Page 78 of A Wrench in the Plan
Taking in a deep breath, I got up and made my way into the kitchen after them. There was no one else hanging around, which should have made this a little easier, but I was still nervous as hell.
“Hey,” I said, causing both of them to whip around to face me. I smiled nervously. “Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah, what ya need?” Charming asked.
“Actually, I need to talk to Abigail,” I said.
He eyed me curiously.
“Okay,” she said, sounding stunned. “Wait, me?”
“Uh, yeah.” I nodded to the table before walking over and taking a seat. “I don’t even know where to start,” I mumbled.
Abigail hesitantly took a seat. I sent Charming a pleading look, silently asking him to sit too.
He was an older member. With him looming over us like that, I was worried I’d lose the nerve.
“Everything alright?” he asked. The chair scraped across the floor as he pulled it out.
“I think… um, well, you see…” I paused and sucked in a deep breath. Then I looked Abigail in the eyes. “I think Dade might be my father.”
I felt Charming’s eyes on me, but I was stuck on Abigail’s horrified expression. The blood drained from her face as her hand went to cover her gaping mouth. There were tears in her eyes instantly.
Swallowing hard, I went on, “I have no idea who my father is. My mom tended to bounce around from place to place. I never thought in a million years I would end up… well, I never thought I’d know who he was. And then I saw his picture on the wall… I’m sorry for your loss.” She sent me a shaky nod. “There was something about that picture. It struck me in a way that I’ve never felt before. I could be completely wrong and putting you through all this for nothing.”
“Oh, my…” she said, blinking as if she was in shock.
Her eyes slowly moved around the features of my face. I stayed stock still as she took me in, feeling awkward as hell. She took in my hair, my forehead, the bridge of my nose. She stared at my mouth with narrowed eyes. My chin, then her eyes moved to my left ear before shooting over to the right one. She studied my features like she was trying to dissect every part of me. Her head shook a few times, and she let out a shaky breath as she stared into my eyes… like, really stared into them.
She gasped, and suddenly her hand was reaching for mine sitting on top of the table. She clasped it tightly.
“I see it. The eyes,” she rushed to say, then her mouth opened and closed again as if she were in shock and at a loss for words. “The hair. Oh, my God. I see him in you. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before.”
“Probably because I’m a lowly Prospect. No one pays attention to us,” I tried to joke.
She let out a wet laugh.
“It’s true,” Charming said, a small smile on his face. “No one gives a crap about Prospects.”
“Stop it. He’s more than just a Prospect, and you know it.” She lightly smacked him on the leg as she smiled at me.
“Don’t tell him that. He can’t think he’s special.” Charming rolled his eyes playfully.
“I know my place,” I assured him. “Won’t see me taking advantage.”
“I know,” he told me. “You’re a good one.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just sent him a grateful nod.
“What do we do?” Abigail asked, shifting us back to the conversation I’d come in here to have.
“I’d say get a DNA test to know for sure,” Charming said. “At least you both will have that question answered and you can go from there.”
“Right,” I said. “That would be smart. We should do that… if you’re good with it?”
“Yeah!” she said excitedly. There was still a deep sadness in her eyes. “This is… I can’t believe…”
She got up, rushed around the table, and pulled me up for a hug.
