Shucked (15 page)

I slammed my palms on the table.
Pushing my chair back, I stood up. “I am different than all of you.”

He spun around. “No, you’re just a
cheater who doesn’t want to put in the work.”

“Well, you’re just a womanizer who
likes to toy with girls’ emotions before you throw them to the curb.”

His almond eyes narrowed. “That’s not
true.”

“Becky warned me the first day of
school and that’s all you’ve done since I started here. Dumped Kailey to flirt
with me, then go right back to her the second I might have been interested in
you.” I clapped my hands over my mouth. I did not just say that.

“Obviously I’m a bad guy for breaking
up with my girlfriend, who knew we weren’t serious in the first place, because
I had an immediate connection with another girl. Maybe I should have chased
after you while I was still dating her and screwed over both of you? I’m the
bad guy for making sure I was single before pursuing you?”

I clasped my hands behind my back,
hoping he wouldn’t see them shake. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hug him or kick
him in the nuts. “Well, you gave up on me really fast, didn’t you?”

“I was helping Kailey after she broke
her foot. I kind of felt obligated. No one else will do it because she’s such a
bitch sometimes.” He said it through gritted teeth. “Again, I’m attacked for
being the nice guy.”

“What about those rumors that you’ve
dated every girl in school?” I looked around frantically for a roll of duct
tape, anything to get me to shut up and leave him alone. He’d already admitted
he was interested. What was wrong with me?

He nodded his head. “It’s just about
true. Why? Because I’ve been looking for a girl who was genuine. Who was
different. I was convinced I could find her and when I realized she wasn’t the
girl I was dating, I broke up to give her a chance to date someone else.”

Alex took three long strides, closing
the space between us. “I thought you would be different, Tabitha.” He leaned
down, his lips only inches from mine. “Are you?”

I nodded and leaned in, feeling his
lips brush lightly against mine. “Yeah,” I breathed, “I am.”

“Break it up!”

Alex and I jumped away from each
other. Illinois Jon stomped back into the room. “I told you what would happen
if I caught the two of you doing anything more than studying math.”

I stood there, stupidly, a big grin
on my face.

Alex held his hands up in the air, as
if he was cornered by the police. “I’m sorry, sir, it won’t happen again.”

I glared at Alex. It wouldn’t? Why
not?

“We’ll discuss Tabitha’s tutoring
session later. Right now, I need you to leave, Alex. I’m taking Tabitha home.”
He pointed a thumb toward the door. “Out.”

Without another glance at me, Alex
scrambled to get his books and notebooks in his backpack. In the doorway, he
looked back at me. Before he could say anything, Illinois Jon nudged him into
the hallway and shut the classroom door.

As soon as the click indicated the
door was fully closed, I thrust my hands on my hips. “Look, I know you’re my
teacher and I’m supposed to respect you, but this goes beyond your job. It’s
not up to you who I kiss or date. It’s not like you’re my dad or anything.”

Illinois Jon sank into the chair
behind his desk and ran his fingers through his hair. “Unfortunately, Tabitha,
that’s where you’re wrong.”

Chapter
Twenty-Three

My jaw dropped. “Come again? My dad’s
an antiquities dealer in Europe. Not some washed-up math teacher who makes up
lies to recapture a relationship he had almost twenty years ago.”

“I know that’s what you think, but
it’s not true.”

“If you’re my dad, then why did you
ignore me all these years? All those summers I was here visiting my
grandparents, I never saw you. Not even once.” My memory flashed to that
picture my mom had of her and Illinois Jon hidden in her wallet. It didn’t mean
anything, right?

“I didn’t know until a couple of
years ago. Your mom swore me to secrecy, promising me we’d tell you together. Unfortunately
when you’re here over the summer, I’m gone.” He sighed. “And now everything’s
gone wrong. She was on a mission, one so dangerous she couldn’t even keep you
nearby.”

“Mission?” My brain was scrambling to
understand anything he was saying. “What are you talking about? She’s an
archaeologist!”

“She is, but she’s also part of a
secret government organization working within antiquities. We help governments
secure priceless artifacts and in return, they grant the United States special favors.”

I sat down on a chair, nearly missing
the seat and falling to the floor. “We?”

“I’m part of it too, but I work on
the security side of things through the Army reserves. I didn’t even know your
mom was in it until we were teamed up two years ago on an Egyptian deal.” He
ran his hands through his hair. “She was close, so close, to completing this
mission, but she got caught by the Japanese authorities. She’s being questioned
now.”

My knees shook, remembering the Japanese
guy at the train.

Illinois Jon stood up and walked over
to me. He sat on the table, resting his hands on his knees. “I’m sorry you had
to find out so abruptly. Your mom only had a few more years to go before she
could retire from government work forever. That’s when we planned on telling
you the truth. But now things have changed.”

I tried to steady my breath and not
lash out. “I knew something wasn’t right. How can we help her?” I didn’t want
to tell him about the dogu until I knew more. Just because he was my biological
dad didn’t mean I had to spill everything to him.

“She’s involved in something very
dangerous, which is why you couldn’t go with her this time. Usually you’re
safer with her, she always had someone watching you, but this time the
situation was too hot. I’m just glad you’re here where I can keep an eye on you.”

“I can take care of myself. I’m a
black belt –” Before I could finish the sentence, my head was twisted at
an uncomfortable angle, nearly crushed under the weight of Illinois Jon’s hand.

“You’re not as good as you think,
Tabitha.” He let go and I slowly lifted my head up.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I
rubbed my neck.

“Would you have believed me if I
hadn’t?”

I was angry, but pretty sure he’d
gone easy on me just to illustrate a point. “No, probably not.”

“If I wanted, you’d be dead.”

