Read Online Worth the Wait (Picking up the Pieces #4) by Jessica Prince - Free Book Online Page A

home from school, close myself in my room, study, read, and then eat my dinner once my father had gone to bed, or he’d left to sit at some bar for the remainder of the night. Childhood in my house consisted of being neither seen nor heard. On the rare occasion my parents and I spoke, it was mainly so my father could berate me and my mother could blame me for what he had become.
    Since I was old enough to understand, I’d been told I was the reason my parents’ relationship had gone south. When they’d gotten together, it had been a whirlwind courtship, intensely romantic, the stuff of fairytales to hear my mother describe it. They had been sweet and loving with each other. They had the perfect marriage. That was until shortly after I was born. The older I got, the more disconnected my father became. He and my mother’s relationship stopped being about passion as my father became more and more uninterested. He began drinking, leaving the house and staying gone all night. I’d hear them fighting about his affairs. He’d yell at her that she’d turned into a fat, lazy slob who couldn’t keep his interests so he’d had to find it somewhere else, and she’d spend days crying over his harsh words.
    Mom lived on constant diets. She’d go days on end without eating just to lose a few pounds. At times like that, the only person she’d cook for was my dad, so I’d go hungry as well.
    All of their marital problems rested solely on my shoulders. I was told by the both of them that if I hadn’t been born, they’d still be happy and in love.
    The older I got, the worse my father became. The verbal and emotional abuse morphed into physical. He loved to take his issues out on my mother and me using his fists. I used to pray Mom would pack us up and take me away from that awful house, that she’d see his abuse wasn’t right and she’d finally have enough. But that never happened. She remained insanely in love with Dad throughout everything, never once faulting him for his own actions. It was all my fault. I was the reason he didn’t love her anymore.
    “Mackenzie, get your worthless ass down here!”
    Already halfway up the stairs, I paused mid-step and turned with a sigh. I dreaded each step that took me closer and closer into the living room. Closer to a man I hated with an intensity that no fifteen-year-old should even comprehend.
    “Yes, Daddy?” I asked once I was standing in front of his recliner. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom perched on the edge of the couch like the good, doting wife. As usual, she was dressed in her very best. Not a hair out of place, the makeup on her face strategically applied to cover up the black eye she was sporting from his vile outburst just two days ago.
    “What the hell is this, you little twerp?”
    He tossed a crumpled sheet of paper in my direction, causing me to have to scramble to catch it. It was a truancy letter from my school stating I’d already gone over the allotted number of days I was allowed to miss. It said I would fail tenth grade unless I made up those hours before or after school each day for the remainder of the year.
    Of course I’d missed too many days of school. There was no way my mother would have allowed me to show up with bruises on my face and body for anyone to see. She wouldn’t risk people asking questions and finding out my dad liked to hit on his wife and daughter. But I’d have been stupid to think Mom would have actually spoken up for me.
    “Once again, you’ve disappointed us, Mackenzie. I can’t believe you’d cut class and get into trouble.”
    “Oh, shut the hell up, Nancy. No one asked for you to open your fat mouth.”
    Mom bowed her head at my father’s insult, offering up a pathetic, “Of course, honey. I’m sorry.”
    I kept my eyes focused on the pristine carpet under my feet.
    “Well, what do you have to say to yourself?” Dad asked.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered, knowing that trying to defend myself was