Page 97 of Shine: Sins of the Father
I ignore that.
“Want me to come there?”
“No, we need to talk somewhere else. But not the clubhouse.”
“O-kay.”
“How about a park? There’s a community park about halfway between us.”
“All right. I’ll see you in thirty. You’re being very mysterious, sweetness.”
After we disconnect, I stare at my phone. What will he think of me once he finds out I’ve kept something this huge from him? I sigh. I can’t worry about that anymore. He has to be told. This has gone on long enough. Either he cares enough about me to get past it, or he doesn’t. Either our relationship is strong enough to weather this storm, or it's not. I might as well find out the truth now.
***
“Let’s get you changed out of these pajamas, mister.” I carry Dylan up the stairs.
The first thing I pull out of his drawer is a onesie. But I’m quickly shoving it back in the drawer when I read,‘My Uncle Rafe is Smokin’ Hot.’
“What should you wear to meet your daddy for the first time?” I murmur.
Dylan bats his eyes at me.
“Is my boy ready for his morning nap?”
It takes me another ten minutes before I settle on a cute lion outfit my mom bought, complete with a little pale blue romper.
Grabbing his diaper bag and my purse, I head to my car and load him up.
Pulling out, I check Dylan in the rearview mirror. He’s already starting to doze off.
Three blocks from the park, I stop at a light. A car speeds through the intersection and, a moment later, a squad car with lights and sirens races after him. They’re going so fast. Thank God the light was red and I was stopped, because I bet that guy would have run it and caused an accident.
I glance in the rearview at Dylan again. He’s so precious to me.
And then, movement behind my car draws my attention from my sleeping boy. It’s a car coming up fast, and he doesn’t look like he’s stopping.
Oh God.
I don’t have time to do more than brace for impact when he plows into us, driving us into the intersection and crossing traffic with great force.
My airbag deploys after the first contact with a cloud of smoke, and I realize we’re still moving, but I can’t see anything in front of me with all the powder from the airbag floating in the air.
A second car slams into the front of mine, sending us spinning to the right.
My side airbags deploy, filling the car with even more dust and the smell of smoke.
I’m terrified we’ll get hit again, and my airbags have already deployed.
I try to twist to see Dylan. He’s crying. I can still hear a revving engine nearby and people shouting.
I have to get us out of this car before another car hits us or this burning smell turns into actual flames.
I grab for the door latch. In my panic, it won’t open, and it takes me a second of confusion to realize it's locked. I slam the lock open and try again, but the door won’t budge. I try thewindow, but the door is so damaged from the second hit, that it’s a crumpled mess. I try climbing over to the passenger side, but my seatbelt is still on. As I struggle to undo it, people are running to us, and a man hauls the passenger door open and leans inside.
“Are you okay?”
I hear someone else hollering to shut the car off, and finally the revving sound disappears.
