Page 51 of The Biggest Secret
“Oh, we saw it,” Bobby says but then tries to quiet Britt as he notices Adam walking up the stands. Good luck, no one silences Britt.
“The minute you left, she conveniently shows up and latches onto Adam. She played the whole quiet and reserved, not caring if Adam worked days straight, understanding girlfriend,” she uses finger quotes, “but that’s hergame.”
I look at Adam, I know he hears his name and he’s watching Britt go red in the face.
“Bri—”
“And if you ask me, she was stalking Adam before you even left. I was there that night, CJ, I remember what she said to you. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time she cornered you with?—”
“What night? What did she say to you?” Adam demands.
Dominic jumps in my lap, Adam’s booming voice startling him. The crowd is starting to fill in the seats again and this is really not the place I want to have this conversation. I never wanted to have this conversation.
Tom passes out drinks, but Adam is still standing over me, his height imposing as I stay sitting on the bleachers. “What did she say to you?” he repeats.
“Adam.” I tug on his arm, and he sits down next to me. “Not here, please. I don’t want to ruin tonight for Chess and Jackson.”
I’m looking at him with pleading eyes. He gives me a return look with narrowed ones. He takes a breath. “If she said something that affected you… us…” he scrubs his hand over his mouth, “I need to know, Chelsea. You can’t keep secrets like this from me.” I shake my head. But he knows. He sees it on my face. Grace was always a sore spot in our relationship.
I faded away as a kid, lost who I was becoming as a pre-teen, teenager and then adult. My number one flaw was that I tried to control situations so I could give myself the reassurance I wasn’t getting at that moment in time. I tried to control what was said and who was around. I had convinced myself I wasn’t wanted—it’s what I was taught as a child anyway—and that Adam would leave eventually, just like all the other men in my life did. I let it fester and eat at me until I finally let it ruin what we had. So much to the point that I stole time from Adam.
“This conversation isn’t over,” he says, then grabs Dom from me and stands again to watch the team take the field for the second half.
Chapter Thirty-One
CHELSEA
We left the field before we even had a chance to congratulate Jackson on his State Championship win. I think we were actually the first truck to pull out of the parking lot, the loyal fans staying and celebrating into the night. He hasn’t said a word to me, even after Dominic passed out in his car seat, and the forty-five-minute ride home was long and silent.
We pull into my driveway, Adam cuts the engine off but doesn’t make a move. I sit staring straight ahead because I don’t know what to do with this Adam. This Adam is losing his control and he is trying desperately to hold onto it.
“Did you let her convince you of something that wasn’t real?”
I hate that we don’t even have to explain who ‘she’ is. She’s been a shadow in our relationship since I moved to Christmas. I drop my head, my hands wringing together in my lap.
“Chelsea. Answer me,” he snaps. “Did you fall for lies instead of coming to me?”
I’m still silent trying to get control of my thoughts. I don’t want to just blurt things out. I want to have a reasonable discussion. I’m tired of fighting over the same thing. I thought it’d be different now. But I see as long as we’re here in Christmas, and so is Grace, it will be a constant cause of malcontent.
He’s gripping the steering wheel and his breathing picks up. He’s getting angry because his thoughts are spiraling. He has no control over this because I’m not giving him any words to grab ahold of.
“So, are we back to just being co-parents again, Chelsea Jo? Not being able to talk anything out.”
“I don’t want to be.”
“Then give me something! We made a mess. I’m trying to fix it!” At his outburst, I turn abruptly to check that Dom hasn’t woken up. When I see he is still quietly tucked in, I jump out my door, and open the back door, taking Dom out of his car seat and heading inside. I need to get him in his own bed to sleep before we continue with this.
I hear Adam shut his door, following closely behind me. He opens the front door for me, helping me inside. I head right to Dom’s bedroom, placing him down, taking off his shoes, and tucking him in for the night. I shut the light and walk back down the hall. Adam is pulling at his hair with one hand, his hat in the other. His eyes are frantic.
“I thought we were on our way to fixing this. We told him tonight who I am. Tell me what to do,” he pleads in a whisper-yell. “Was it me, or was it rumors? Was it my hours? I was always committed to you Chelsea, you’re the one who would leave me. I didn’t want that.”
“Yeah? And who did you see when I left?”
“Do you hear yourself? You just acknowledged leaving me! How can I be at fault for doing something when you left me?”
“We were on breaks, Adam. You know I could never leave you fully.”
“But you did leave! And breaks?” he scoffs. “How did I know it was a break when you would disappear? Not tell me anything. Not answer calls. And that final exit of yours? Twenty-four months is not abreak, Chelsea.”
