The Beckoning (Entangled Series Book 2) Read online

  “Easy.” Brea’s father stood up and rushed over to kneel beside her. His hands shook as he reached up and touched his daughter’s face. “Brea?” He slapped it slightly, causing her to stir.

  “Who are you?” This time it was Rachelle Sorenson who asked.

  “I’m Ethan Kincaid.” He turned to them. “You’re Jess’s parents.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes,” Rachelle said after a moment.

  He turned to Brea’s mother. “You’re Dawn? Brea’s mother?” His eyes narrowed, then turned to Jess’s father.

  The woman refused to meet his eyes. Instead, her eyes were glued to Brea and he saw tears sliding down her cheeks.

  Instead of answering him, she asked Byron. “Is she okay?”

  “It’s a little late for you to show your motherly concern, isn’t it?” He stood between her and Brea and then turned to her father. “You told her all these years that her mother was dead.”

  Byron shook Brea lightly, and when her eyes fluttered open, Ethan walked over and pushed him aside.

  “You okay?” he asked, concern flooding his voice.

  Brea’s eyes blinked a few times as she looked around the room. Her gaze landed on her mother.

  “Mom?” Brea sat up, but he stopped her from getting up.

  “Easy.” He sat next to her. “Take a moment.” He took her hand.

  Anger and hurt appeared behind her eyes. “You lied.” Her eyes landed on her father. “All these years.” Her voice was low.

  “Brea—” her father started to say.

  “No!” she screamed and stood up, walking over to her father and stopping less than a foot away. “You lied! Why?”

  “Your mother…” Byron’s eyes moved to Dawn. “She was sick.”

  “Sick! Not dead.” Brea crossed her arms over her chest and took a step back. Then she turned to Dawn. Her eyes ran up and down the woman. “Sick, not dead,” she repeated softly.

  “Honey.” Dawn held out her hands and moved closer.

  “No!” Brea jerked away. “You don’t get to speak to me like you know me. Just because you gave birth to me, doesn’t mean you know me.”

  “You’re right,” Dawn said, her eyes turning down.

  “We’ll leave…” Jess’s mother said, reaching for her husband’s hand.

  “No one is leaving,” Ethan said, looking around the room. “Not until we have some answers.”

  “Why?” Brea turned to her father. “Why did you hide this?”

  “Dawn wasn’t the same after Misty’s… accident.”

  Brea’s eyes narrowed. “The truth,” she said. “No more lies.”

  Her father took a deep breath and glanced around at the other people in the room. “Very well, let’s all sit down.” He nodded towards the sofa and chairs.

  Ethan noticed that Byron had taken the spot directly next to Dawn. When they were all settled, Byron started.

  He reached over and took the woman’s hand in his. “Dawn wasn’t the same after her sister disappeared. We tried to get on with our lives, but shortly after you were born, something just…”—his eyes met Dawn’s—“clicked inside her. She began to act out of sorts.” He glanced over at the other couple. “We were concerned that she would hurt you.”

  “Hurt me?” Brea asked. “Why?”

  “I found her putting baking soda in your bottle,” Rachelle said, a tear sliding down her face. Her husband reached over and wrapped his arm around her. “I started staying with her, during the day while your father was at work, you know, to watch out for her and you. But then, I found her pouring boiling water into the bathtub one day. She was preparing you for bath time like there wasn’t anything wrong with sticking a two-week-old baby in one-hundred-degree water.”

  “That’s when we knew there was something wrong,” Byron added. “We checked her into the best clinic.”

  “Why the ruse of her death?” Brea asked.

  “I was running for state representative at the time.”

  Brea stood up and walked to the front window and looked out. “Let me guess, you didn’t think having a wife locked up would look good on the resume?”

  Byron glanced over at him. “We thought it was for the best.”

  “Why is she here, now?” Brea turned and nodded towards her mother.

  “Last week,” Byron said, “the day that you called, I got a message from Rach and Larry. The home had called and told them that Dawn had woken up.”

