TMI (2014 Collector's Dream Winner)

TMI - Chapter 22

They shuffled off the train with sore legs and rumbling stomachs. Bailey’s grandfather waited at the train station.

"Hello, sweet girl!" Mr. Grant opened the car door, held out his arms. Bailey ran into his hug.

"Gramps." She pecked his cheek.

"We ordered pizza. Plenty for all.”

Meg shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Um. Are you sure?"

"Megan. There's always enough for you. You, too, Chase." Gramps waved their objections away.

Bailey relaxed when she saw Meg exchange grins with Chase and figured she’d stop worrying about imposing since it was obviously a group thing now. Bailey called shotgun, forcing Meg and Chase to share the backseat of the car.

"Thanks, Mr. Grant," Chase said.

"How was the museum?"

"Excellent!" Meg said, and launched into a floor-by-floor account of all that they’d seen.

Chase watched her with a funny little smile but Meg didn’t notice. The ride from train station to house didn’t take that long with Meg chattering away. It was nice to see. Chase was totally charmed, hanging on every word. When Gramps pulled into their driveway, she grinned at him.

“What?”

She shrugged. “It’s good to see her excited, right?”

But Chase frowned and looked away.

"Where's Mom?" Bailey asked Gran when they were seated around the old dining room table Gran and Gramps had since they got married.

“Upstairs, in her room. She said she’s not hungry,” Gran raised her eyebrows at Bailey. “She’s upset about something.”

Bailey’s posture snapped rod straight. She bit into her pizza, saying nothing.

They finished the meal with Meg still talking about the amazing art, the color, the texture, the juxtaposition — whatever that meant. Bailey just smiled and nodded and said little until Gran started clearing the table and Gramps went back to his favorite chair.

“Bay,” Meg nudged her with her elbow. “What’s the matter?”

Bailey lifted a shoulder. “My mom’s mad at me.” And because that wasn’t news, she quickly added, “I mean super mad at me.” When Meg merely raised her eyebrows, she sighed. “She found out about the yearbook site.”

Meg gasped and Chase’s eyes swung from one to the other. “What? What happened?” He asked.

“I’m trying to find my dad. I registered my mom for that classmates site, the one where all the yearbooks are posted. I figured I could find him myself. But she found out.”

Meg reached over, squeezed her hand. “Bay, I’m so sorry. Did she cut you off?”

Bailey shifted, traced a finger over the pattern on the tablecloth. “No,” she admitted.

Chase angled his head. “Does that mean she’s letting you keep the account?”

“Definitely not.” Bailey rolled her eyes. “She was really mad. She tried to forbid me to look for him, but I told her I wasn’t four anymore.”

Meg breathed out a loud sigh. “Bailey, maybe you should give this a rest if it upsets her that much.”

She’d thought about it. She’d thought about it for hours after her mother left her room. She dropped her head, scooped both hands through her hair and finally lifted misty eyes to Meg’s. “I can’t. I’m so close, Megan. I just have to find him. Ryder’s helping, too.”

Meg opened her mouth, but then closed it and Bailey let out a sigh of relief.

“But why?” Chase asked. “What do you think’s gonna change if you do?”

Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Wasn’t that the point? To find out? Frowning, she lifted her hands, tried to find the right words. “It’s like trying to play a game without knowing the rules. I have all these questions and—” She gave up. She just had to know. That’s all. “She said I was just like him.”

Meg propped an elbow on the table, cupped her chin. “How?”

“She said he was always laughing, always trying to have fun. Just like me. It’s what she loved most about him.” She smiled. It now made her happy, even though her mother had fired it out like an insult.

“Bay, that’s great. That’s something you never knew and she told you. Why don’t you meet her halfway and just maybe give it some more time?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” she hedged. It was so hard to talk about, hard to find the words. Even though Meg’s dad died, at least Meg and Chase knew their fathers. All she had was a great big black hole. "How does anybody ever figure out who they’re going to be when they don’t know who they came from?"

“Bailey,” Meg began and then swallowed. “God, this is hard.” She took a deep breath. “I wish I never knew. He was my dad and I loved him. I miss him every day, but Bailey, I swear to you, I wish I never knew.”

Bailey’s hand fell to the table with a loud smack. “Then why the hell are you so determined to be just like him?”

Meg flinched, stared at her with huge wounded eyes, and finally shoved back from the table.

“Meg, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

But Meg was already at the door.

Chase sighed and patted Bailey’s shoulder. "I'll talk to her. Thanks for the pizza." 

She managed a sad smile when he trailed after Meg and put her head in her hands.