Defenseless Hearts (A Tender Hearts Novel Book 2) by Meagan Brandy

Author:Meagan Brandy [Brandy, Meagan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-21T18:30:00+00:00

“He says he’s excited about the baby,” Payton whispers, pulling the large hoodie that must belong to Deaton over her knees. “Says we’ll figure it all out.” Her voice cracks with her last word, and she drops her head, crying into her hands.

“Hey now.” I wrap my arm around her, trying to pull her closer to me, but she shrugs away.

It’s just her and me out here, sitting on the last step of the patio, looking out at the waves.

“I don’t want to have to figure anything out. I had it all figured out before this happened! My showcase senior year and then college. Deaton was going to a go to school that was only an hour or so away, and we’d see each other every weekend and evenings we had free—kind of like Nate and Lolli do. A baby will ruin everything.”

“I don’t know much about it, Peep, but that can’t be true. I know the timing isn’t ideal, but things like this usually happen for a reason, right?”

She lifts her head to glare at me, her nose red from crying. “What, did you suddenly start going to church when you left? Are you really feeding me fate lines right now?” She scowls. “Our mother shamed our father from being who he really was and convinced him to stop loving us because of it. Mom fed you Adderall and pumped you with performance enhancers for years—before your body was ready for the shit she gave it, almost causing you to have a heart attack. She literally taught me how to be bulimic because image was everything.

“You think she’ll let me keep this baby and not find a way to groom it from birth to be all the things we’re not? She’ll either give it away or take it away.” She cries, and I stay silent. I’ve got nothing good to say, and flipping my shit over my mom forcing a sixteen-year-old girl to have an eating disorder is not what she needs right now. “And there’s no telling what she’ll do to Deaton for ‘ruining me.’”

“Look, Peep, I’m sorry, but straight-up? Fuck her.”

Payton rolls her eyes and looks off.

“Do what feels right, Peep. Only you know what that is.”

She cries for a few moments before finally turning and letting me hold her. “I’m not ready for this, Parker. I’m not ready.”

“I know, Peep. I know.”

She sniffles, and we both turn when the sliding glass door opens.

Deaton steps out, shutting the door behind him as he slips his hands in his khaki slacks. He gives her a soft smile, and she sighs beside me.

I tap her knee, grab a beer from the ice chest, and head down the steps to give them some privacy. Instead of heading for my hammock, I make my way down the beach, stopping when I reach the old dock I’ve noticed goes unused.

An hour or more goes by before the sun starts to set, and the waves grow stronger. Right when I’m about to head back, I hear her footsteps behind and decide to sit still.

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