Falling For You - Love in Autumn Book One

Chapter Six

**This has not been edited or proofread.**

When I came to, I was laying on a very comfortable couch. I felt a little disoriented for a moment, but I knew Chase was sitting next to my hip, his hand holding mine, his worried gaze roving over my face.

"Chase?" I croaked.

He brushed his thumb over the back of my hand. "I'm here, sweetheart. You okay?"

I licked my dry lips and slowly sat up. Chase gripped my waist, holding me steady. I looked around, swallowing thickly when my eyes landed on the man Chase had called Grayson, the man his little sister worked for.

"Do you know him?" I blurted.

Grayson frowned at me. "Know who?" he asked me.

I swallowed thickly, my fingers trembling. Chase tightened his hold around my hand, soothing me for a moment. Max whined and pressed his head against my stomach. I dug the fingers of my free hand into his fur.

"Gerald Lawson," I whispered. Grayson's face went pale. "So, you do know him?"

"How do you know him?" Grayson demanded, looking like his entire world had been tilted on his axis.

I felt like throwing up. My chest was tightening. I squeezed my eyes shut, drawing in a deep breath, trying to steady myself before I had an anxiety attack, or worse, passed out again.

"Easy, sweetheart," Chase crooned. I slowly opened my eyes, locking them on his soulful, blue eyes. "Breathe. It's going to be okay." He looked at his best friend. "Grayson, answer her question."

"Gerald Lawson is my biological father," Grayson bitterly responded.

Vomit rose up my throat with barely any warning. "I'm going to throw up," I blurted.

Grayson quickly snatched up a trashcan before Chase or I could move and thrust it towards me. I gripped it and threw up into it as Chase held my hair back from my face. I dry-heaved a couple more times before it passed. Chase handed me a stick of gum, and I quickly shoved it into my mouth.

"Now, how do you know him?" Grayson repeated his earlier question.

"My mother and I are the reason he's rotting in a prison cell right now," I bitterly responded, my heart knocking crazily against my breastbone. I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath, tightening my hand on Max. He just pushed more against me in response. "Can we not talk about this?" I whispered. "I just really want to go home."

Chase stood and helped me up from the couch. My legs were wobbly, and I had to grip his arm for support as Max pushed against the other side of my legs.

Grayson was frowning at me, sadness and regret in his eyes. "For what it's worth, Meredith, I'm sorry he tainted your life, too."

So am I, Grayson.

~*~*~

When I got home that evening, Chase made sure I made it upstairs safely before promising me he would help get the store closed up before coming back up.

I was exhausted and tired. My emotions were at an all-time high, and my anxiety levels were spiking horribly.

I curled up on the couch. Max managed to squish himself onto the couch with me and nestled against my abdomen with his head right beneath my chin. I ran my fingers through his fur.

Of all the places to have to face a reminder of that tragic night, I found it here in a small town, smaller than I grew up in.

How did this happen?

Why couldn't I just escape it?

My cell phone rang on the table in front of me. With a sigh, I grabbed it, thinking it might be Chase needing help with something downstairs. Instead, the police department from my hometown was calling me.

My already bad day instantly got worse, and a horrible feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

"Hello?" I quietly asked.

"Is this Miss Meredith Shaw?" a woman asked on the other end of the line, her voice kind.

"This is. How can I help you?"

I tightened my fingers in Max's fur, my chest already tightening. "Miss Shaw, I'm calling to inform you that Gerald Lawson was released this morning on parole. The chief of police asked me to give you a call to ask if you'd like a restraining order put in place."

I couldn't answer. My vision was tunneling. I couldn't breathe. The phone dropped from my hand. Max barked and pushed against me, but I couldn't focus.

My head was spinning.

This wasn't happening – couldn't be happening.

Chase burst into the apartment. My lips trembled. Max barked again.

"Help me," I cried.