Page 22 of Coveted Justice

“Maddie, do you have a minute?”

Sherry motioned toward Maddie, beckoning her to follow outside onto the back deck.

“Of course, is everything okay? You look worried. Is it about all of this? It’s going to be fine. Tanner will handle it.”

Generally, a happy, optimistic person, Sherry rarely wore the frown she was sporting today.

“That’s not it.” Sherry glanced over her shoulder and through the window where she could see everyone huddled in her kitchen. “I need to talk to you.”

Now Maddie was worried, too. This was out of character for her best friend.

“You’re worrying me.”

“No, don’t be worried,” Sherry said with a shake of her head. “I need to talk to you about your dad. He called me this morning.”

What on earth…?

“My dad called you?” Maddie slapped her forehead and groaned. “I’m terrified to ask about what.”

As if she didn’t know. Was her dad parading around town telling everyone that he cheated on her mother? Didn’t he feel any sort of shame at his behavior? Not that Maddie had any secrets from Sherry. Far from it. They’d been friends for so long they knew pretty much everything about one another.

I guess it’s okay he called her. I would have told her eventually anyhow.

“He simply asked me to keep an eye on you. He said that he told you some news that upset you and he’s worried. So now I’m worried about you. Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?”

Maddie held up her hands in surrender. “I’m fine. I promise. Yes, my dad and I had a discussion last night and it did upset me, but I’ll be fine.”

“He sounded very concerned.”

“I’m sorry that he’s dragged you into this,” Maddie replied, leaning against the deck railing. “This isn’t how I wanted our discussion to go. I would have told you eventually, but I kind of wanted more time to wrap my mind around it.”

“Your dad has asked me to keep an eye out for you before, and I know my parents have asked you the same, so it didn’t bother me that he called. And you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”

Was she okay? She hadn’t had a chance to think about it today because of Marty’s death. She was an adult and as an adult, she’d learned that life didn’t always go the way she wanted it to. Shit happened. All too often. A person had to learn to roll with the punches, but she had to admit that this hit had been particularly hard.

“I’m fine,” she repeated. “Shocked, hurt, disgusted, but fine.”

“Disgusted? That doesn’t sound good, my friend.”

“It isn’t.” Maddie hesitated for only a moment before continuing. This was Sherry, her best friend in the world. She wasn’t going to keep this from her. After all, if her father had his way and she had some sort of relationship with her half-sister everyone would find out. “My dad pulled me aside last night and told me that I have a half-sister.”

Sherry’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide in amazement. It would have been comical if the situation was different.

“Wait…what?”

“A half-sister,” Maddie repeated. “Apparently, my father had an affair on my mother and produced a child. He didn’t have any clue until recently when the daughter reached out to him.”

“Holy crap on a cracker, I think you need to start at the beginning. This is wild.”

Maddie recounted her conversation with her father from the night before while Sherry grew even more shocked. When she was done, her best friend didn’t seem to know what to say.

Sherry was rarely at a loss for words.

“It’s like something out of a movie,” she finally said. “Those dramatic ones on cable television. Not a blockbuster in the theater.”

“A really bad and cheesy movie,” Maddie said. “I’m so angry at my dad I could…hell, I don’t even know what I could do. I just know that I’m mad at him. He cheated on my mom. Cheated. You know that’s a deal-breaker for me in any relationship. If I didn’t put up with it from a guy, I sure wouldn’t want my father to be a big old cheater.”

“Does he know that you’re mad at him? Did you say that?”