  “Woken?” Brea asked.

  “I don’t know how it’s possible, but the day you showed up in Hidden Creek, I snapped out of whatever it was that had been holding me.” Dawn leaned forward, her eyes searching Brea’s. “It was like a dream. Everything. I don’t even remember giving birth to you.” A tear escaped her silver eyes. “You have to believe me. I would have never hurt you.”

  Brea shook her head and took a step towards the door. “I…” She turned and walked out of the house.

  Ethan started to get up.

  “No, let me.” Her father put a hand on his shoulder, then followed Brea.

  Ethan glanced around at the other people. “Okay, so that explains why she did a vanishing act.” He nodded to Dawn. “What’s your excuse for leaving a thirteen-year-old girl to fend for herself?”

  Chapter 20

  Brea ran away from the house until she was out of breath. Her sides hurt, but not as bad as her heart did. Closing her eyes, she rested against a tree and took several deep breaths until she felt the chill of the day hit her.

  Here, where the pine and oak trees were thick, the air was a lot cooler. Turning around, she sat with her back against the tree and cried.

  When she heard a branch snap close to her, she jerked her head up as her father moved towards her.

  “Hey, pumpkin.” He sat down next to her, his back to the same tree. “Are you okay?”

  She laughed. “Am I okay? I just found out that my father, the man whom I always believed would never lie to me, has lied to me my entire life. Oh, and my dead mother wasn’t really dead.” She dusted her hands on her jeans, then crossed her arms over her knees.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in.” He reached over and set his hand over hers. “I’m sorry. I thought I had done the right thing.”

  Hearing his voice crack, she glanced over at him.

  “How could I tell my little girl that her mother was crazy? What would that have done to you?” He shook his head and she watched in horror as a tear escaped his blue eyes. She could only remember seeing her father cry one time before. The day she’d moved out on her own.

  “Dad?” She took his hand in his. “I would have dealt with it.”

  He shook his head. “But I couldn’t.” He closed his eyes. “I loved your mother, but after all these years, I had to owe up to the fact that I wasn’t in love with her. Not when we married.”

  “Misty?” she asked, already knowing the answer. “You loved Misty.”

  Her father’s eyes met hers. “Yes, but when she disappeared…”

  “Disappeared, not died.” Brea’s eyes narrowed.

  “Honey, there’s so much we need to talk about.” He glanced around, then stood up and held out his hands. “It’s getting dark and cold. Let’s go back to the house and have some dinner. Your mother has made spaghetti.” He sighed. “She always loved to cook.”

  She allowed her father to help her up, but stiffened when he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he said into her hair. “I’m so sorry for lying to you. I should have told you… when you were old enough to understand.”

  She sighed and pulled away. “You shouldn’t have lied.” She walked back to the house with her father following close behind.

  When they entered the house, Ethan was standing over Jess’s father.

  “Is everything okay?” Brea walked over and laid a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

  “This… These people…” Ethan ran his hands through his hair and stepped back. “They left a thirteen-year-old to fend for herself because
they were afraid of her.”

  Jess’s mother was crying, bawling into her husband’s shoulders.

  “You.” Brea stood next to Ethan. “You appeared to me.”

  Rachelle looked up at her. Her tears dried up quickly as her eyes narrowed.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The woman’s entire demeanor changed. Her shoulders straightened and her eyes cleared.

  “You showed up in my bathroom.” She almost screamed it. “Threatened me. Told me to not look into the past. Why?”

  Ethan walked around the room. She could tell he was frustrated. “They own Jess an explanation.”

  “Yes, and we will see that she gets one,” Brea said. “But now, I want to know why that woman showed up in my bathroom and threatened me. Told me to leave the past alone.”

  “You’ve seen it,” Rachelle said. “You’ve seen what happens when you meddle.”

  “What?” Brea shook her head.

  “The moon?” Ethan added. “That happens because of us?”

