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But it wasn’t just nor tosecret, and I hated it Honesty was always a big thing for my family From the time I was a small child, my parents instilled in me that honesty was one of the most important personal characteristics anyone could have Even if you rong about so honest about it prevented the situation fro est secret I ever had Knowing how disappointed they would be indishonest about it, was getting toso potentially har its toll on me

I felt like I couldn’t getEven though I’d done this dozens of tiht I couldn’tdone All of it hadlost, unsure of what I was supposed to do next I was so out of it I didn’t even notice my father come around the corner directly atinto each other, and all the papers andin my arms toppled to the floor and spilled out around me The sound shockedaway

Dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders and patted my back

“Everything okay, my boy?” he asked

Just the fact that he asked that toldon That waswith one of his sons, but he was never the kind to push or pry He would give each of us our own time and space to tell him as on our minds, then help us in any way he could I wanted to pour out everything to him and let him make me feel better, but at the saet away from him as quickly as I could I didn’t have it in

I bent down and scooped up everything fro until I was sure I had ether

“Just trying to get ready for the race,” I told hi on today”

He chuckled “You’re telling me Your mother has asked otten here yet If it doesn’t get here pretty soon, I think she’s going to end up trying to walk her way around the truck’s route to find them”

I forced a laugh

“Sounds like Mom,” I said

Just as I said it, his phone alerted hie, and he looked down at it

“Speak of the devil,” he said “I better get up there and help her unload Have you eaten today? You’re looking kind of pale Make sure you’re not so focused on everything you forget to take care of yourself Go by the kitchen and grab so yourThe roseood”

“I will,” I reassured him

I was relieved when he finally walked away and I could duck into an e I couldn’t keep going like this There was no way I was going to be able to keep this locked up inside me and just expect it to dissolve away eventually so I could pretend it didn’t happen As much as that’s what I wanted, or at least what I told myself I wanted, it wasn’t realistic Not forIt felt like a lie, and that wasn’t so I could handle

I needed to talk to Merry I knehat I’d said to her and what she was probably thinking It wouldn’t be easy to have the conversation we needed to have, but it had to be done I had never been good at secrets, and I wasn’t about to let this one ruin ure out hoere really going to handle it

Resolute in e needed to do, I headed to Merry’s office She was inside packing up her go-to bag of electronics

“Hey,” I said as I walked through the open door

She looked up at uarded expression