“It doesn’t matter. Once it’s out there... it’s out there.”

“What are we going to do?” I whispered.

Dale was quiet for a moment.

“You know, yesterday, if Greg had told me that, I would have thought it was the end of the world,” he said softly, stroking my cheek in the dark. It hurt a little—it was the one the stepbeast had backhanded me across. But I didn’t tale Dale that.

“Now…” He kissed me, soft, slow, sweet. “My world is very small. Everything else can fall away. You’re all that matters.”

I knew exactly how he felt.

Dale said we wouldn’t sleep, but we did, wrapped up in each other, both of us holding on to the one thing that mattered—each other.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The news was out by the time the car dropped us at home.

“I’m so sorry, son.” John hugged Dale the minute we got in the door. “I called Tyler, left him a message. We’ll straighten this out. What a mess!”

“Thanks, Dad.” Dale met my eyes over John’s shoulder. So sad. He’d done everything he could to keep this secret from the man who raised him and now the whole world knew.

I hugged John tight and smiled when he kissed the top of my head and said, “Welcome home.” We’d decided not to tell him about the stepbeast. Not now. Chelsea had talked to the cops and they all agreed it was best to keep Dale’s name out of any reports. The story of the stepbeast’s assault was fourth page news. Tyler Vincent and Dale Diamond, on the other hand, were front and center.

“Are you hungry?” John asked. “I can make you something…”

“Pancakes?” I asked hopefully.

“You got it.” He gave me a wink. “Go put your stuff away. It will be good to have you home for a while.”

A whole week. And Black Diamond was still playing shows at night. Then the tour would move up the coast, through New Hampshire, ending in Maine. Dale carried his bag and mine up the stairs. I opened the door to his room and he dropped the bags on the floor, leaping onto the bed with a groan. I laughed and flopped next to him.

“A real bed!” I exclaimed. “Oh bed, I missed you, bed.”

“I think we need to check the springs.” Dale sat, bouncing a little. “Just to make sure.”

I wagged a finger at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Hi you guys.”

I looked over at the open door, startled to see Chrissy standing there. I prepared myself for an onslaught.

Instead, she came in, shutting the door behind her, and said quietly, “I have to tell you something.”

Then she burst into tears. Dale looked at me, stunned. Then back at his sister. I just shrugged. I had no idea who this new Chrissy was or what she’d done with the old one.

“It’s all my fault,” she said, coming over to sit on the bed. Dale moved, making room for her between us. “But I swear to God, I didn’t know he was a reporter!”

She’d met him at the mall. He seemed interested in Dale, wanted to talk about him a lot, but she figured he was just curious about her family. She claimed she was as surprised as anyone else when the story came out and she was listed as an “unidentified source.”

“I didn’t mean it,” she sobbed. “I swear I didn’t mean it to come out. I thought he was just…interested…”

“He was interested all right.” Dale sighed, putting an arm around her shoulder. “Hey. Come on, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay.” She leaned against him, shaking her head. “Tyler is going to do something… bad.”

Dale snorted. “What?”

“Mom said if it ever got out… he had a plan. Some sort of plan.” She met her brother’s eyes and she really looked scared. “She said it would ruin everything.”

“Mom said that?” Dale frowned, looking over at me. I shrugged. I didn’t trust this new Chrissy—if past behavior was any indication of future behavior, she was up to something.

“She said if I ever confronted him with the truth, he’d do… something.”

“Something is pretty broad,” I interjected.

“Look, I know you wanted him to… I don’t know, say he was our dad, I guess,” Dale said. “But he’s got a life. He’s got a family. He doesn’t want to jeopardize that.”

“What about us?” Chrissy asked.

“We’ve got Dad.” Dale pointed at the door. I could already smell pancakes cooking. “He’s not rich, he’s not famous. He’s just Dad. And if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose Dad. He’s the most honest, hardworking, generous man I know.”

“I know,” she said softly, looking at the floor. “I’ve been kind of an awful brat to him.”

Kind of?

“That’s another great thing about Dad,” Dale said, squeezing her shoulder. “He forgives easy—because he loves us. He really loves you, Chrissy. To him, you’re his daughter. And for a long time, before we heard about Tyler Vincent, he was the only dad we knew.”

“It’s going to kill him,” Chrissy whispered, tears in her eyes again. “He was talking all morning about how the paper got it wrong and how he and Tyler were going to clear this up. When Dad finds out he’s not… not…”

“I know.” Dale sighed. “Damnit Chrissy, if you’d just kept your mouth shut…”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. ‘I’m sorry for you too. They’re saying maybe he had influence over the judges at Battle of the Bands.”