  “Why else?” Rachelle said, her eyes narrowing. “We had set everything right, but then… you showed up.” She turned to Ethan. “And everything changed.”

  “How do you know about it?” Brea asked.

  Jess’s father, Larry, spoke for the first time since Brea had returned to the house. “My wife, she’s… let’s just say she’s special.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Brea whispered. “You owe your daughter an explanation for why you left, why you’re afraid of her. Actually, you owe all of us one.”

  “We aren’t afraid of her,” Rachelle said. “More like, we knew what would happen if we’d stayed.”

  “I don’t understand,” Brea added.

  “Honey, it’s complicated.” Her father moved towards her, but she jerked away.

  “Did you know? Did you know that they had left their thirteen-year-old daughter alone?” She turned to her father.

  “No.” He shook his head. “I hadn’t heard from Larry and Rachelle until right before you’d called me. I didn’t even know they had a daughter.” He glanced around the room.

  She eased up a little and sighed. So, her father hadn’t condoned their actions. It still didn’t make up for the fact that he’d lied to her about her mother.

  She’d avoided making eye contact with the woman who’d given birth to her. It was so hard looking across the room at her mother. She’d only ever seen old pictures of her and Misty. She’d spent countless hours as a child looking at the faces of the women she wanted to know most in the world.

  Her mother’s face was so much different than her sister’s. It might be because Misty was a ghost, or that her mother had aged so much.

  Brea turned towards her mother and narrowed her eyes. “She’s younger.” She hadn’t realized she’d spoken the words out loud until everyone turned to her.

  “Who?” her mother asked.

  “Misty,” she answered.

  Her mother’s head tilted. “No, Misty was nineteen months older than me.”

  Brea shook her head. “No, I mean, when I saw her.”

  Several gasps sounded in the room. “When did you see her?” Rachelle asked.

  “I’ve seen her several times.” She turned to the woman. “Much like I saw you in my bathroom.”

  Rachelle stepped forward. “When? When was the first time?”

  “The… the day I left Hidden Creek.” She didn’t tell them about teleporting back later that day.

  Rachelle walked over and pulled out a large book from a bookshelf, then set it down on the kitchen table.

  “What day?” she asked.

  Brea thought back. “Here.” She pointed to a spot on the calendar with an image of the New Moon on it.

  Rachelle sighed. “It figures.”

  “What does?”

  The woman sat down and looked around. “It’s a long story.” She reached over and started dishing up a plate of spaghetti.

  “One that I think you owe to us and the other people who it effects, especially your daughter,” Ethan said, moving forward and putting his arm around her.

  Rachelle looked around the room, then nodded. “We’ll talk after dinner.”

  Ethan tried not to let his anger show as he drove back to Hidden Creek. Brea’s parents were in the car behind them with Jess’s parents.

  “I’ve texted everyone to meet us at Xtina’s place.” Brea sat back.

  “What did you tell them?” He glanced over at her.

  “I opted for being vague.” She glanced back nervously. “I mean, what can you say?”

  “What about you? How are you holding up?” He reached over and took her hand.

  He’d seen the hurt and anger on her face and had been right there with her. Even though he’d just met her father, he felt the betrayal to the core. Maybe because he was coming fresh from his own parents’ secrets.

  “Don’t you find it ironic that all of our parents kept secrets from their kids?”

  “All but Xtina’s,” she said, remembering what she’d found out about them.

  “Yeah, but from what my brother tells me, she didn’t come out of it unscathed.” He remembered talking to Mike about what Xtina’s parents had done to her as a child.

  “I guess when we look at the big picture, things aren’t as bad as we make them out to be.” He thought of what his parents had hidden from him and Mike. It was nothing compared to what Brea’s dad had hidden.

  By the time they pulled up at Xtina’s, her driveway was almost full of cars, including his brother’s police car.

  Something shifted inside him, and he knew he’d been putting off really talking to the man. Something told him that tonight would be a perfect time to step aside and have that brotherly talk he needed.

