The Truth Between Them
1027 Words
The rest of the day passed in fragments. Suzie moved through the bakery like muscle memory was the only thing keeping her upright. Customers came and went, the ovens roared, Amelia’s laughter replayed in her head like a lifeline she clung to.
But under it all was the same dread: tonight.
By late afternoon, Marjorie tied up her apron and watched Suzie with folded arms. “You planning to tell him?”
Suzie didn’t look up from the tray of cooling scones. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Lies taste worse than burnt dough,” Marjorie muttered. “He’s not stupid. And you’re not heartless.”
Suzie’s hands stilled. “Heartless would’ve been staying.”
A beat of silence. Then, quieter, “You think running was better?”
Suzie stared at the flour-dusted counter. “I was protecting her.”
Marjorie sighed but didn’t argue. “Protecting ain’t the same as hiding.”
Evening crept in. Amelia returned from school and curled up in the office with her cartoons, unaware of the storm pacing outside her life. Suzie closed the bakery early, each click of the lock echoing in her bones.
As she wiped the counters for the third time, headlights flashed across the front windows. A dark car pulled up exactly where it had that morning.
Her heart thudded hard.
Richard was right on time.
And this time, there would be no one to interrupt.
The knock was soft, but it felt like a strike against her ribs. Suzie glanced toward the office where Amelia was humming to herself, then opened the bakery door just enough to block his view.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.
Richard stepped forward, rain still clinging to his coat. “You said that this morning. I’m still here.”
She hesitated, then let him inside. The lights were dim, the display cases empty, the world narrowed to silence and the space between them.
He looked around once before turning to her. “Where is she?”
Suzie stiffened. “Not part of this.”
His jaw clenched. “She might be everything to this.”
She crossed her arms, needing something to hold. “Say what you came to say and leave.”
Richard studied her like a man trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces. “Five years ago, you left without a word. I looked for you. I thought..."
He cut himself off, as if admitting too much was dangerous.
Suzie swallowed. “You had your life. I stepped out of it.”
“You were in it,” he said quietly. “I didn’t ask you to leave.”
Tears threatened but she blinked them back. “You didn’t ask me to stay either.”
Silence stretched, raw and heavy.
Richard’s voice dropped. “Is she mine?”
The words landed like a c***k across the floor.
Suzie closed her eyes.
There was no more room left to hide.
For a long moment, Suzie said nothing. The rain outside tapped against the windows, steady and unforgiving, like it was counting down the seconds to her answer.
Richard didn’t move. His voice, when it came, was low but edged with something unfamiliar, fear, maybe. “I’m not asking to hurt you. I just want the truth.”
Her hands trembled at her sides. “The truth is complicated.”
“It usually is,” he said. “But I deserve to know if I’ve spent five years missing a child who exists.”
Suzie’s breath hitched. His words weren’t shouted, but they cut through every wall she’d spent years building. She turned away, pressing a palm onto the counter as if it could anchor her.
“I was alone,” she murmured. “I was scared. Your world… your family… your expectations… I didn’t fit into any of it.”
Richard stepped closer, carefully and controlled. “You made that choice for both of us.”
She spun to face him, anger and pain tangled in her voice. “I made it because I knew what would happen if I stayed. I wouldn’t survive being an inconvenience to your world. And she...” Her voice broke. “She deserved better.”
He froze. “So she is mine.”
Suzie didn’t speak, but something in her silence answered for her.
Richard’s breath left him slow, like he’d been holding it for years.
“I want to meet her,” he said.
And just like that, the ground shifted beneath them both.
Suzie’s pulse pounded in her ears. “You don’t get to walk in and make demands,” she said quietly.
Richard didn’t flinch. “I’m not demanding. I’m stating a right.”
She shook her head. “You don’t know her. You don’t know anything about the life she has.”
His eyes hardened. “Because you made sure of that.”
The accusation stung, but she held her ground. “I kept her safe.”
“From me?” he asked, almost disbelieving.
“From everything that comes with you,” she shot back. “The cameras, the press, your father, your board... your world eats people alive.”
Richard stared at her, the muscle in his jaw tight. “You think I wouldn’t have protected her?”
Suzie hesitated. “I think you didn’t even know how to protect yourself back then.”
His silence was telling.
She lowered her voice. “She’s happy. She’s loved. That’s what matters.”
He stepped closer, eyes sharp but no longer cold. “And what about me? Did I matter at all?”
Her breath caught. “Don’t twist this.”
“I’m not twisting anything,” he said softly. “You made a choice for two lives, mine and hers, without letting me have a word.”
Her fingers curled into fists. “Would you have chosen us?” she whispered.
Richard didn’t hesitate. “I would have chosen her. And maybe… I would have fought for you.”
The words landed somewhere deep and dangerous.
Before Suzie could respond, Amelia’s small footsteps padded into the hallway.
And everything changed in an instant.
- Writer