“I knew that was coming.” Dale rolled his eyes.

“I could use a hand or two down here!” John called from the bottom of the stairs. We all froze, hoping he hadn’t heard much of the conversation.

“Be right down,” I called.

“I really am sorry,” Chrissy said again.

“I know. Go on and help Dad. I want to put some of this away.” He nodded at the bags he’d brought up.

Chrissy went downstairs. Dale and I looked at each other. I was still so stunned I didn’t know what to say.

“Chrissy apologized!” I flopped back in the bed, staring at the ceiling

“I know,” Dale started putting some of his clothes back in his drawers. “I think it’s the first sign of revelations. Hey.”

“What?” I glanced over at him standing by the dresser.

“Dad put my mail up here.” Dale came over to the bed, sitting next to me. “This is it.”

“What?” I asked again, sitting up.

“The blood test. The DNA results.”

“Ben,” I whispered.

“Do you want to open it?”

“You open it.”

Dale slid his finger under the edge, pulling out a piece of paper. I threw an arm over my eyes. He was so quiet for so long I had to peek out.

“Well?”

Dale held the paper out to me.

“With ninety-nine percent accuracy,” I read aloud. “This test concludes…”

I looked up at Dale, my mouth dropping open.

“He’s your father.”

“What does that mean?” I whispered. And that was really the question, for all of us.

What, exactly, did that mean?

* * * *

I was going to call Ben. I really was. I was just planning out everything I was going to say in my head. And then he rang the doorbell in the middle of breakfast and John invited him in for pancakes.

The first thing he did was hug me. I was coming back from the refrigerator with the syrup John had forgotten. I looked up and there he was in the kitchen.

“Sara, my God, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Ben hugged me tight. “You could have been killed!”

So much for not telling John about what had happened with the stepbeast.

I had to sit down and tell the whole story over pancakes and everyone exclaimed how lucky I was to be alive. The phone rang and Chrissy was closest so she answered it.

“Your manager?” she said, holding the phone out to Dale.

He sighed, getting up from the table to talk. He stretched the cord all the way down the hall. We had finished off the last of the pancakes and John got up to the dishes. I started to get up to help clear but Chrissy interrupted me.

“You sit down,” she insisted. “I’ll clear.”

I blinked at her, too stunned to object.

“I’m really sorry I barged in like that,” Ben said. “I just saw the article and got really worried.”

”I’m okay,” I assured him, wondering how he even found the article. It had been buried. “Bump on my head. Bloody lip.”

“I wish I’d been there.” He shook his head, jaw tightening, a faraway look in his eyes.

“You read the article in the paper?”

He shook his head. “No, online.”

When I gave him a puzzle look he laughed. “I forgot, you don’t have a computer. I’m going to have to get you guys online. I find everything online. News, weather.”

“So, umm…” I wasn’t sure now how to tell him. “Dale got something in the mail the other day…”

“The DNA results?” Ben smiled and winked. “I got mine too. You’re my girl.”

I was surprised by his reaction, but in hindsight, it made sense. Of course he wasn’t surprised. It just confirmed what he’d been saying all along. So he was my father after all. My mother had lied to me. I could have known him my whole life, had some sort of relationship with him, and she had taken that away. But what kind of man was he? Maybe she had her reasons? Dale had been suspicious from the start—but Dale was always suspicious when it came to “other men” in my life.

“Listen, Sara, I am so sorry about that investment thing.” Ben sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know it scared you off and I didn’t mean… I should have been more clear. I should have approached it differently. I just saw a great opportunity for you to invest in your future, that’s all. It’s not even my company or my idea. I just happen to think it’s brilliant.”

“I guess it did put me off a little,” I admitted.

“I know, I know.” He held up his hand.”I had a lot of time to think about it when you didn’t return my calls.”

“Sorry about that. I… have a habit of avoiding confrontation if I can.”

“I can’t blame you for that.” He reached out and tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “But once I saw it from your perspective… ugh. I just show up out of nowhere after seeing your picture in the paper, you’ve got this rich and famous boyfriend, and me, dummy that I am, I end up talking to you about this investment thing. I could kick myself.”

I met his eyes, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. Or was this just more of some plan? It was like Chrissy’s sudden turn of attitude. I didn’t quite trust it.

“Can you… can we just have a do-over? I promise not to be such an idiot this time.”