Then I Found You

Chapter 9

Riley smiled when she saw Jayden sitting on the bench. For the past few weeks it had been like some kind of unspoken agreement between them. They had always met there and just sat down for hours in comfortable silence. She didn’t know about him but she enjoyed the company. She never told Nick because even though he wasn’t really her brother, he was overprotective like one even though her ‘friendship’ with Jayden was purely platonic. She didn’t harbour any feelings for him. At least she kept telling herself that.

“Hey” he said, looking up at her and giving her a sleepy smile. She was taken aback for a moment because they generally didn’t talk to each other when they were here. If Ghost was around then she spoke up a bit more. Ghost was proud that she had started to speak to them again. She took a seat next to him. A few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have even imagined being friends with him. In a way she was still terrified of Jayden and his friends but a part of her, a very small part of her was getting rid of that fear.

Instead of answering him, she waved and watched the family a few feet away who were just playing, the two boys were play fighting and the little girl was sitting on the father’s lap talking to him.

“I used to come here with my little sister a lot before school started back” he said suddenly making her turn to look at him. “I should bring her one day.”

“Is that the girl who was arguing with you?” Riley asked curiously.

“No. that’s my other sister Libby. My other sister is a little girl, Mary. She calls me ‘daddy’” he said, giving her a sad look. She was tempted to ask why but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to pry. “I’m not her father but she thinks I am. I don’t know how to break it to her that she doesn’t have a father” he said, a muscle in his jaw clenching.

“What do you mean?” she asked before she could stop herself. She scolded herself and shook her head at him indicating that he didn’t have to answer that.

“No it’s okay” he said with a sigh. “He’s alive. He’s just never there; I can’t even remember what he looks like.”

Riley didn’t know why but she reached out and grabbed his hand and held it. Her thumb made small circles on his palm. She looked up at him shyly and he smiled gently. This wasn’t the Jayden everyone knew. The Jayden everyone knew had an anger problem. He did have one but everyone failed to see he had a tender side too.

“The first time he left I was fifteen, Mary was a baby and Libby was thirteen. That was also the first time Libby started drinking and going out partying, I guess she does it as an escape. Mary wouldn’t have known any better so she thought I was her father. It was scary when we went to the grocery or something and she called me dad and everyone in the grocery just looked at me. I have a little brother as well, his name is Scott, and he’s five so he was probably two years old when my dad left. Can you imagine a fifteen year old boy with two children calling him dad?” he said with a humourless chuckle.

“What about you mom?” Riley asked cautiously. A sad glint flashed in Jayden’s eyes and she immediately regretted asking that question.

“She died giving birth to Mary. We were better off. She never cared about us but after she died and my father left I did some crazy stuff for money. I won’t go into that now. Maybe some other time” he said, giving her a sad smile. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”

“Neither do I” she muttered and he chuckled.

“Where were you?” Nick asked Riley when she reached back to the orphanage. Jayden had offered to walk her home but she didn’t want him or anyone for that matter to see where she lived so she just made up some excuse to why he shouldn’t walk her home.