Face Your Fears

Chapter 22

"What is going on, Rebecca?" Carter repeated, his voice rising. "And what is this boy doing here?"

No one answered Carter.

Irene bent down and scooped the photos up off the floor. A shocked look crossed her face as she flipped through each photo, staring at each of the girls' faces. Like mother like daughter, tears immediately started dripping down her cheeks.

"What is this?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Give me these." Carter snatched the photos out of Irene's hands and quickly started sifting through them. "What..."

His mouth twisted into a harsh line as he examined the photos and then quickly thrust them back at me.

"What's this about?" he demanded, glaring back and forth between Rebecca and I.

"I think you can figure that one out, Dad," Rebecca retorted causticly. "Those girls look a little familiar, don't they?"

"Rebecca," Carter said warningly. "You don't know what you're - "

"But you knew, didn't you? You knew this whole time that Chris had three daughters."

Carter and Irene exchanged nervous looks.

I fought back a disgusted sigh.

They were in on this. They'd known the entire time that my mom had been pregnant, and they'd purposely kept it from Rebecca.

And I thought my family had problems?

"Rebecca, you have to understand..." Irene began, her voice trembling. "The entire situation was - "

"Was what, exactly?" Rebecca demanded.

I was worried that steam was going to start coming out of Rebecca's ears from how red her face was turning and just how pissed off she was. I couldn't blame her for it, but I didn't want to be caught in the cross fire either.

Carter stared back and forth between Rebecca and I before he shook his head in disgust. "We don't have to explain anything to you, Rebecca, and certainly not this boy. You were a child when it happened, and - "

"Okay, Dad?" Rebecca was pacing now, visibly trying to keep herself calm and from throwing something at her parents. "I was eighteen when Chris was killed. And I'm almost thirty-three. Do you still see me as a little girl, or what? I think I deserve to know why my parents kept the fact that I have three nieces out there that I know nothing about!"

Even I flinched as Rebecca threw those words at Carter. I'd done my fair share of shouting before, but nothing to that extent.

"Rebecca, please calm down," Irene said weakly, reaching forward to grab Rebecca's arm. "We just - "

"No! No, I will not calm down!" Rebecca shrieked, yanking her arm out of her mother's grasp. "The last thing you should be doing right now is telling me to do anything! I can't believe you!"

Carter then threw caution to the wind and rounded on me, looking angry enough for more than one person.

"You see what you did? You see what gigantic mess you started in this family?" he said, his voice menacing. "What are you doing here, anyway? Did you just decide to come down here and mess with my wife and daughter because you thought it would be fun?"

A deadly silence fell.

I was not shocked by Carter's words. I was not offended. I was angry.

He had the audacity to yell at me for messing everything up when he had been the one to sever all ties with his granddaughters for their entire life?