried down the steps, tossed my bag in the taxi’s backseat, and climbed in after it.
As we drove away, I looked back at the house, which was beyond anything I’d imagined. The wraparound porch was my favorite part of the home. It reminded me of a ribbon tied around the most gorgeous present, and the Prescotts were the gift.
My eyes stung as I thought of the type of people they were, and I knew I would miss them, but I couldn’t blame Drake if he decided not to be with me. All I could do was pray that one day he’d be able to understand.
CHAPTER 16
Drake
The sound of the waves generally calmed me, but I didn’t need that tonight. What I needed was guidance and answers.
A riot of emotions tied up my stomach as I stood in the moonlight, resting my forearms on the railing of the boat dock as I watched wave after wave roll in. All I could think of was how scared Lucy had to be when she found out she was pregnant, and then how devastated she must have been when her parents reacted the way they did.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
GRETCHEN: Where are you?
DRAKE: I’m on the dock. Tell Lucy I’ll be back in a few minutes.
My sister was probably worried about me, and truth be told, so was I. What did all of this mean?
I looked up to the starry sky and whispered to the heavens, “Please, help me help her.”
This wasn’t Lucy’s fault. Kids made mistakes all the time, and she happened to get pregnant. It wasn’t as if she set out to trap the guy; she’d wanted to protect him.
The thought of what she endured after that broke my heart. I couldn’t shake the thought of how terrified she must have been. What kind of parent did that to their child? It was no wonder she didn’t want anything to do with them.
Greg was in my thoughts as well. He’d served our country in a way I’d always wanted to, and now the poor guy was presumed dead. Lucy’s chest must have felt like an elephant had been sitting on it for years with the amount of guilt she’d been carrying around. I needed to lift that weight off her in some way.
“Hey!”
I turned to see Gretchen walking toward me, and I frowned. “I told you I’d be right in.”
“Don’t snap at me.” She came up to me and rested her back against the railing, her elbow brushing mine.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. Did you tell Lucy I’d be back soon?” I glanced behind her, but all I saw was wooden planks dimly lit by the dock lights.
“No, I didn’t, because she isn’t there.” Sadness washed over her face.
“What do you mean?”
“She left. Mom told me a cab came to pick her up.”
Frozen in place, I stared at Gretchen as I watched her lips move, thinking my ears didn’t hear her correctly.
“Mom said she seemed sad,” she said. “What happened?”
“FUCK!”
I took off running across the dock to get to the house. Gretchen’s feet pounded the wooden planks behind me, and she caught up with me at the front porch where the rest of my family stood waiting for us.
“Drake, honey.” My mom extended her hand.
“What did she say?”
I’d never seen my mom’s eyes so sad. She was normally such a cheerful person, and now she looked as unhappy as I felt.
“She’s fallen for you,” Mom said softly, and gave my hands a squeeze, “but she needed to give you space.”
My head bobbed in understanding. I glanced around at the rest of my family to find they all wore the same sympathetic expression as my mother.
Overwhelmed, I released my mom’s hands. “Please excuse me.”
I hurried upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, to see for myself whether her things were gone. Sure enough, they were. Lucy had left. How could she leave?
Then I saw it, a piece of paper on the bed. With trembling fingers, I picked it up and sat down to read what she wrote.
Dear Drake,