  “Well.” Brea sighed. “Show time.”

  He walked around and opened her door, then took her hand and walked towards the house. They didn’t even have to knock on the door before Xtina pulled it open, a frown on her face as she looked around at the people who’d followed them up to the porch. When her eyes landed on the Sorensons, her eyes narrowed and Ethan could see the anger build behind them.

  “Come in,” she said in a curt voice.

  He followed Brea across the threshold, then moved aside as her parents followed. When Jess’s parents walked in, every eye was on her.

  It was strange. He’d expected some sort of response, but Jess’s face had gone completely blank. Almost like she’d known her parents who had disappeared over ten years ago would be walking into the room. Like it was a perfectly normal thing.

  “Hi, sweetie,” Rachelle said, rushing to her daughter, who took a step backwards.

  “Jess?” Jacob moved over and took her shoulder.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” Jess said quickly. “I have to…” She glanced around, her eyes oddly blank. Then she walked calmly from the room and disappeared into the kitchen with Xtina and Jacob on her heels.

  “No.” Brea stopped Jacob. “I’ll go.” Brea’s eyes moved to her own mother. “You stay.” She followed Xtina into the back. Jacob’s eyes narrowed as he turned on the couple.

  “The Sorensons, I presume.” He took a step closer, and Ethan noticed how his brother’s chest puffed out, making him look larger. Not that he needed it. Out of the three of them, only Jacob had gotten their father’s impressive physic. Ethan had worked hard for years to try and achieve Jacob’s muscles.

  “Yes,” Rachelle said, watching the hallway to the kitchen. “I should…”

  Jacob stepped in front of her. “Give her time.” He almost growled it out.

  “I’m Mike.” Mike got up, holding his hand out to Brea’s father. “You’re Congressmen Garrett.”

  “Yes, I’m Brea’s father. This is my wife, Dawn.”

  “We had heard that you had passed.” Mike glanced towards him and he nodded.

  “Yes, well,” Brea’s father said, sighing. “I guess we all have some explaining to do. Maybe we could…” He nodded to
the living room.

  Mike motioned for them to sit. “Would you like something to drink?” he asked.

  Jacob’s bark of laughter caught everyone in the room off guard.

  “Sure, offer a drink and be civil to the people who left their thirteen-year-old daughter to fend for herself,” he said before storming out the front door.

  Ethan held up his hand when Mike made a move to follow. “I’ve got this,” he said, before following his brother to the front porch.

  “You’re pissed,” he said when he found Jacob leaning against the front porch, staring out at the darkness.

  “Damn right I am.” He turned towards him. “I want to punch something.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Yeah, I felt that way about an hour ago.” He looked back towards the window. “Still do.”

  Jacob shook his head. “Do you know the kind of hell they put her through?” He ran his hands through his hair. “I was here, I remember.” He closed his eyes and Ethan saw the pain in his face. “The entire town rallied behind her, so she was never really alone, but…” He shook his head and met his own eyes. “Even the pain of finding out I was adopted, abandoned by my real parents, doesn’t even scratch the surface of what Jess has gone through, knowing that they had left her.”

  “Our family may be screwed up, but at least we’ve found each other now,” Ethan said, leaning against the post. He turned his head towards Jacob. “That is, if you’ll have us.”

  Jacob’s eyes were still glued to the window. “Beats facing this shit alone.”

  Chapter 21

  Brea stood by and watched Xtina comfort Jess. For her part, Jess had yet to break. Brea could see tears hiding behind her gray eyes, but so far, she was just pacing the floor.

  “Are you okay?” Xtina said.

  “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” She turned and stopped pacing. “My parents, who abandoned me twelve years ago, just walked in the room, acting like they had just made a run to the grocery store.” She turned around and kicked the counter, then hopped up and down on her other foot. “Damn it.”

  “Have a seat,” Xtina suggested.