Ellen’s gaze tracks me as I step closer to Liv, wishing I could be the shield I told her I was.
Liv raises her chin. “I need some answers because right now, all I know is a bunch of secrets and half-truths.”
Ellen stares at her, unblinking.
“Is my dad my biological father? How did you meet my mom? Why’d you disappear?”
Ellen’s gaze shifts again, dancing between Liv and me. “You should ask your mom these questions.” She takes a step back, turning to leave.
“I thought I was?”
Ellen stops. “I’m not your mom. I never was. I’m sorry you came here, but this was a mistake. You shouldn’t be here. This is private property.”
Liv’s shoulders grow stiff.
“That’s what you have to say after all this time?” Rose asks.
Ellen looks at Liv. “You have no right being here. Talk to your mom. Let her tell you her story. And please, don’t come back. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to put the past behind me.” She disappears back toward the campus, and Liv falls in a heap to the sidewalk, hugging her legs to her chest.
Rose scrambles to be beside her, opening her arms and surrounding Liv. Liv leans into her embrace, and all I can see is Rose crying as she clasps both hands to Liv’s cheeks, a pronounced frown marring her face as she tries to keep herself together, and I realize this is what she’d meant when she said she was worried she’d make it worse—she was worried her own emotions would magnify Liv’s.
“This doesn’t define you,” Rose tells her. “They don’t define you.” She shudders through a breath. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
Liv nods, and the two slide into each other’s arms, hugging as they both cry harder. I move to the other side of Liv and take a seat, stretching my knee out in front of me as I reach across both of them, hating that I can’t do a single damn thing to fix this moment.
Their tears gradually fade, and Rose slowly pulls away.
“I need to talk to my dad,” Liv says.
“Do you want to wait?” Rose asks, panic stretching her eyes as she looks at me.
Liv shakes her head. “No. I’ve been waiting for weeks now to find out. Hell, apparently, I’ve been waiting for twenty years.” Liv releases a long breath. “If you guys will just drop me off, I’ll head over on my own. This is guaranteed to be a mess.” She brushes her fingers beneath her eyes as she turns to face me, dark makeup staining her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to involve you guys in this crap. I only wanted to see her. I didn’t consider she might recognize me.”
“Stop apologizing,” I tell her. “This is what friendship is all about—the good and the bad, the thick and the thin. You’ve done nothing wrong, Liv. Don’t you see that?”
“Still…”
I shake my head. “No. No stills or butts or anything else. I told you that it’s not vacations and presents that I remember from my childhood, it’s those who were there for me, helping me when I needed it the most and when it was the toughest to ask.”
“Look at you being all insightful,” Rose says, using the sleeve of her coat to wipe at her own stained cheeks. “But he’s right. Do you remember when my mom…” Her face reddens, and tears spill over her lower lashes. “All those people I thought were my friends, and they were just gone. They wanted to be there for the parties and the drinking and the pool dates, but when shit got ugly, you were the only one who stayed by my side. I pushed and pushed and pushed, and you stayed through all of it. And I’m going to be here for you, too. None of this changes us.”
Liv releases another deep breath, her blue eyes streaked red and still glassy with tears. “Welcome to the inside,” she tells me, and though her smile is fragile, there’s a strength behind it that has her looking me straight in the eye.
I loop my arm around the back of her neck and pull her against my chest. Lincoln was right. Getting involved with Liv is going to lead to trouble—it was guaranteed. Every family has secrets, but here I am, watching firsthand as Coach Harris has the skeletons pulled out of his closet and hung out to dry by his daughter, and I’m volunteering to help.