Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“I don’t know. He sounds pretty human to me,” her father said.
That was one of the best compliments her father could give him. Her dad believed in humanity. Why had she thought it was a bad idea to talk to them? She’d thought she would get weak if she opened herself up in that way a daughter only could for her father, but she’d forgotten how much strength she found in the connection. There wasn’t an ounce of blood between them, but this man and the one sleeping in the bedroom had created the path of her life, had taught her everything she needed to know about love and living. “He’s got something nasty in his past. Something that’s still haunting him.”
“Again, that sounds awfully human. The man who gets to his age and tells you he isn’t damaged either hasn’t lived at all or is lying. We’re all walking wounded if we’ve lived at all. I know you are.” He reached out and brushed his hand along her cheek, a sweet gesture she remembered from her childhood. “And I know I haven’t seen you smile the way you did tonight since that man took you away from us.”
“He didn’t take me away.” They tended to disagree on John Bishop. “I was going to go back to the Agency no matter what happened. I’d already talked to Tennessee Smith about it and he’d agreed to let me join the class.”
“Joining the class is not the same as sending a young girl who had barely begun her life into a snake pit.”
“There’s a lot I haven’t told you, but I hope you understand that I did good in there,” she said. “Bishop did what he did for this country, this country that took me in. This country that saved me, that let my dads love each other.”
His eyes narrowed. “Not for years, and don’t start in on the jingoistic anthem, Kayla. This country has a lot of problems.”
“Yes, and one of them isn’t a full out trade war with China. One of them isn’t biological warfare. And yes, I was a part of stopping both of those things. I know we have our problems, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t do our part. We’re struggling right now, but that doesn’t make me less of a patriot than I was before. It doesn’t make my sacrifice less. It makes it more.”
He sighed and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead as he had all those years ago. “I’m an old academic, my baby girl. I never once thought I would raise a warrior. I’ll follow your lead when it comes to warfare. So why don’t you follow mine when it comes to having a long-lasting and loving relationship? Whatever you’re hiding from Josh, tell him before it comes out.”
The thought scared her more than she could say. “What if it never comes out? What if he doesn’t have to know? What if I can do both?”
He shook his head. “It always comes out in the end. Always. Go get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll take you two out for brunch. You know how your papa loves him some brunch. We’ll get out of your hair, Kayla, but don’t expect us to stay away for long. If you’re living here in California, you better get used to seeing your parents.”
For the first time, the thought made her smile. Maybe they weren’t hard to talk to about this stuff. Maybe they did understand that she wasn’t the same girl she’d been. “I think I can handle that. And thanks for going easy on Josh.”
He stepped back. “Oh, that’s only because it’s late. Tomorrow we’re going to have a long talk about historical accuracy in films. And if you want to invite that puppy who lives next door along, don’t tell him, but Papa actually does have a little crush on him.” He sighed. “I just wish his brains were as developed as his abs.”
He turned and disappeared behind the door.
What was she going to do about Josh? She was stuck. If she told him and he walked away, she was risking another agent’s life. She’d been that agent. For years she’d been the one who had to rely on others’ silence for her continued existence. Was it fair to risk someone’s life so she could clear things up with her boyfriend?
It had to wait. If it was strictly about her, she could throw the truth down in a heartbeat. If it was her own life, she could risk that. She would put her faith in Josh.
Did she have the right to risk someone else’s?
She eased in the door, trying not to wake him.
“Hey, did everything go okay with your dads?” In the low light from the window above them, she could see him lying on the bed, an arm above his head. He was wearing boxer shorts and nothing else.