I PAID FOR A STRANGER\u2019S GROCERIES TWO YEARS AGO\u2014AND TODAY, I GOT THIS IN THE MAIL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI stood completely still, the rose trembling in my hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The music kept playing. A familiar slow song. Something about \u201cforever love.\u201d It felt like a cruel joke now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I asked, my voice barely louder than the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked around\u2014nervously this time\u2014then pulled me gently toward the corner of the gym, near the balloon arch where no one could hear us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to come,\u201d he said. \u201cShe told me not to. Said I didn\u2019t deserve to see you after everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He hesitated. His eyes were red now\u2014not from crying, but from something deeper. Like he’d been unraveling for days. Maybe weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI tried to keep it together for you,\u201d he whispered. \u201cBut your mom\u2014she was getting worse. She said I had to choose between her and you. Between living a lie\u2026 or finally being free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He swallowed hard, then added, \u201cSo I drove her to the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My stomach twisted. \u201cWhat happened at the lake, Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe screamed at me the whole way there. Said she\u2019d take you from me. Said she\u2019d vanish and tell everyone I was unfit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He ran a hand over his face. \u201cShe got out of the truck and started walking toward the edge. Said she wasn\u2019t afraid to jump if it meant punishing me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My chest hurt. My head was spinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid she\u2014jump?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small silver locket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He opened it and held it out. Inside was a tiny photo\u2014me as a baby, held in her arms. But across the glass was a deep crack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe dropped this when she ran,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if she\u2019s gone. Or if she\u2019s hiding. But I\u2019m telling you now before the police come asking questions. I\u2019m not going to lie to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My throat went dry. \u201cWhy are you telling me all of this? Why now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knelt again. His voice broke completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause I couldn\u2019t live another day pretending. You deserve the truth. I didn\u2019t push her. I didn\u2019t hurt her. But I didn\u2019t stop her either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My vision blurred with tears. I looked around the gym. No one had noticed a thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I turned back to my father. \u201cWhat happens now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked away, then stood up slowly. \u201cThat\u2019s up to her. If she comes back\u2026 or if she doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, the gym doors slammed open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A police officer walked in, scanning the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His eyes locked on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJason Moore?\u201d the officer called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My father froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then\u2014he turned to me one last time.
\u201cDance with me, just once more?\u201d he asked quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for reasons I couldn\u2019t explain\u2026 I said yes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had been waiting near the folding chairs for almost twenty minutes. Every other girl had someone. Ties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1021,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions\/1021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}