His eyes lifted from Micah and found me, and then he winked before looking back at Micah.
I stood there and watched them toss the ball back and forth. Dewayne showed Micah how to improve his throw, and I watched as Micah worked hard to get it right. I finally let myself accept something I’d been fighting since I was fourteen years old. I had always loved Dewayne. It had always been him. Dustin had been my best friend and I’d been his. But my heart . . . Dewayne had stolen that in front of a locker on my first day of high school.
Six years ago . . .
SIENNA
They hadn’t let me out of my bedroom since my doctor’s visit. I had been throwing up so bad for two mornings in a row that my mother had taken me to the doctor. She’d thought I had a stomach virus.
But we had both been surprised when the doctor informed us that I was pregnant. Not sick. Pregnant.
Mother hadn’t spoken to me the whole way home, and then she’d sent me to my room and ordered me to stay. My dad never once came to see me. Mother showed up with food at my door three times a day. I even had to open the door and ask to go to the bathroom.
I knew they were upset. I was terrified. Dustin was gone, and I had no one I could tell. No one to share this with, and now my parents were shutting me out. That scared me more than anything. The one thing I could be sure of was that this baby was safe. My father was too religious to make me have an abortion. For once I was thankful for his strict beliefs.
But I had questions, and I had no one to ask. My mother refused to speak to me when she brought me my meals. I didn’t have a phone in my room, and no one had stopped by to see me. That wasn’t too surprising. Dustin’s friends had accepted me, but they had never really been my friends.
So I sat here in my window seat and watched the world outside. I watched the people who came and visited the Falcos. People were still bringing them food. It was what we did here in the South. If someone died, you took their family food. I never understood that. I hadn’t been able to eat for days after Dustin’s death. I had cried and slept. That had been all I could manage.
At his funeral, what little strength I had to keep it together was gone the second I saw Dewayne Falco’s shoulders slumped, jerking harshly from crying. I never even imagined that Dewayne could cry. He was so tough and larger than life. But in that moment, seeing him broken, I lost it all over again. I hated seeing him in so much pain. He loved his brother, and Dustin had worshiped Dewayne.
At night whenever I closed my eyes, the image of Dewayne sobbing over his brother’s grave haunted me. I had wanted to hold him even though I knew he wouldn’t welcome it. No one could console him. No one could bring back Dustin.
We had all lost him.
Including the little life inside me.
I touched my stomach reverently, closed my eyes, and dreamed of the child inside. What would he or she look like? I wondered if it would have its father’s smile and charm. If it would grow up a Falco or a Roy. If the Falcos would accept this baby. I knew my parents were upset, but surely Tabby would love this baby.
I opened my eyes just as Dewayne walked across the street toward my house. Quickly I moved back behind the curtains and watched as he stepped up onto my porch. The doorbell rang, and I hurried over to my bedroom door to crack it open so I could hear him. Why was he here? I hadn’t seen him leave his parents’ house much over the past few weeks.
“Hello, Dewayne,” my mother said in a gentler tone than I’d expected. At least she respected the fact that he’d lost his brother. She didn’t have to be angry at him because I was pregnant. I was just glad my dad was at work.
“Is Sienna here?” he asked.
He was here to see me. Someone to talk to. Someone else who was hurting and lost without Dustin. Someone I trusted above anyone else.
“No. She isn’t here any longer. She’s been sent to a . . . facility up North. She had issues dealing with everything, and she wasn’t right emotionally.”
What?
“Oh. Uh, I didn’t realize she’d left. I . . . When is she coming back?”
“I don’t know. Not anytime soon,” my mother replied.
What? Was she serious? I was right here in my bedroom like I had been for a week now. Did she honestly plan to keep me locked up like this? Wasn’t that illegal? I had to see a doctor at some point.
“Is there a number where I can reach her?”
“No. She can’t communicate with anyone here. It upsets her. Talking to you will upset her. She needs time and medication.”
Holy crap! My mother was making me out to be a crazy person.
“Well, when she’s ready to talk to someone again, can you please have her call me? I can leave my number. I’d like to check on her. See if she’s doing well. I don’t want her to think we don’t care. We know she lost him too.”