I stared him down. His eyes didn’t
shift. He stared me down just as hard. “I believe you. Now what? Are we going
to save my mom?”

Illinois Jon shook his head. “No. There
are people on that. The Japanese government will realize soon that she was
helping them, not trying to hurt them. We just have to get the right agents to
back up her story.”

“What about the guy I thought was my
dad?” I thought about the British rogue my mom had told me was my dad. He’d
been a nice enough guy, but I’d never had much of an emotional attachment to
him. Maybe it was because somewhere deep down I knew the truth. “Is he part of
this organization too?”

“No.” His faced flushed. “Your
mother’s not involved with him anymore. She finally realized he’s not the right
man for her.” He moved back to his desk and sat down in his comfy leather chair,
his fingers touching, his hands like a triangle.

“And who is?”

“I think what you really want to know
is whether or not I still have feelings for your mom. The answer is yes. As for
how she feels about me, well, that’s something she should tell you herself.
It’s not my place to speak for her.”

“So my mom’s not a flake?” It came
out in a whisper. All these years I’d treated her like she was the child and I
was the adult and it turned out I was the one who didn’t know anything.

Illinois Jon reached out, taking my
hand in his. “No, Tabitha, she’s not, but she played the part really well. It
was all part of the job description. As for you, we never expected to get
pregnant. We were young and stupid.”

That wasn’t a joke. Legend had it I’d
been born under the shadow of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. My mom was on an
important dig and refused to leave the site for fear the tomb she’d discovered
would be looted if she wasn’t around. The locals were scared of her and dubbed
her The Red Devil based off her flaming, unruly hair. They feared her, but I
think they loved her too, otherwise I might not have survived.

I wasn’t early. My mom wasn’t caught
unaware, she just couldn’t take a break from her work. It wasn’t in her nature
to set aside time for a little thing like the birth of her only child. I was a
surprise, an inconvenience. The wives of the hired diggers hung around the
makeshift camp waiting for my mom to pop. They knew she’d need help, or
truthfully, I would need help.

From the stories I’m told, which I
hoped were embellished, she didn’t stop to have me until my head was coming
out. Sometimes I imagined my mom dusting off an ushabti while I’m peeking out
from between her legs with a little wave of my newborn hand.

“I’m living proof that one time
without a condom can result in pregnancy. I’m that accident they always warn
about. A liability.” I wasn’t afraid to cry, not like I was when Alex was with
me. I just wished I could because the only thing I felt was betrayal.

“None of us ever thought about you
that way. I swear.”

I ripped my hand away from his. After
fifteen years he wanted to play the part of my dad. No way. He’d have to earn
that. “Whatever. So now what? Do I have to go into hiding until this mess is
worked out?”

To my surprise, he shook his head.
“You can stay here. Keep going to school and cheerleading. You just might see
me hanging around a bit more, keeping an eye on you. They have no reason to
come after you yet. Your mom should be extracted before it even gets that far.
Now pack up your stuff. I’m taking you home. I need to tell Birdie and Jerry to
be a bit more watchful.”

I thought of my grandparents, such
simple people, having to learn about all of this. “How much do they know?”

“Everything except for the news about
your mom.”

“They know you’re my dad?” I wanted
him to say no. I couldn’t contemplate the thought of Mimi lying to me all those
years. I wanted her to be my safe haven in this mess.

“Yes. I told them not long after your
mom admitted it to me.”

I sighed, my last hope destroyed.
“Okay. Just take me home, then.”

We rode in silence to the farm,
neither of us sure what to say. I didn’t want to talk to him at all, but at the
same time I was filled with questions. It wasn’t fair that everyone knew but
me. I was old enough to handle the truth. I probably would have appreciated my
mom more if I knew she was some kind of undercover archaeologist.

“There’s something you should know,
Tabitha. Your mom was the one who insisted you travel with her. Everyone else,
including me once I learned the truth, wanted you here year round. She couldn’t
bear to be without you.” He shifted his eyes, looking at me for just a moment
before concentrating on the road again.

“Then why send me here? I thought she
was off gallivanting with my dad every summer. The guy I thought was my dad, I
mean.” I fidgeted with the strap on my backpack. I had to put my excess energy
into something. If I’d been in my bedroom, I would have happily destroyed
another pillow.

“Training. It’s part of being involved
with government work. Once a year, they put us through some rigorous training.
That’s where I ran into her again.” He trailed off, lost in a memory.

My eyes grew wide. All those years I
thought she was dumping me off for sexy time with my dad. I was right. I just
didn’t have the right man. “Are you two…” I didn’t know how to ask without
sounding icky.

“I still love her, if that’s what
you’re asking. Very much.” His grip tightened around the wheel, his knuckles
turning pink.

“But you’re not secretly married or
anything, right?”

“No.”

I wanted more than just a simple
negative, but that was all he was apparently ready to give me. Fine. We’d have
plenty of time in the future when my mom came here and we sorted it all out.
Hopefully we’d have word soon.

After a long conversation with Mimi
and Gramps, and repeated reassurances that I was safe there, Jon left us to our
dinner. We ate in silence, even though I had a million questions to ask. Somehow
I knew it wasn’t the right time. That would come when my mom decided to make an
appearance.

I excused myself to bed early. No
arguments came from my grandparents. I hated the awkwardness and couldn’t stand
to be around them any more than I had to. Until everything calmed down and
settled into a new normal, I needed time alone. I suspected they felt the same
way.

I sat in my bed, knees tucked up
under my chin. Illinois Jon, who I still couldn’t think of as my dad, Mimi, and
Gramps had all reassured me my mom would be okay. That we’d hear from her
within days, probably. But still, I couldn’t stop think about her. Was she
okay? Were they hurting her?